General archaeology

General archaeology

Terms and definitions of archaeology -- the study of human society through the analysis of artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes.

Industry: Archaeology

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General archaeology

Linguistic anthropology

Archaeology; General archaeology

A subdivision of anthropology that is concerned primarily with unwritten languages (both prehistoric and modern), with variation within languages, and with the social uses of language; traditionally ...

Step-trenching

Archaeology; General archaeology

An excavation method employed on very deep sites, such as Near Eastern tell sites, in which the excavation proceeds downwards in a series of gradually narrowing steps.

Contour line

Archaeology; General archaeology

A line on a map connecting points of equal elevation.

Garbology

Archaeology; General archaeology

The study of trash discarded by a person or society to learn what it reveals about social or cultural patterns. The term ''garbology'' was coined by professor William Rathje of the University of ...

Ancillary sample

Archaeology; General archaeology

Any non-artifactual materials such as carbon, soil, and palynological samples, collected by archaeologists to aid in dating, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, or other interpretations.