Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (585 page)

 
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A major chronostratigraphic subdivision; the latest of the two
PERIODS
forming the Cenozoic era (the other is the
TERTIARY
), itself composed of two epochs, the
PLEISTOCENE
and the
HOLOCENE
. These terms can be applied to groups of deposits (geostratigraphic subdivisions) as the Quaternary ‘system’ embracing Pleistocene or Holocene ‘series’. The Quaternary system, beginning about 2.4 million years ago, comprises a number of elements that were once seen as a succession of glacial and
INTERGLACIAL
episodes. Deep-sea cores and the analysis of deep-ocean sediments now show this view to be overly simplistic.

 
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Leaf shape comprising four elements or petals radiating from a common centre.

 
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Language of the Incas, called by them Runa Simi, and still spoken in several dialects in the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia.

 
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Relating mainly to the period 1702–14, this style was characterized by the use of red brick, sash windows, and hipped roofs disguised behind parapets. The style was revived in the Victorian period.

 
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Type of timber roof structure in which a pair of uprights (queen posts) rest on a horizontally set tie-beam to support a horizontally set collar connected to the purlins and rafters of the main roof.

 
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An approach to the recovery, interpretation, and presentation of archaeological data and knowledge in a way that actively and explicitly challenges the heteronormativity of scientific practice by seeking to take the perspective of anyone who feels marginalized sexually, intellectually, or culturally. It is not a system of theory to explain something; rather it is an alternative to normative archaeological discourse.