Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (54 page)

BOOK: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
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Augustine Pattern
[CP].
Name given to successor communities of the
BERKELEY PATTERN
living on the Pacific shore of the central west coast of North America in the period
c.
ad 300 to recent times. Essentially hunter-gatherer fishing populations, widespread and scattered, these groups are characterized by technical innovations such as the use of bows and arrows, harpoons, tubular tobacco pipes, and the custom of burning artefacts in a grave before the body was interred. These developments are associated with the movement of Utian-speaking Wintun people of the Sacramento Valley. After ad 1400 population numbers and density rose steeply. Intercommunity exchange assumed great importance and clam shell ‘money’ came into circulation.
Augustinian
[Ge].
A monastic order of ordained canons; most Augustinian houses were founded in the mid to late 12th century.
Augustus
[Na].
First Roman emperor. Born
c.
63 bc , great-nephew and heir of Julius Caesar , after whose murder he rose to power. In 30 bc he made himself supreme ruler of the Roman world, his long reign being the turning point from the republic to the empire. He developed a new constitutional arrangement whose details owe much to his personal viewpoint. Died ad 14.
Aulnat, France
[Si].
An extensive Iron Age settlement near Clermont Ferrand, Auvergne, southern France. Extensive excavations began under the leadership of M. Robert Périchon in 1966, joined by John Collis and a British team from 1973. This work has established that occupation began in the 3rd century
bc
. As well as the remains of an extensive agricultural settlement there is abundant evidence for industrial activity at the site, including goldworking, silversmithing, and the use of coral, glass, bone, and textiles. Gold and silver coins were amongst the products. Imported luxury items from the Mediterranean show that it was heavily involved in long-distance trade. The site was abandoned between 40 bc and 20 bc, soon after the Roman conquest of the area, when the
oppidum
of Gergovie was founded.
[Sum.: J. R. Collis , 1980, Aulnat and urbanisation in France: second interim report.
Archaeological Journal
, 137, 40–9]
Aulus Plautius
[Na].
The Roman general who led the invasion of Britain in ad 43. He then became Britain's first governor. On returning to Rome in ad 47 he became the last man to receive an
ovatio
—a form of triumphal celebration.

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