Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (719 page)

 
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Literally, Latin for the ‘time before which’. A datable layer or structure in an archaeological sequence gives a TAQ dating endpoint for the deposition of all layers and material stratigraphically below it.

 
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Literally, Latin for the ‘time after which’. A datable object provides a TPQ for the layer in which it is found, and all deposits stratigraphically above it, in the sense that the layer(s) must have been deposited some time after the date at which the object was manufactured.

 
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A graph that allows three variables to be plotted simultaneously, usually taking the form of an equilateral triangle with one scale along each side.

 
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terp
(pl.
terpen
)
[MC].

A type of artificial mound found in late prehistoric and migration periods of northwest Europe, especially along the Frisian coastlands, created by the continual remaking of clay floors and deposition of rubbish. Terpen, or Wierden, in Germany, supported small settlements and are typically found in areas regularly threatened by flooding. Excavation shows that terpen were densely populated with numerous buildings. The economic base of terp settlements appears to have been stock-raising and fishing.

 
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Open-air Palaeolithic settlement with Acheulian associations dating to about 380000 years ago near modern-day Nice in southern France. Excavated by Henry De Lumley in 1966, the site overlooks the coast and was found to have eleven main levels of occupation suggesting period revisitation of the spot over many years, perhaps in the spring or early summer. The imprints of small wooden posts suggested that temporary huts had been erected with stones pinning the base of the walls to the ground. The huts were oval between 7m and 15m long and 4m to 6m wide. A small hearth was found in the centre of each successive hut.
[Sum.: H. De Lumley , 1969, A Palaeolithic camp site at Nice.
Scientific American
, 220, 42–50]

 
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