Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (466 page)

Particular type of state, characteristic of post-medieval and modern times, in which a government has sovereign power within a defined territorial area, and the mass of the population are citizens who know themselves to be part of a single nation. Nation-states are closely associated with the rise of nationalism, although nationalist loyalties do not always conform to the boundaries of specific states that exist today. Nation-states developed as part of an emerging nation-state system, originating in Europe, but in current times spanning the whole globe. compare
CITY-STATE
.

 
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A general term for the past and aboriginal inhabitants of North America, thus distinguishing them from European and other settlers and their descendants.

 
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A major piece of legislation that became law in the USA on 16 November 1990 and which provides a series of rights by which native groups can influence the deposition and treatment of human remains and associated artefacts.
Specifically, section 3 of the Act relates to any human remains and objects excavated or discovered on federal or tribal lands, giving ownership or control of that material to the lineal descendants of the Native American where that can be determined, or the Indian tribe on whose tribal land the material was discovered, or the tribe with the closest cultural affiliation with such remains or objects and which states a claim for such remains. Section 5 requires each federal agency and museum which has holdings or collections of Native American remains and funerary objects to compile an inventory of the material and identify the geographical and cultural affiliation of it. Section 7 provides for the expeditious repatriation of Native American human remains and objects held by federal agencies and museums at the request of a known lineal descendant or tribe that formerly owned or controlled the material. Section 8 establishes a review committee to monitor the inventory and identification process and to adjudicate in cases of competing claims.
NAGPRA and its operation has been the focus of much debate during the first decade of its implementation, some archaeologists claiming that it overly restricts access to human remains and cultural material for scientific study.

 
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An initial Jomon period shell midden near Tokyo, Japan. Dated to
c.
7500–7300 bc the main occupation layer included deep conical bowls with cord-mark decoration, the bones of domestic dogs, bone and stone arrowheads, grinding stones, partially ground pebble axes, bone fish-hooks, and eyed needles.
[Rep.: S. Sugihara , 1957,
Kanagawa-ken Natsushima ni okeru Jomon bunka shoto no kaizuka
. Tokyo: Meiji Daigaku Bungaku Kenkyujo]

 
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Epipalaeolithic communities of the Levant in the period 10500 bc to 8000 bc, named after the site of Wadi en-Natuf in Palestine. Natufian groups seem to have been settled or semi-settled hunter-gatherers and occupied a range of sites including caves. Some larger settlements, including the first phase at
JERICHO
, include what appear to be permanent architectural constructions, food-storage facilities and fixed food-processing equipment such as seed pounders. Cemeteries suggest a degree of social differentiation. Material culture includes geometric microliths, bone points and speartips, fish-hooks, and a range of items such as sickle-blades, pestles and mortars, and grindstones that suggest the harvesting of cereals. There is, however, no evidence for the deliberate planting of crops, nor is there any evidence for the domestication of livestock.

 
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