Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (322 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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huaca
[Ar].
A general term from South America used to refer to places that the Inca believed to be sacred and to have magical powers. Derived from the Quechua word for shrine, huaca can take almost any form from a natural rock or cave down to a portable amulet.
Huánaco Pampa, Peru
[Si].
A large Inca city covering two square kilometres in the north central highlands of Peru. Probably a provincial capital, the city was set out in sectors around a central plaza some 550m by 350m.
Functionally specialized sectors include high-status residence areas, food preparation zones, a military garrison, and a compound with restricted access which might have been occupied by ‘chosen women’. Hundreds of storage buildings were constructed on the hillside above the site.
Excavations by Craig Morris suggest that the site was occupied mainly by people brought in to give their labour to the empire. In rooms adjacent to the plaza, excavations revealed much pottery from storage vessels as well as food preparation and serving vessels. The plaza was possibly used for large-scale communal feasting organized by the chiefs and suggesting that the Inca state derived its authority through the liberal ceremonial redistribution of food, drink, and goods.
[Sum.: C. Morris and D. E. Thompson , 1985,
Huánaco Pampa: An Andean city and its hinterland
. London: Thames & Hudson]
hulled barley
[Sp].
See
BARLEY
.
humanism
[De].
A philosophy or ethical system that centres on the concept of the dignity, freedom, and value of human beings. The belief that there is an essential human condition that emerges regardless of historical circumstance and that this can be used as the basis for developing an understanding of the past.
Humbolt Series points
[Ar].
Bifacially worked chipped stone points of lanceolate outline manufactured by Archaic Stage communities on the Great Plains and western interior of North America in the period
c.
3000 bc to ad 700. There are numerous variations in style and in size, but most have a hollow base and none have side notches.

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