Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (496 page)

Historical traditions, often genealogies, passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.

 
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Place for private prayer. From the Latin
orare, to pray.

 
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The large circular space used for dancing in Greek religious events, later incorporated into the design of Greek theatres as the area between the stage and tiered seating.

 
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All mapping created by the Ordnance Survey within the British Isles shows heights above mean sea level. Until 1921 the datum used to calculate these heights (known as the Old British Datum) was in the Victoria Docks, Liverpool, and was based on observations in March 1844. Since 1921 a new datum has been used (the New British Datum) which is based on the mean sea level at Newlyn Tidal Observatory in Cornwall, and is derived from measurements made between May 1915 and April 1921.

 
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The late Iron Age and early 1st-millennium
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tribal grouping occupying the central mountainous area and narrow coastal plain of west Wales, south of the Gangani and north of the Demetae. Very little is known about their settlements or material culture.

 
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The mineral matrix in which metals occur in nature. Oxide ores occur on the weathered surfaces of ore-rich lodes and are the easiest to work. Sulphide ores come from the unweathered parent ores and are generally more difficult to work.

 
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The comparison of society with an organism.