Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (495 page)

Literally, ‘the room at the back’.

 
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oppidum
(pl.
oppida
)
[MC].

The term used by
CAESAR
to describe fortified tribal centres encountered by him in Gaul in 58–51 bc which did not merit categorization as cities (
urbes
). In archaeological usage it is applied more generally to fortified sites and large permanent settlements of the late pre-Roman Iron Age in Europe. These served as centres for administration, trade, craft production, and religion. The word is sometimes, rather misleadingly, applied to any sizable or significant hillfort.

 
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A method of chemical analysis used to determine the composition of archaeological materials, especially metal, glass, pottery, and stone. A small sample (5–10 mg) of the material to be analysed is volatilized or vaporized either in a laser beam or in an electric arc to excite the electrons in the sample and cause them to emit light. The wavelengths of the light emitted in this way are related to the chemical composition of the material being studied. Thus by analysing the spectrum of the light it is possible to calculate the range of elements present and their concentrations.

 
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Latin term to describe a Roman construction technique in which pieces of coloured stone are cut to geometric shapes and set together to form a paved floor or wall covering.

 
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Latin term for a kind of Roman hydraulic concrete partly composed of crushed brick that was used for covering walls and floors.

 
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Cattle shoulder-blades and tortoise shells used in Chinese divination rituals during the Shang and early Chou periods. The cracks resulting from the application of a heated point formed the basis of the divination. It has been suggested that as some of the cracks came to mean good or bad omens or to have specific meanings they were recorded and thus became the origin of the Chinese idiographic script. Some from Anyang Shang dating to the late 2nd millennium
bc
are inscribed with the earliest form of the Chinese script.

 
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