Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (583 page)

Burial ground beneath an overhanging rock on the west coast of Greenland where the mummified remains of eight people were excavated in 1972. The bodies, all women and children between the ages of six months and 50 years, had been buried in two graves between ad 1425 and 1525. The quality of preservation was high because of mummification through natural freeze-drying, with the clothing largely intact and the remains of the last meal in the stomach of one. Five of the adults had facial tattoos. All the bodies belonged to the archaeologically defined
THULE
Culture.
[Rep.: J. P. Hart Hansen , J. Meldgaard and J. Nordqvist , 1985, The mummies of Qilakitsoq.
National Geographic
, 167(2), 190–207]

 
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Eastern
ZHOU
state centred on the Wei River Valley of Shaanxi Province in China; also the name of the dynasty founded after the Qin state had been conquered and absorbed into the rest of China, broadly the period 221–206 bc. The first emperor of the dynasty was Qin Shihuangdi with his capital at Xianyang near Chang'an. He was buried in a large mounded tomb near Xian City which is believed to contain a scale model of the palace, rivers of mercury, and cocked cross-bows ready to deter plunderers. A terracotta army of over 7000 life-sized soldiers made at his instigation and buried in three large pits near the tomb was discovered in 1974. The name ‘China’ derives from the name of the Qin Dynasty which was the first dynasty to unite under single rule most of the area later regarded as the state of China.

 
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Manchu Dynasty that ruled China from ad 1644 to 1911.

 
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Germanic tribe, associated in the 2nd century
ad
and later with the
MARCOMANNI
, and a constant threat to the Roman frontier of the Danube. During the 5th century
ad
some Quadi joined the
VANDALS
and
ALANS
in the conquest of Spain.

 
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Strongly fortified residence of stone or brick build around a square or rectangular courtyard known as a ‘ward’. The outer walls formed the defensive line of ‘enceinte’ and towers would usually be placed at the corners and sometimes in intermediate positions too. Some very strongly fortified castles of this class have an additional wall set a short distance out from the main enceinte and concentric with it, the area between the two walls being termed the outer ward. Moats, either wet or dry, often encircle the walls. Accommodation within the castle was provided in the towers or in buildings set against the walls and opening into the ward. Quadrangular castles were the strongly defended residences of the king or a lord, situated for offensive as well as defensive operations, and often acting as an administrative centre. Most were built in the 14th century
ad
, although they continued to be built and used through into the early 15th century. Amongst the best examples in Britain are Bodiam, Sussex, and Castle Bolton, Yorkshire.

 
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A system of excavating circular or near-circular archaeological sites and features such as round barrows, ring cairns, pits, or round houses where the entity to be examined is divided into four equal sectors or quadrants. The removal of two alternate quadrants provides a complete transverse section along each of the major axes and thus allows good control over the stratigraphy. Variations in the method include leaving cross baulks along the main axes and staggering the baulks so that complete sections are retained while the central area is excavated.