Archaeology Vocabulary Click Quiz

Artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil.

A stone or metal axelike instrument with a bevelled edge.

To re-fill a trench once an excavation has been completed.

Any change to an archaeological site due to events which occurred after the site was laid down.

A mound of stones erected as a memorial or marker.

The science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in.

Material that has accumulated, or been deposited, within a negative feature such as a cut, ditch, or a hollow in a building.

A description of an object which has been deliberately broken or damaged in such a way as to make it unusable.

The preparation of finds from an excavation for storage or further specialist analysis, typically including washing, labelling, sorting and listing in an inventory.

The physical material in which finds and other cultural remains are found, e.g. soil or rock.

The use of screens and meshes to improve the recovery rate of artifacts from excavated sediments.

Information relating to where an artifact or feature was found and what it was found in association with.

The exposure, processing, and recording of archaeological sites, including uncovering and recording the provenience, context, and three-dimensional location of archaeological finds.

Soil deposited by running water, such as streams, rivers, and flood waters.

Ascertaining the age of an object with reference to a fixed and specific time scale (as opposed to ascertaining its age relative to the age of other objects in the same or a related context).

A heap of earth placed over one or more prehistoric tombs, often surrounded by ditches.

Loose sediment excavated from a trench.

The application of archaeological techniques and theory in a legal context.

An absolute dating technique used to determine the age of organic materials less than 50,000 years old by examining the loss of the unstable carbon-14 isotope, which is absorbed by all living organisms during their lifespan.

A description of stone tools that have been worked on both sides or faces, meaning that flakes have been intentionally (not naturally) chipped off from both sides of the stone

A site that is anomalously large in comparison to others from the same period and region.

A fragment removed by chipping or hammering from a larger stone used as a tool or weapon.

Detailed, written accounts of archaeological research, excavation, and interpretation made during an ongoing project.

A rapid and relatively inexpensive method of archaeological evaluation used to estimate the archaeological potential of a site.