Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (424 page)
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Authors: Timothy Darvill
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Meadowood Phase
[CP].
[CP].
Woodland Stage hunter-gatherer communities flourishing in New York State and surrounding areas of the Atlantic seaboard of North America in the period
c.
700 bc to 300 bc. These groups seem to have had large semi-permanent base camps around which plant food was cultivated to tide them over periods of poor hunting. Adena and Hopewellian exchange networks extended into Meadowood areas with resulting cultural influences.
Burial grounds were set on low natural hills. Bodies were usually cremated and deposited in ochre-covered shrouds. The grave pits themselves were lined with bark, and traded goods, luxury items and projectile points were deposited with the dead.
c.
700 bc to 300 bc. These groups seem to have had large semi-permanent base camps around which plant food was cultivated to tide them over periods of poor hunting. Adena and Hopewellian exchange networks extended into Meadowood areas with resulting cultural influences.
Burial grounds were set on low natural hills. Bodies were usually cremated and deposited in ochre-covered shrouds. The grave pits themselves were lined with bark, and traded goods, luxury items and projectile points were deposited with the dead.
mealing bin
[Co].
[Co].
A small adobe or stone-lined pit in which was placed a
metate
, used for grinding maize.
metate
, used for grinding maize.
meander
[De].
[De].
A running linear design consisting of a single line or band twisting regularly. Variations include the spiral meander in the form of a coil, and the square meander as a rectilinear form of the same thing.
meaningful activities
[De].
[De].
Human action which is carried out for definite reasons, and with specific purposes in mind. The vast bulk of human behaviour is composed of meaningful activities, this being one of the main characteristics which separates human conduct from the movements, objects, and events of the natural world.
means of production
[De].
[De].
The facilities whereby material goods are created within a given society, including not only the technology but also the social relations between those involved.
Medes
[CP].
[CP].
Communities speaking Indo-European languages who occupied northwest Iran from the late 2nd millennium
bc
through to the mid 1st millennium
bc
. Their origins are rather obscure, but they appear to have arrived in the region via the Zagros Mountains at about the same time as the
PERSIANS
, to whom they may have been related. At first the Medes were the more powerful of the two peoples. During the early 1st millennium
bc
they played an active part in the complicated politics of the region. Although initially dominated by the late Assyrian rulers, they seized the opportunities presented by the collapse of Elam to destroy Assyria in 614–612 bc, under their ruler Cyaxarea. They then created their own empire, taking in most of Iran, northern Mesopotamia, and eastern and central Asia Minor. They inherited much of the kingdom of Urartu. Their capital was at Ecbatana (modern Hamadan), and major settlements have been excavated at Godin Tepe, Bab Jan, and Nush-I Jan.
The Persian king Cyrus the Great overran the Medes in the mid 6th century
bc
, although they remained ruling partners in the Achaemenid empire he set up. The Medes and the Persians were subsequently united by marriage connections. The Medes are well illustrated in the friezes of Persepolis, and are traditionally credited with the invention of trousers.
bc
through to the mid 1st millennium
bc
. Their origins are rather obscure, but they appear to have arrived in the region via the Zagros Mountains at about the same time as the
PERSIANS
, to whom they may have been related. At first the Medes were the more powerful of the two peoples. During the early 1st millennium
bc
they played an active part in the complicated politics of the region. Although initially dominated by the late Assyrian rulers, they seized the opportunities presented by the collapse of Elam to destroy Assyria in 614–612 bc, under their ruler Cyaxarea. They then created their own empire, taking in most of Iran, northern Mesopotamia, and eastern and central Asia Minor. They inherited much of the kingdom of Urartu. Their capital was at Ecbatana (modern Hamadan), and major settlements have been excavated at Godin Tepe, Bab Jan, and Nush-I Jan.
The Persian king Cyrus the Great overran the Medes in the mid 6th century
bc
, although they remained ruling partners in the Achaemenid empire he set up. The Medes and the Persians were subsequently united by marriage connections. The Medes are well illustrated in the friezes of Persepolis, and are traditionally credited with the invention of trousers.
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