Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (336 page)

A technique of physical analysis used to determine the mineralogy or chemical composition of artefacts and organic materials such as amber. A sample is bombarded by infrared radiation, causing the atoms in the sample to vibrate at frequencies characteristic of the material present. That part of the radiation spectrum vibrating at the same frequency as an interatomic bond in the sample is absorbed, the rest is transmitted. Thus measurement of the extent of absorption at each wavelength in the range 2.5–16mm provides information on the interatomic bonds associated with the specimen and this can be used to identify the mineral phases and chemical compounds, both organic and inorganic, that are present.

 
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A useful technique for recording detail in objects, sites, and landscapes is to use film that is sensitive to the infrared spectrum so that it effectively responds to radiated heat rather than reflected light. Monochrome infrared film provides a wide range of grey tones.
False colour infrared photography
uses different colours to emphasize the contrast between features revealed through infrared photography. The colours bear no relation to the natural colours of the matter photographed.

 
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A shaped mass of smelted but unworked metal. The shape and size of ingots are determined by custom rather than function, although their weight may be related to the capacity of the means by which they were commonly moved about. Where ingots from a particular source are of standard size and weight they can thus be used as currency for trade. See
OX-HIDE INGOT
,
CURRENCY BAR
.

 
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The name given to the burial custom by which the body was laid unburned in a grave (compare
CREMATION
). Inhumation is common in the archaeological record of many periods and many areas, and is often taken as a key cultural trait that is ideologically based.

 
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General term representing one of the seven main chronological subdivisions used in Andean archaeology in South America, referring to the period
c.
1800–900 bc. At this time settlement appears to have shifted its focus from the coast to inland riverine situations, pottery was introduced, and both agriculture and animal husbandry began to be practised. Monumental architecture appeared in coastal Peru. The Initial Period was a time of cultural heterogeneity, predating the Formative Stage.

 
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See
INCA
.

 
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