Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (255 page)

1
In Egypt, the period between the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom and representing the 7th to the 11th dynasties,
c.
2150–2100 bc.
2
Period between the earlier and middle Stone Ages in Africa. Dated to about 40000 years ago.

 
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Extensive Roman palace in West Sussex on the south coast of England. Excavations directed by Barry Cunliffe between 1961 and 1969 revealed that the site started as a coastal depot to serve the Roman invasion. Granaries and stores have been found. A substantial house with a bath-house followed soon after, and in
c.
ad 5 a far more extensive building covering 4ha and lavishly decorated with mosaics and painted wall plaster was built. The central courtyard was laid out as a formal garden. It is possible that this palace was built by Cogidubnus , king of the Regni and a noted romanophile. The building continued to be modified and occupied down into the 4th century
ad
.
[Rep.: B. Cunliffe , 1971,
Excavations at Fishbourne 1961–1969
. London: Society of Antiquaries]

 
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Distinctive bifacially worked chipped stone point with an outline rather like the shape of a fish; the basal tang or stem represents the tail of the fish. Widely found in South America in the period 11000–8000 bc, this kind of implement has certain affinities with the Clovis points of North America and represents the Palaeo-Indian stage in South America.

 
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A mode of social organization where a community breaks apart into several separate units (fission) for some of the year before coming back together again (fusing) as a single whole for the rest of the time. Such patterns may be seen in hunter-gatherer groups who work to exploit particular resources in specialist groups, and in transhumant pastoralist societies where part of the community takes the animals to summer pastures well away from the main residence areas.

 
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A method of dating tephra, obsidian, or archaeological materials such as pottery that have been heated in the past. The method is based on the spontaneous nuclear fission of uranium 238 (
₂₃₈
U) and the fact that one manifestation of this is a pattern of linear atomic displacements (tracks) along the trajectory of released energized fission particles. The rate of fission in
₂₃₈
U is constant, so by knowing the concentration and the number of fission tracks present the age of the material since it was last heated to remove all previous tracks can be determined.

 
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A small Bronze Age
STONE CIRCLE
of four upright stones and one recumbent stone. Mainly found in southwest Ireland.

 
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