Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (64 page)

A distinctive class of Neolithic ceremonial monument found in parts of the British Isles, especially England and southern Scotland. Generally over 150m long, bank barrows comprise narrow parallel-sided mounds of earth and stone with a length/breadth ratio in excess of 6:1. Flanking ditches were used as quarries to obtain the material to make the mound. Few have been extensively excavated, but from surface surveys and limited investigations it seems that some were built by extending earlier
LONG BARROWS
while others developed as the episodic enlargement of a simple mound. They date mainly to the early 3rd millennium
bc
, in some cases post-dating the abandonment of causewayed enclosures. Some are closely associated with
CURSUS
monuments. Also known as long mounds.

 
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A small prehistoric settlement occupied from about 1500 bcthrough to about ad 300 south of Ban Chiang in Khorat. After about 500 bc the site was important for metalworking and as the centre of a local tin–bronze industry that specialized in jewellery, axes, and projectile heads. From about 100 bc onwards, iron was also worked at the site, smelted and forged to produce hoes, knives, spearheads, and ornaments. Lead–bronze was also being cast to make, amongst other thing, bells and bowls.
[Rep.: C. Higham , 1984,
Prehistoric investigations in northeast Thailand
. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports International Series 231]

 
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A general term for the late Mesolithic flint industries of Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man characterized by the use of heavy blades and distinguished most especially by the presence of basally retouched flakes (
BANN FLAKES
) and tanged points, and the use of the
LARNIAN
flint-working technique. Peter Woodman has shown that the Bann Culture industries are part of more widely distributed late Mesolithic cultures in Ireland, dating to between 5500 bc and about 3800 bc.

 
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A ground and polished flattish stone object with a single longitudinal perforation commonly found in the American midwest and east. Possibly an
ATLATL
weight or a ceremonial artefact.

 
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A term variously used by different authorities, but at its minimum it is simply a kind of leaf-shaped flake found widely amongst the later Mesolithic assemblages of Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, one component of the
BANN CULTURE
. More strictly, Peter Woodman defines them as large flakes having no significant tang, with light retouch, either as elongated or laminar forms less than 3.2cm across, or as leaf-shaped forms which are broader and have only very peripheral retouch at the butt.

 
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Site of an early Yangshao village, now preserved in a museum at Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, dating to the 5th millennium
bc
. The residential area was enclosed by a ditch, outside of which were cemeteries and an industrial area that included pottery kilns. Dogs and pigs were domesticated while millet was the staple crop. Coarse pottery was cord-marked or stamped, but the finewares were painted in black and red with geometric designs or drawings of animals.
[Rep.: S. Lin , 1981,
Banpo yi zhi zong shu
. Xianggang: Zhong wen da xue chu ban she]

 
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