Bogucki P., Crabtree P. Ancient Europe 8000 B.C.-A.D. 1000: Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World. Volume 2

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semiﬂexed burial: Deposition of a body with the

legs pulled only partially toward the torso. The

body also is often placed on its side.

seriation: A chronological ordering of artifacts ac-

cording to changes in frequency, form, and dec-

oration.

settlement pattern: A characterization of the way

in which habitations and other structures are ar-

ranged across a landscape, including such vari-

ables as form, size, distribution, and density.

shell midden: An accumulation of refuse from the

collection and consumption of shellﬁsh. Burials,

tools, and other types of refuse are often includ-

ed.

sherd: A fragment of pottery or worked clay. Also

known as “shard” or “potsherd.”

shield boss: An attachment to the center of a shield,

often dome shaped or pointed.

shifting cultivation: An agricultural system in

which areas are cleared of native vegetation, cul-

tivated, and then left unused for a period of

time to replenish the soil with nutrients. See also

bush fallow cultivation and swidden.

ship setting: A Viking period Scandinavian burial

monument characterized by an oval arrange-

ment of stones in the outline of a boat, usually

with taller stones representing stern and bow

posts.

site: Any location where artifacts, ecofacts, or ar-

chaeological features are found. Types of sites

range from a scatter of a few ﬂints to an entire

city.

situla (pl. situlae): A bucket-shaped vessel, usually

of pottery or bronze.

slag: Refuse from smelting metal. Usually a glassy,

porous, and fused material.

sling stone: A rock collected for use as a missile and

thrown with a sling. Often found as caches on

the perimeter of defended settlements.

slip: Viscous material applied to the surface of pot-

tery before ﬁring. Composed of clay, water, and

often colorants or other additives.

smelting/smelted: The process of reﬁning ore in

a furnace.

solidus: A Roman gold coin.

sounding: A test pit dug through the layers of a site

to allow for preliminary investigation of a site’s

stratigraphy and underlying features.

souterrains: A subterranean chamber constructed

from stone. Common in Ireland, western Brit-

ain, and Scotland.

spectrographic analysis: A technique for identify-

ing the combination of elements in an object.

Often an object possesses a unique combination

of trace elements that allows archaeologists to

deﬁne its origin. The presence of trace elements

is identiﬁed by measuring the wavelengths of ra-

diation emitted from samples.

spindle whorls: An implement used in spinning

thread and yarn to maintain the momentum of

a rotating spindle. Usually made from stone or

clay in the form of a disk or sphere with a hole

in the middle.

stable carbon isotopes: Forms of carbon that do

not naturally undergo radioactive decay. Com-

monly used in studies of provenance and diet.

stater: A Greek coin of gold or silver.

steatite: A relatively soft type of stone, well suited

to carving and working into vessels. Also known

as “soapstone.”

stela (pl. stelae): A stone pillar, usually with carving

and/or inscriptions.

stratigraphy: The layering of sediments into suc-

cessive strata or the analysis of the results of this

process. A cornerstone of archaeological inter-

pretation is that, barring evidence of subse-

quent disturbance, lower strata were formed in

an earlier period than higher strata.

strontium isotopes: Forms of a mineral compo-

nent of bone that are absorbed from the envi-

ronment through diet and other means. Used

to reconstruct diet.

Subatlantic climatic period: A subdivision of the

Holocene epoch in northern Europe that be-

gins c. 800

B.C. and extends to the present. As

with the Subboreal, cooler temperatures than

are found in the Atlantic characterize the Sub-

atlantic period. See also Preboreal, Boreal, At-

lantic, and Subboreal climatic periods.

Subboreal climatic period: A subdivision of the

Holocene epoch in northern Europe that began

GLOSSARY

612

ANCIENT EUROPE

c. 3800 B.C. and ended c. 800 B.C. Cooler tem-

peratures than are found in the Atlantic charac-

terize the period. See also Preboreal, Boreal, At-

lantic, and Subatlantic climatic periods.

sub-Roman: A term for groups or territories with-

out an Anglo-Saxon material culture in the peri-

od following Roman rule in Britain. Used in

preference to the term “post-Roman” because

many characteristics of Roman culture endured

into the medieval period. Also used in prefer-

ence to “British” or “Celtic” because “sub-

Roman” is less ethnically speciﬁc and charged

by historical debate.

successor states: Political units that emerge after

the collapse of an empire or other expansive and

centralized organization.

supine: Lying face up with limbs extended.

survey: The process of investigating and recording

the archaeological assets of an area, usually

without extensive excavation.

swidden: An agricultural ﬁeld created by cutting,

burning, or otherwise removing wild vegeta-

tion. Usually part of a shifting cultivation sys-

tem.

taiga: See boreal forest.

taphonomy/taphonomic: The study of the pro-

cesses affecting the remains of organisms, par-

ticularly bones, between death and ﬁnal embed-

ding in the ground. Relevant processes include

gnawing by scavengers and dispersal by ﬂowing

water.

tell: A mound in the Near East or southeastern Eu-

rope created by building successive settlements,

usually from mud bricks, on the same location.

Synonymous terms include “tepe” and

“hüyük.”

temper/tempered: 1. Material, such as coarse sand

or ground shell, added to clay in the process of

making pottery. The additive makes clay more

workable and reduces cracking during ﬁring. 2.

The process of hardening metal, particularly

iron, by repeated cooling and heating.

tephra/tephrochronology: Particulate material

ejected during volcanic eruptions. When it be-

comes incorporated into sediment in a land-

scape, tephra can be used to date the formation

of that sediment. For relative dating, in areas

where the sequence of eruptions is known, it is

possible to correlate the stratigraphy of samples

from different areas that possess layers of

tephra. Tephra is also useful for absolute dating

because the unique form of tephra from some

individual eruptions is known.

terp (pl. terpen): A mound on the coastal plain of

the Netherlands and Germany created to raise

a settlement above wet ground.

terra sigillata: A type of ﬁne mass-produced Medi-

terranean tableware pottery. Made with a glossy

red slip applied to its surface. Produced and ex-

ported across Europe from the ﬁrst century

B.C.

through the second century

A.D.

terremare: An Italian term for a mound created

during the Bronze Age by successive settle-

ments built on the same location.

tholos: A stone chamber capped by a corbeled vault.

Three Age System: The chronology running from

the Stone Age to the Bronze Age to the Iron

Age. Developed early in the nineteenth century

on the basis of the sequence of change in prehis-

toric tool technology. The deﬁning characteris-

tics of each age have been reﬁned and elaborat-

ed considerably since then. For example, the

Neolithic is now deﬁned primarily by the use of

domestic animals and plants.

toponym: Place name.

torc: A neck ring, often of gold or bronze. Also

spelled “torque.”

transgression: The ﬂooding of land, usually due to

a rise in sea level.

transhumance: The movement of livestock season-

ally between upland and lowland pasture.

trapeze: A microlith shaped into the form of a trap-

ezoid (two parallel sides and two convergent

sides).

trefoil: A decorative motif in the shape of a trifoliate

leaf, such as a clover.

tremissis: A Merovingian gold coin.

trepanation: Medical procedure involving the re-

moval of a piece of a living human’s skull. Some

skulls bear traces of the survival of multiple tre-

panations.

GLOSSARY

613

ANCIENT EUROPE

trilithon: A megalithic monument composed of

two upright stone slabs supporting a capstone

slab, most famously at Stonehenge.

tufa: Rock formed of calcium carbonate deposited

from ground or surface water, as in the material

from which a stalagmite is formed. Used as an

architectural material. Archaeologists also ana-

lyze samples for data about past climates. Also

known as “travertine.”

tuff: A geological layer formed of volcanic ash and

other material. Also rock composed of com-

pacted or fused volcanic material.

tumulus: A mound constructed from earth or

stone, generally circular and containing a burial.

Also known as a “barrow” or “kurgan.”

tuyere: A nozzle used to direct air from a bellows

into a metalworking furnace. Often the only

surviving evidence of metalworking.

type site: A ﬁnd spot that gives its name to, or is

used as an exemplar of, a type of settlement, an

artifact, or an archaeological culture, usually be-

cause it is the location of the ﬁrst discovery or

is the most representative example.

typology: An ordering of objects into categories,

usually based on form and decoration.

urbanism: Characteristic of an urban center and the

associated ways of life.

urnﬁeld: A cemetery of cremations placed in urns

and buried in pits. A burial rite associated with

the Late Bronze Age.

Viereckschanze (pl. Viereckschanzen): A rectilinear

enclosure deﬁned by a bank and ditch. The fre-

quent presence within the enclosure of pits and

wells containing votive deposits fosters inter-

pretation of these monuments as ritual enclo-

sures, although some argue that they were habi-

tations as well.

viticulture: The cultivation of grapes.

vitriﬁed fort: A hillfort with an exterior wall face

that is smoothed and fused together by heat and

wind.

wattle and daub: A technique for constructing

walls. Wattles are thin rods or tree shoots woven

between stakes planted in the ground. Daub is

mud, dung, or another type of plaster spread

over the wattling.

wave-of-advance model: A theory that postulates

a steady rate of spread, usually of cultural traits,

across a landscape over time. Principally associ-

ated with the demic diffusion model for agricul-

ture in Europe.

weir: A barrier set in water to channel ﬁsh or other

quarry into a trap or a fence in tidal areas over

which ﬁsh can swim in at high tide but cannot

swim out at low tide and thus are trapped on the

tidal ﬂat.

withe: A slender branch or shoot.

wurt (pl. wurten): See terp.

zooarchaeology: The study of animal remains from

archaeological sites.

zoomorphic: In the shape of or possessing charac-

teristics of an animal.

GLOSSARY

614

ANCIENT EUROPE

Stonehenge The ritual monument of Stonehenge as it appears today. First built during the Neolithic period, Stonehenge

experienced several construction phases before being abandoned in the middle of the second millennium B.C.© BOB KRIST/CORBIS.

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RIGHT: Bronze Age Cyprus A funnel-shaped faience

“Rhyton” (ceremonial vessel) of the thirteenth century B.C.,

from the excavations at Kition, Cyprus. The surface of the

vessel is covered with a layer of blue enamel and is divided

into three horizontal bands, with the design elements painted

in black, yellow, and green, and inlaid with red enamel.

LEFT: Bronze Age Britain and Ireland Goldwork and amber

necklace from the grave group at Little Cressingham, Norfolk,

c. 1800–1500 B.C. These goods were acquired by exchange

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TOP LEFT: Celts Celtic helmet surmounted by vulture, fourth

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BELOW: Bronze Age Scandinavia The “sun chariot” of

bronze found in a bog at Trundholm in northwestern Zealand,

Denmark, dates to c. 1500 B.C. The horse and the spiral-

decorated sun disk are situated on a wagon, probably

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TOP RIGHT: The Heuneburg Model of the Heuneburg,

Heuneburg Museum. This Early Iron Age hillfort housed

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TOP LEFT: Coinage of the Early Middle Ages Visigothic

pseudo-imperial gold tremissis, c. seventh century A.D.THE

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BELOW LEFT: Migration Period Peoples: Picts Pictish silver

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BELOW RIGHT: Migration Period Peoples: Ostrogoths Ivory

of Amalasuntha, queen of the Ostrogoths, c. A.D. 530.

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TOP LEFT: Dark Age/Early Medieval Scotland The

Hunterston brooch, c. A.D. 700, was found in the early

nineteenth century in Ayrshire, Scotland, and named after the

estate on which it was found. It is one of the finest examples

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BELOW: Jewelry Pair of Ostrogothic eagle-shaped fibulae: gilt

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OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP LEFT: Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon clasp from

Sutton Hoo, England: cloisonné garnet, millefiori, and blue

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OPPOSITE PAGE: Clothing and Textiles Male and female

costume during the Viking Age. ANDROMEDA OXFORD LTD.

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