Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (732 page)

The interface between two contrasting materials whose form and topography can be interpreted as evidence for the deliberate dumping or tipping of material, usually into a pit, ditch, or structure as fill. Material which is tipped into a pit, for example, tends to fan out from the point of origin until it reaches its natural angle of rest. In section, tip lines appear as sloping edges usually bounding wedge-shaped deposits.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A strongly fortified Mycenaean settlement and palace in southern Greece. The site was investigated by H. Schliemann intermittently between 1876 and 1885. Although the site was occupied during the early Bronze Age, the palace and an accompanying defensive wall were not built until about 1400 bc. The palace was of typical Mycenaean form with a central
MEGARON
opening onto a porticoed courtyard. Frescoes on the walls show
MINOAN
influences. Tiryns was destroyed about 1200 bc, subsequent occupation being on a small scale and rather poor compared with earlier times.
[Rep.: H. Schliemann , 1886,
Tiryns
. London: John Murray ]

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Late Neolithic culture of the early 4th millennium
bc
in eastern Hungary, northeast Yugoslavia, and northwest Romania, broadly contemporary with the Vin
a-Plo
nik Phase south of the Danube. Characteristic pottery forms include anthropomorphic vessels and vessels with incised basketry designs or painting applied after firing. Copper objects are known. Settlements include villages of up to 15ha, usually situated near the confluence of important rivers. Cereal cultivation was an integral part of the economy and is demonstrated by the large number of storage jars, fired-clay bins, and granaries found at settlements. In addition, local domestication of wild aurochs is attested, allied to intensive cattle husbandry.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

The oldest stage of the central European Copper Age (3300–3100 bc) named after a cemetery at Tiszapolgá-Basatanya in eastern Hungary. Settlements are generally short-lived and small, although a few occupied tells are known. Most distinctive are the burial sites which, unlike those of its southeast European neighbours, are separate from contemporary settlements and seem to have been established communally to serve several farmsteads. Pottery is almost exclusively undecorated, including tall pedestalled bowls. Copper tools include axe-hammers, chisels, and awls; flint was widely used too, some of it brought from north of the Carpathians.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

A large barn in which the tithes of hay and grain were stored.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search