Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (795 page)

Middle Archaic Stage burial ground dating to the period 5000–6000 bc, in a peat bog near Cape Canaveral. The site, which had remarkable preservation because of the waterlogged conditions, was excavated by G. Doran in 1982. The burials were flexed. Seven types of woven textiles, probably of palmetto fibre, have been identified, including blankets, mats, and a bag deposited with the deceased. One twelve-year-old was buried with a range of grave goods including a stone biface, bone awls, a shark's tooth, and barbed bone points. A bottle gourd was recovered from one grave, the earliest example known in North America. Preserved brains were found in over 80 of the bodies; these are currently the subject of detailed investigations and DNA analysis.
[Sum.: R. C. Brown , 1994,
Florida's first people: 12000 years of human history
. Sarasata: Pineapple Press]

 
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Fermented grape juice prepared as an alcoholic drink and of considerable antiquity in the Old World. Grape seeds have been found in archaeological contexts from the
LOWER PALAEOLITHIC
onwards, although it is uncertain whether these early finds relate to the production of alcoholic drinks or were simply a food source. The earliest certain remains of wine recorded to date is the sediment in an amphora dated to about 3500 bc from Godin Tepe in Iran. Ceramic vessels developed for the storage and consumption of wine appear from Bronze Age times onwards in the eastern and central Mediterranean. The wild vine (Vitis vinifera sylvestris) was once widely distributed around the Mediterranean and between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It was in this last-mentioned area, in Armenia and southern Georgia, for example, that vines were probably first domesticated in the 4th millennium
bc
(Vitis vinifera sativa). Trade in wine developed rapidly from the mid 3rd millennium onwards, and it is the containers used to transport wine (mainly amphorae but later barrels as well) that allow reconstructions of the process to be made from archaeological evidence.

 
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A metal cap covering the end of a sword scabbard that has one or more projecting ribs or wings so that a swordsman riding on horseback can hold the scabbard with the heel of his boot while drawing his sword singlehandedly. Winged chapes are especially characteristic of the European later Bronze Age (Hallstatt C) where they are a sure indicator of cavalry warfare.

 
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Style of Roman house in which a corridor or verandah runs along the front of the building giving access to rooms in the main range and linking to a pair of flanking wings, one at either end. Good examples have been excavated in Britain at Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire, and Folkstone, Kent. Additions to the basic plan sometimes mean that winged corridor villas achieve an H-shaped plan, as at Hambleden, Buckinghamshire. Winged corridor villas are not confined to Britain, however, as they are also common in France, Belgium, and Germany.

 
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Final geostratigraphic stage of the Pleistocene in upper North America, dating to the period
c.
75000 to 8000 bc. Five substages are generally recognized: the
Altonian
(75000–25000 bc), with loess sedimentation in a cold climate with some glacial advances;
Farmdalian
(25000–2500 bc), cool interstadial;
Woodfordian
(22500–10500 bc), with a major glacial advance and retreat in a cold climate;
Twocreekan
(10500–9800 bc), interstadial with soil formation in a cool climate;
Greatlakean
(9800–8000 bc), with a minor glacial re-advance followed by a general warming of the climate.
PALAEO-INDIAN
remains have been recorded in deposits relating to the last two substages.

 
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