Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (805 page)

An ethnic group occupying the lower Yangtze region of China following its rise to power after the conquest of the Wu in 473 bc. Distinctive artefacts of the Yue are the fine swords of the kings, evidence of highly sophisticated metallurgical skills. The Yue were defeated by the Chu in about 433 bc, although the name lived on to describe the area around Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province.

 
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Minoan palace on the east coast of the Aegean island of Crete situated above a fine natural harbour. Extensively excavated by Nikolaos Platon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the site has blocks of rooms used as living quarters, public areas, and storage facilities around a central court. Unlike many Minoan palaces, Zakros appears not to have been built until the late Minoan period, around 1700 bc. The occupants of the palace were probably involved in long-distance trade. The palace was destroyed by fire about 1450 bc, perhaps as a result of the eruption of Thera on Santorini. Associated with the palace is a terraced town with narrow streets.
[Sum.: N. Platon , 1971,
Zakros: the discovery of a lost palace of ancient Crete
. New York: Scribner]

 
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A microlithic stoneworking industry found in the drainage basins of the Kafue and Zambezi rivers in Zambia spanning the last 6000 years or so. Similar to the more widely distributed and fully studied Wilton Industry of South Africa.

 
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A series of closely related riverside and lakeside settlements in the upper Volga region discovered in 1987 by V. Sidorov and subsequently explored by Vladimir Lozovski (site 2) and Alexei Sorokin (site 5). The sequence of deposits, up to 5m thick in places, has seven main units starting in the
RESSETA CULTURE
of the early
HOLOCENE
and extending through to the
FATYANOVO CULTURE
of about 2500 bc. Extensive waterlogging and later peat formation provides exceptionally fine preservation, especially for the Mesolithic (
BUTOVO CULTURE
) and Neolithic (
LIALOVO CULTURE
) levels. Until the early third millennium
bc
the area was occupied by hunter-fisher groups, in the Mesolithic focusing on elk and beaver hunting. Although elk remains prominent during the Neolithic there is more interest in the exploitation of wild boar and Mustelidae than in earlier times. The rich material culture includes flint and bone projectile points, fishing equipment, and decorated bone and stone. A wooden platform and a possible fishtrap have also been uncovered, both probably of the later Mesolithic.
[Sum.: V. M. Lozovski , 1996,
Zamostje 2: the last prehistoric hunter-fishers of the Russian Plain
. Treignes, Belgium: Editions du Cedarc]

 
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Literally ‘scissors’ or ‘tongs-gate’. An entrance arrangement characteristic of later La Tène fortifications in Europe comprising a long entrance passage flanked by timber or stone revetments, across which double gates may be set to impede a direct line of access.

 
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An early state-organized society flourishing in the highlands of Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Formative and Classic stages from about 200 bc through to ad 1000. Zapotec origins are obscure, but they emerge with Monte Alban as their capital, and distinctive material culture including grey ware pottery, in the period 200 bc to ad 200, and are fully developed by ad 300 when further expansion was hampered by the emergence of Teotihuacán. By ad 950 they have largely abandoned Monte Alban and relocated to other centres such as Mitla and Lambiteyeco. By the late Post-Classic stage the Mixtec had begun to infiltrate Zapotec society and they were later heavily absorbed into the Aztec empire. Only small groups remained in historic times. Zapotec culture includes a distinct language.