This list contains vocabulary words you may encounter as you explore this site.

Archaeological Terms

archaeology
A method for the recovery, study, and reconstruction of past human cultures, using environmental, historical, and contextual information while excavating a site.

assemblage
a collection of artifacts (often representing a cultural time period).

artifact
Any object made, used, or modified by humans.

chronology
The method of arranging past events in order, or arranging artifacts representing different periods in sequence.

culture
The sum total of what a particular human society practices, produces, and thinks.

erosion
Gradual wearing or destruction by weathering, wind, or water action.

excavate
The systematic digging and recording of what is uncovered at a site.

feature
cultural remains which stay together and are more complex than a single artifact; examples are storage pits, fire hearths, burials, or cooking pits.

grid
a network of uniformly spaced lines that divide a site into units.

historical archaeology
The process of using archaeology to test the accuracy of historic accounts and primary resource materials such as oral histories, newspaper articles, and governmental records.

hypothesis
A proposed explanation accounting for a set of facts that can be tested by further investigation.

inference
A conclusion derived from observations.

in-situ
A Latin phrase meaning "in place". In archaeological terms, it refers to an artifact being found in its original, undisturbed position.

matrix
the natural material in which a something (like bones, beads, or flint flakes) is embedded.

observation
Recognizing or noting a fact or occurrence.

provenience
The location of an artifact or object described in terms of map grids, stratified levels, elevation from a known point, or depth from ground surface.

screen
to separate with a sieve, usually means to separate soil from artifacts.

sediment
A collection of mineral or rock particles that have been weathered or eroded from their primary source and redeposited elsewhere.

site
Any location that provides evidence of human occupation or activity.

soil
The products of the decomposition of the land surface under the influence of weather and vegetation.

stratigraphy
The sequence of layers usually from oldest (bottom) to youngest used by archaeologists to separate cultures and to aid in dating.

stratum
A natural occurring layer of sediment.

surface survey
When considering a historic site, archaeologists often conduct a surface survey to help them decide where to dig. In other words, they look for artifacts lying on or just below the surface of the ground in a selected area, using their eyes as well as metal detectors.

topographic map
a plan which represents the exact physical features of a region.

Culturally Related Terms

arrow point
A small projectile point suitable to be hafted on arrow shafts used with the bow. From the Ceramic through Historic cultural periods.

atlatl
a word of Aztec origin. A short stick used in throwing a dart or lance, widely throughout the world.

campsite
A location occupied at least overnight. A campsite may be loosely termed temporary or permanent depending on how long it was occupied.

ceramic
Pertaining to pottery

economics
A study concerned with the description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

flake
The thin, flattened piece removed from a stone by pressure or percussion flaking techniques.

killsite
A site where animals were killed and butchered.

lithic
Pertaining to artifacts made from stone.

oral history
Historical information that is obtained in interviews with persons who have led lives significant to the subjects one is studying.

period
A time division of history.

pot sherd
Broken pottery fragments.

prehistoric
Time period before written records. Of or pertaining to that time period before the arrival of Anglo-Europeans or items of that culture in an area.

processing station
Activity area where the animal carcasses are taken to be further processed; meat is removed from the larger, heavier bones; the meat may be stripped and dried, and the hides may be staked out and sometimes partially processed. The processing station may often occur near the kill area.

projectile point
A pointed artifact on a spear, dart, or arrow to facilitate penetration. Projectile points were made from stone, shell, metal, and wood.

spear point
A long projectile point usually longer than wide. It was presumably hafted to shafts of spears of lances.
uniface: A lithic artifact with intentional workmanship on only one side.

technology
the technique or means for making or doing something, often associated with tool making.

Time Periods

Pleistocene
A geologic time period dating from 2 million years. Some geologists feel that it ended about 11,000 years ago, after the last glacial retreat. Others feel we are still in the Pleistocene.

Paleoindian Period
The cultural period from approximately 12,000 to 8,500 years ago when people primarily were hunting large, now extinct mammals.

Archaic Period
A cultural period approximately 8,500 to 2,000 years ago on the Southern Plains when the climate was much drier than today and there seemed to be an increased reliance on plants for food.

Ceramic Period
A cultural period characterized by arrow points and pottery. Subsistence was based on hunting and gathering and began approximately 2,000 years ago.

Protohistoric Period
The time just before European contact and dating from A.D. 1450 to A.D. 1650.

Historic Period
The cultural period after the arrival of Anglo-Europeans in a given area. Exact dates of this period will vary.