Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (516 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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parapet
[Co].
An outer wall protecting soldiers moving along a walkway around the top of a fort or town defences.
parchment
[Ma].
A long-lasting thin flexible writing material made from cleaned and stretched animal skins, usually sheep or goat skins.
parchment ware
[Ar].
A range of tableware, mostly bowls, in pale fabrics with simple red-brown painted decoration that was popular in Britain in the 3rd and 4th centuries
ad
.
Paredão Phase
[CP].
South American farming cultures found in the Lower and Middle Amazon areas of Amazonia and tentatively dated to
c.
300–100 bc. Characterized by their ceramic assemblages which belong to the Incised Rim Horizon Style of Amazonia. At the type-site of Paredão on the River Negro, Brazil, excavations in a midden revealed manioc roasting plates, spindle whorls, pottery beads, and large ceramic cinerary urns decorated with zoomorphic relief models. The urns contained disarticulated human bones.
Parian marble
[Ma].
Marble from quarries on the island of Paros, Greece, which is white in colour, close-grained, and peculiarly suitable for sculpture: it was widely used by the leading sculptors throughout the Mediterranean world.
parietal
[De].
Pertaining to a wall; parietal art is art on walls. Generally extended to include related surfaces such as floors and ceilings. See
ROCK ART
.
paring chisel
[Ar].
A type of tool made of stone or, more usually, metal with a shaped narrow blade that can be used carefully to remove thin strips or shavings of wood when fashioning a joint or shaping a block.

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