Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (515 page)

1
A type of reed (Cyperus papyrus) found around the Mediterranean with a distinct flower, once growing abundantly in the marshy districts of Lower Egypt.
2
[Ma].
A cheap and serviceable writing material made from the stems of papyrus reeds split, beaten, and pasted together in two layers at right angles. Papyrus was the main writing medium in widespread use in Egypt from the 5th Dynasty (Old Kingdom) through to early Christian times and was also adopted in the Greek and Roman worlds. Papyrus was suitable for writing on, using an ink-like liquid and was normally stored in rolls.

 
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Early Horizon farming communities living on the southern coast of Peru in the period 1000–500 bc. Heavily influenced by the Chavín Culture, the Paracas Culture is mainly known from burials and ceremonial sites. Ceramics are often decorated with incised geometric or representational motifs, and painted after firing with resin-based paints. Woven textiles of very high quality are known, some used as wrapping for mummies. Tapestries were woven and embroidered with depictions of mythical creatures. The Paracas Culture was antecedent to the Nasca Culture.

 
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A term used and popularized by Thomas Kuhn to refer to a common set of philosophies and methods shared by a scientific community within which basic assumptions and orientations are left uncriticized. When competing approaches successfully challenge and replace an existing position there is said to be a ‘paradigm shift’, as for example between Newtonian and Einsteinian physics. A number of successive paradigms can be seen in archaeology–for example,
FUNCTIONALISM
,
PROCESSUALISM
,
POST-PROCESSUALISM
–although there is considerable debate as to whether each represents a true paradigm shift.

 
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The apparent movement of an object when seen from different positions. The effect of parallax can easily be seen by looking at a nearby object with first the left and then the right eye. Taking account of parallax is important in archaeology when planning features on site, drawing objects, and making observations relating to alignment and intervisibility.

 
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The evolution of the same trait or characteristic independently in more than one culture or place although not necessarily at the same time.

 
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See
AUSTRALOPITHECUS
.

 
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