Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (55 page)

A small cupboard or closed recess in a wall.

 
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German and Czech variation of
UNETICE
Culture.

 
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Roman emperor, ad 270–5.

 
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A high-value Roman gold coin.

 
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Refers to an upper Palaeolithic toolmaking industry named after the Aurignac rock-shelter in the French Pyrenees. The tradition appears to have begun in the Near East around 40000 years ago and from there spread westwards. It was present in France by about 32000 years ago where it post-dates the
CHÂTELPERRONIAN
and precedes the
SOLUTREAN
,
GRAVETTIAN
, and
MAGDALENIAN
. Aurignacian assemblages are characterized by a high proportion of burins, but they also contain long blades, steeply retouched scrapers, and split-based bone points.

 
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The wild ancestor of domestic cattle (Bos primigenius), found widely throughout Europe and Asia in early post-glacial times. It generally inhabited open woodland, and with its dark coat and great bulk (up to 1.8m high at the shoulder and weighing up to 1 tonne) it was an impressive beast. Aurochs became extinct during the late medieval period in Europe as a result of hunting and interbreeding.

 
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Stone tool assemblages characteristic of hunter-gatherer communities across Australia, but not Tasmania, during the period 3000 bc through to European contact. The tool types represented include hafted implements, such as Bondi points, a range of bifacial and unifacial points and projectile tips, microliths in geometric forms, and a variety of blade-based items. There is considerable spatial variation in the composition of the Australian Small Tool Tradition, and its unity and integrity has been called into question. The introduction of the dingo into Australia has sometimes been linked with the adoption and spread of the Australian Small Tool Tradition.