Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (569 page)

See
PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC
.

 
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Latin term for the front division of a fort or camp, lying forward of the
via principalis
.

 
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Latin term for the general's tent in a camp, the residence of the commander in a
FORT
or
FORTRESS
, or the principal posting station of the
CURSUS PUBLICUS
.

 
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A biostratigraphic subdivision of the
FLANDRIAN
in which conditions were warmer and drier than in the preceding
YOUNGER DRYAS
. Godwin's
POLLEN ZONE
IV corresponds with the Pre-Boreal in Britain, marked by the development of birch forests in formerly tundra regions. The Pre-Boreal generally spans the period from
c.
8300 bc down to
c.
7700 bc in northern Europe.

 
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A monastery of the military orders of the Knights Templars and Knights Hospitallers (also known as the Knights of St John of Jerusalem). Preceptories included provisions for worship and communal living, but were founded to raise revenues to fund the 12th- and 13th-century
ad
crusades to the Holy Land. In the 15th century the Hospitallers directed their revenues towards defending Rhodes from the Turks. Each preceptory provided services and collected dues and voluntary contributions from their districts. In addition, the Templars' preceptories functioned as recruiting and training barracks for the knights. Those of the Hospitallers provided hospices which offered hospitality to pilgrims and travellers and distributed alms to the poor. Lazarine preceptories had leper hospitals attached.

 
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The earliest of seven main subdivisions of Andean prehistory, spanning the period 9000–1800 bc, embraces the time from the earliest human presence in the region down to the first use of ceramics. The Pre-Ceramic stage is usually divided into six subperiods. Subperiods I (before 9000 bc) and II (9500–8000 bc) are characterized by a hunting subsistence base. Subperiod III (8000–6000 bc is seen as transitional from just hunting to hunter-gatherer subsistence. Subperiod IV (6000–4000 bc) sees cyclical seasonal migrations. In subperiod V (4000–2500 bc) sedentary occupation sites first appear, as do monumental structures. In subperiod VI (2500–1800 bc) larger settlements are known and the first agriculture and ceremonial centres appear. The early Pre-Ceramic (I and II) is equivalent to the Palaeo-Indian Stage identified elsewhere in the Americas.

 
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