Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (62 page)

See
BAULK
.

 
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An open court, usually in the shape of an elongated H, originating in Mesoamerica in the later 1st millennium
bc
, and used for a game known by the Nahuatl word for it:
tlatchli
. This game, which was both recreational and of ritual significance, involved two opposing teams or individuals attempting to keep a large and heavy rubber ball in motion without the use of their hands or feet. Rules and arrangements changed over time and between regions, but some Post-Classic examples had stone rings set high on the walls of the court. When a team managed to get the ball through such a ring they automatically won the game. The loss of a game could sometimes result in the sacrifice of the losing team.

 
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Type of late Bronze Age sword found in the British Isles, named after finds from Ballintober in Ireland. Produced during the Penard Phase (
c.
1200–1000 bc) Distinctive in having a leaf-shaped bronze blade with an lozenge cross-section and swept-back ricasso. The hilt is secured in place by being riveted to a rectangular tang.

 
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A large military catapult which fired projectiles of iron or stone. Roman examples were made up of a framework in which twisted tendons, rope or leather thongs provided elasticity and force. When the twist was suddenly released, a stone of up to 45kg in weight could be thrown a considerable distance to batter a wall. The most famous ballista bolt in Britain is that piercing the spine of a man buried at Maiden Castle. Ballistaria or ballista platforms can still be detected in some forts. In the later Roman period ballistae were mounted on bastions projecting from fort walls.

 
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A type of well-made decorated Neolithic pottery found in Ireland and dating to the late 4th and early 3rd millennia
bc
The forms are round-based and shouldered, with a blunted section at the top of the blade and with the diameter of the rim less than that of the shoulder, sometimes markedly so. Decoration includes vertical linear grooved and whipped cord impressions arranged in lines or arcs. Relief ornament is sometimes present. A revised scheme for Irish Neolithic pottery put forward by Alison Sheridan places these vessels within a longer-lived tradition of fineware bipartite bowls spanning the early and middle Neolithic.

 
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General term for a style of tall medieval jug used in Europe whose height is about three times its diameter.

 
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