Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (445 page)

A style of small settlement, generally of high status, comprising a manor or substantial farmstead set on an island bounded by a water-filled moat. This tradition developed in many parts of northwest Europe in the 12th century
ad
, perhaps copying the use of moats on earlier castles. Great numbers have been defined in England, Ireland, and northern France, the peak of moat building being between ad 1250 and 1350.

 
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A type of proto-historic and early historic site found in Thailand and Cambodia. Many seem to have been well-established settlements or industrial areas before one or more concentric rings of moats were added during a period of expansion around ad 300–500. Many seem to have dominated clusters of smaller, non-moated sites in the vicinity. By about ad 650 many of the larger settlements of the Mon states in central Thailand were moated. Rectangular moats are characteristics of the Khmer sites of the 11th to 13th centuries
ad
in Thailand.

 
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A general term used to cover all portable decorated objects, especially those of Palaeolithic date.

 
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Early Intermediate Period state-based society centred on the northern coast of Peru in South America during the period ad 200–700. The site of Moche in the Moche Valley was the capital of the Mochica state and comprised two huge adobe platforms, an immense plaza, and an extensive residential area. Mochic society was stratified and militaristic. The Mochica state expanded through conquest, new territories being linked to the core area by a network of roads and paths. Fortified garrisons were established in some valleys. The construction of Moche was probably achieved through draft labour rendered to the state. Burial monuments are known, the higher levels of society being interred in platform mounds. Mochica pottery includes stirrup-spouted funerary vessels on which there are painted depictions of gods, ceremonies, and scenes from everyday life. The Mochica state seems to have lasted until
c.
ad 700 when it was absorbed into the Huari empire.

 
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A generalized picture, analogy, or simplified explanation of reality; a theoretical reconstruction of a set of phenomena, devised to visualize them or understand them better. Archaeological models can be descriptive or explanatory and vary greatly in their complexity and the degree to which they can be tested with archaeological data.

 
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Later prehistoric farming communities living in Arizona and New Mexico, North America, in the period
c.
ad 250–1450. Characterized by distinctive red-on-brown and polished red ceramics, early Mogollon settlements were small villages with few houses and large associated ceremonial complexes. Many were sites on low hills. After
c.
ad 700 settlements were more commonly on low-lying fertile ground. Pit-houses with a rectangular outline and entry ramp were typical and some of the ceremonial structures had entrances in their flat roofs. Maize, beans, and squash was cultivated, although there was always some reliance on hunting and gathering. By the end of the Mogollon Tradition multi-roomed houses constructed above ground were common, some with hundreds of rooms presaging the Pueblo traditions.

 
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