Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (705 page)

Trailing perennial herb (Ipomoea batatas) which produces a fleshy edible tuber. Native to the tropical lowlands of Mesoamerica and South America. Reported from sites in Peru as early as 8000 bc, probably domesticated by
c.
2000 bc, if not earlier. In the first millennium
ad
the sweet potato was taken to Polynesia and New Zealand, and after the Spanish settlement of the New World spread still further afield.

 
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A Neolithic timber trackway preserved in the low-lying peats of the Somerset levels, extensively excavated by John and Bryony Coles between 1970 and 1982. At least 1.8km of trackway is known, leading from the dry land of Westhay Island down into the wetland and reed swamp of the levels. Built mainly of oak planks supported on stakes driven down into the peat, dendrochronology shows that the main structure was built in the winter of 3807 and the spring of 3806 bc. This makes the site Europe's oldest known trackway.
[Sum.: B. Coles and J. Coles , 1986,
Sweet track to Glastonbury
. London: Thames & Hudson]

 
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See
SLASH AND BURN AGRICULTURE
.

 
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A bronze, iron, or steel weapon of war and prestige comprising a long thin blade for slashing, thrusting, or both. Swords are distinguished from daggers by their greater length and from rapiers by their wider and more substantial blades. Single-edged swords are relatively rare and better classified as sabres or falchions. Swords usually have substantial hilts cast with the blade and then elaborated with organic materials to provide extra grip. The earliest swords in Europe are of Bronze Age date and seem to have appeared in central Europe in the early 2nd millennium
bc
. They spread to Greece and the Aegean before 1650 bc and thereafter to the rest of Europe and western Asia. In China the earliest swords date to the 10th century
bc
.

 
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A system of writing in which each symbol represents a syllable (consonant plus vowel). Early examples include
LINEAR A
and
LINEAR B
.

 
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One item used to stand for or represent another—as in the case of a flag which symbolizes a nation.

 
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