Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (519 page)

Form of megalithic tomb in which a burial chamber set in the centre of a
BARROW
is approached by means of a narrow passage. The barrow is usually round in plan, but other shapes are known. Most passage graves have a single chamber, but again variations are known and some have up to ten chambers opening into a single barrow from different parts of the outer perimeter. There is also much variation in the shape and size of the chamber, round, square, rectangular, and polygonal forms being the most common. Some chambers have side cells opening off them. Passage graves are found in western France, Spain, the western parts of the British Isles, and Scandinavia. Various subtypes are known, including:
SIMPLE PASSAGE GRAVES
;
DEVELOPED PASSAGE GRAVES
;
MULTIPLE PASSAGE GRAVES
. The earliest passage graves date to about 4500 bc in Brittany; the tradition continues down to about 2000 bc in some areas.

 
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A series of motifs including spirals, lozenges, and lines pecked or incised onto stones forming the walls and kerbs of
PASSAGE GRAVES
in the west of Britain, Ireland, France, and Spain. See also
ROCK ART
.

 
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South American farming cultures found in the Rio Pastaza and Rio Napo areas of Amazonia and tentatively dated to
c.
1500–1000 bc. Characterized by their ceramic assemblages which belong to the Zoned Hachure Horizon Style of Amazonia.

 
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The prepared clay from which pots are thrown. In the finished vessel the term is often used to refer to the body of a vessel, as distinct from the outer surface.

 
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Late Neolithic and Copper Age cultures of the upland regions of Languedoc, France, dating to around 2000 bc.

 
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A rather ill-defined and loosely applied term referring to an economy in which the bulk of the food supply is derived from animal herding, usually in the form of secondary products such as milk, yoghurt, cheese, and blood. Some pastoralism communities are nomadic and can be highly mobile. In modern times such communities have tended to live in extreme environments and may not therefore be representative of the kinds of pastoralism that existed in the past.

 
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