A person interested in the collection, curation and/or study of antiquities, particularly in reference to the intellectual tradition that developed in Europe in the 16th–17th centuries and is considered a precursor to modern archaeology.[3]
antiquarianism
An intellectual tradition of inquiry that developed in Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries AD as a result of new interests in nature, antiquity, the Renaissance of learning, and the addition of time‐depth to people's view of the world.[4]
A set of artefacts or ecofacts found together, from the same place and time.[5][6] Can refer to the total assemblage from a site, or a specific type of artefact, e.g. lithic assemblage, zooarchaeological assemblage.[7]
association
Two or more excavated objects that are thought to be related are said to be in association, e.g. artefacts discovered in close proximity within the same context, or architectural features thought to have been standing at the same time.
The Wheeler–Kenyon method is characterised by intact baulks (pictured here topped with white sandbags) between each excavation unit
backfill
1.To re-fill a trench once an excavation has been completed.
2.Material used for backfilling, usually spoil from the original excavation.
baulk
balk
A wall of earth left in place between excavated areas in order to maintain the structural integrity of the trench and/or expose a section to aid in interpretation.
1.As in common usage, information relating to where an artefact or feature was found and what it was found in association with.
2.In single context excavation, a well-defined stratigraphic unit relating to a single depositional event, used as the primary unit for recording and analysis.
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society.
diagnostic
A term used for objects, particularly sherds of pottery, which can be dated to a particular chronological period, and so used to ascertain the date of a particular context.
dig
An informal term for an archaeological excavation.
Any change to an archaeological site due to events which occurred after the site was laid down.
dry sieving
A method of sifting artefacts from excavated sediments by shaking it through sieves or meshes of varying sizes. As opposed to wet sieving, which uses water.[9]
Material that has accumulated, or been deposited, within a negative feature such as a cut, ditch, or a hollow in a building.
finds processing
The preparation of finds from an excavation for storage or further specialist analysis, typically including washing, labelling, sorting and listing in an inventory.
finds specialist
An archaeologist who specialises in the analysis of a particular type of find, e.g. medieval pottery or prehistoric worked flint.
flotation
Method of separating very small objects from excavated sediments using water. It is particularly important for the recovery of botanical remains and animal bones.[10]
Forensic archaeologists employ their knowledge of archaeological techniques and theory in a legal context. This broad description is necessary as forensic archaeology is practiced in a variety of ways around the world.[11]
Funerary archaeology is the study of the treatment and commemoration of the dead. It includes the study of human remains, associated artefacts and monuments.
Rocks or other naturally occurring minerals found in an archaeological context and presumed to have been transported there by humans, but not sufficiently modified to qualify as an artefact.[13]
A form of rock art produced on the ground, either by arranging material on the surface (a positive geoglyph) or removing part of it (a negative geoglyph).[14]
governance archaeology
Governance archaeology seeks to understand the myriad combinations of ways in which people have governed themselves throughout time. A goal in this endeavor is to better understand the full range of options available to modern humans and, to the extent possible, some of the opportunities and pitfalls of different governance characteristics.[15]
An object which has been deliberately broken or damaged in such a way as to make it unusable.[22]
kiln site
In Southeast Asian archaeology, a site that was the centre for manufacture of particular ceramic ware, e.g. Phnom Kulen, Buriram, Go Sanh, Kalong, Sukhothai.[23]
Horizontal exposure of an excavated area, feature or artefact (as seen from above); a drawing or photograph of the same.
ploughsoil
The soil down to the level at which it will have been disturbed by ploughing.
pollen diagram
pollen profile
pollen spectrum
A series of side-by-side graphs, produced by archaeobotanists and palynologists, showing the frequency of different types (species) of pollen in a soil sample by depth. Usually presented vertically, with the shallowest samples at the top and the deepest at the bottom, to represent a pollen core or other stratified deposit. The depth of the sample corresponds roughly to how old it is, and therefore the vertical axis may also contain an estimate of its absolute age. Used to visualise the environmental history of the place where the sample was taken.[27][28]
Cut feature that once held an upright timber or stone structural member, which can be recognised even after the (wooden) post has decayed because its fill differs from the sediment around it.[29]
A fragment of pottery.[30] In specialised usage sherd is preferred over the more common spelling shard, where sherd refers to ceramics and shard to glass.[31]
profile
Vertical exposure of an excavated area, feature or artefact (as seen from the side), possibly also in section; a drawing or photograph of the same.
Sometimes called digging by quadrant, it is a procedure for excavating discrete features (especially those circular or ovoid in shape) where two diagonally opposite quadrants are removed, resulting in two complete cross-sections of a feature.
absolute dating technique used to determine the age of organic materials less than 50,000 years old. Age is determined by examining the loss of the unstable carbon-14 isotope, which is absorbed by all living organisms during their lifespan. The rate of decay of this unstable isotope after the organism has died is assumed to be constant, and is measured in half-lives of 5730 + 40 years, meaning that the amount of carbon-14 is reduced to half the amount after about 5730 years. Dates generated by radiocarbon dating have to be calibrated using dates derived from other absolute dating methods, such as dendrochronology and ice cores.[citation needed]
The use of sieves, screens, and meshes to improve the recovery rate of artefacts from excavated sediments (spoil). Can be divided into dry sieving and wet sieving.[9]
spoil
Loose sediment excavated from a trench.
spoil heap
A pile of sediment from an excavation, usually located next to a trench.
Pottery vessel in which cremated remains were placed for interment; sometimes specially made, but often a repurposed domestic container.[41]
urnfield
Cemetery containing cremation burials in urns. Typical of Late Bronze Age Europe and the eponymous Urnfield culture.[42]
use-wear
Microscopic traces of wear, damage or residue left on the surface of an artefact from use. Use-wear analysis involves studying these traces to discern the function of a tool.[43]
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A formal programme of observation and investigation conducted during any operation carried out for non-archaeological reasons.
wet sieving
The use of flowing water to force excavated sediment through a screen or mesh and recover small artefacts. It is more effective than dry sieving in heavier soils and, as part of the process of flotation, can be used to recover very small organic remains.[9]
Method of analysing the chemical composition of an object by exposing it to X-rays and examining the resulting secondary (fluorescent) X-rays emitted.[45]
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Lyman, R. Lee (2001). "Culture historical and biological approaches to identifying homologous traits". In Hurt, Teresa D.; Rakita, Gordon F. M. (eds.). Style and function: Conceptual issues in evolutionary archaeology. Bloomsbury Academic. pp.69–89. ISBN978-0897897327.
Dever, William G.; Lance, H. Darrell (1982). Manual of Field Excavation: Handbook for Field Archaeologists. New York: Jewish Institute of Religion. pp.50–51. ISBN9780878203031.
Feder, Kenneth (2008). Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology (2nd updateded.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-533117-2.
Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. ISBN978-0-306-46158-3.