WHAT IS THE MORTLAKE WARE?

A family of elaborately decorated Neolithic ceramics found in southern and eastern parts of the British Isles. Dating to the period 3000–2000 bc, Isobel Smith divided Peterborough wares into three successive styles – Ebbsfleet, Mortlake, and Fengate – on the basis of their occurrence in the ditch fills at Windmill Hill. It is now recognized that these three groups overlap rather more than originally thought, and that they are best seen as part of the broad group of impressed wares found over much of northern Europe in the 3rd millennium bc. The decoration on Peterborough ware consists of pits, “maggot impressions” made by impressing tightly rolled cord, and the impressions made by pressing the ends of bird bones into the soft clay before firing. Some of the later vessels are the first in Britain to be made with flat bases. [Peterborough ware]

WHAT IS THE MINYAN WARE?

A distinctive Middle Helladic pottery – a gray or yellow wheelmade ware of high quality first appearing at Troy VI and in Greece c. 19th century bc. It was the first wheelmade pottery to be produced in Middle Bronze Age Greece. It was ancestral to Mycenaean pottery, and may represent a movement of new peoples into the Aegean area, the first Greek speakers. Traditionally it has been associated with an apparently violent end to the Early Helladic culture, c. 2000–1900 bc, and the arrival of Greek-speaking peoples in the Aegean. The term was coined by Heinrich Schliemann. The ware had a soap-like feeling and its forms were modeled after metal objects.

WHAT IS THE KLEROTERION?

An ancient machine used to decide who would serve on a jury in courts of law. There are surviving examples, such as the one from the Agora at Athens. Different colored balls would drop when tickets were inserted; the color determined acceptance or rejection.

WHAT IS THE CONG ?

CONG: A tubular, jade object, circular on the inside and enclosed in a rectangular body, made in various sizes and used for ritual purposes in ancient China. Cong were described in ancient Chinese texts as symbols of rank and were used as ritual objects primarily in the Shang (18th to 12th century bc) and Zhou/Chou (1111–255 bc) dynasties. They have been found in graves, arranged with bidisks around the corpses of the elite. The cong is thought to have symbolized Earth or possibly to have been an astronomical                                                                                         instrument. [ts’ung]

WHAT IS THE CINERARIUM ?

CINERARIUM: A place for depositing the ashes of the dead after cremation; a niche in a tomb for holding an urn of ashes or a sarcophagus.

WHAT IS THE CHRYSELEPHANTINE STATUE ?

CHRYSELEPHANTINE STATUE: A type of figurine sculpture made of ivory and gold. The flesh was of ivory and the drapery of gold. These were produced in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete, and in Greece from the 6th century bc. They were often colossal cult figures placed in the interiors of major temples, such as that of Minerva by Pheidias, which stood in the Acropolis at Athens and was 12 m (40 feet) high, and that of Zeus, 13.7 m (45 feet) high, also by Pheidias, in the temple of Olympia.

WHAT IS THE CASTING ?

CASTING: 1. Casting that consists of pouring molten metal into a mold, where it solidifies into the shape of the mold. The process was well established in the Bronze Age (beginning c. 3000 bc), when it was used to form bronze pieces. It is particularly valuable for the economical production of complex shapes, from mass-produced parts to one-ofa- kind items or even large machinery. Three principal techniques of casting were successively developed in prehistoric Europe: one-piece stone molds for flat-faced objects; clay or stone piece molds that could be dismantled and reused; and one-off clay molds for complex shapes made in one piece around a wax or lead pattern (cire perdue). Every metal with a low enough melting point was exploited in early Europe, except iron and steel, and used for casting artifacts. 2. A process for forming a ceramic object by pouring a clay slip into a hollow, porous (usually plaster) mold and leaving it there long enough for a layer of clay to settle and thicken on the mold wall. The remaining slip is poured off, and the object is removed from the mold when it has dried. [slip casting, solid casting]

WHAT IS THE CANTHARUS ?

CANTHARUS: in Greek antiquity, a large, two-handled drinking cup. This type of pottery cup was made in Greek-speaking areas and in Etruria between the 8th and the 1st centuries bc and had a deep bowl, a foot, and pair of high vertical handles. It was often consecrated to personifications of Bacchus. [kantharos]

WHAT IS THE CALABASH ?

CALABASH: Hollow shell of a gourd or pumpkin or the fruit of the calabash tree, used as a storage or drinking vessel. Such a shell was used for household utensils, water bottles, kettles, musical instruments, etc. It is round or oval and hard enough to be used in boiling liquids over a fire.

WHAT IS THE BURIAL MOUND PERIOD ?

BURIAL MOUND PERIOD: Penultimate period of eastern North American prehistoric chronology, from 1000 bc to ad 700. Formulated in 1941 by J. A. Ford and Godon Willey, the total chronology, from early to late, is Paleoindian, Archaic, Burial Mound, and Temple Mound. The Burial Mound I period (1000–300 bc) covers the transition from Late Archaic to Early Woodland ways of life and is associated especially with the Adena culture. Burial Mound II (300 bc to ad 700) is associated especially with Middle and Late Woodland groups, especially the Hopewell.

WHAT IS THE BUDDHAGUPTA STONE ?

BUDDHAGUPTA STONE: A Sanskrit language inscription of c. 5th century ad from western Malaysia, due to trade by Buddhists of Southeast Asia. Related inscriptions have been found in Borneo and Brunei.

WHAT IS THE BRONZE MIRROR ?

BRONZE MIRROR: Any of the smooth-faced bronze disks of eastern Asia in the late 2nd millennium bc. These cast-decorated items became important to the Han dynasty elite in China. In Korea and Japan they were used for rituals or ceremonies.

WHAT IS THE BRASS ?

BRASS: General name for alloys of copper with zinc or tin, with the proportions about 70–90% copper and 10–30% of the other base metal. It is possible that due to difficulties in introducing the zinc ore calamine into the melt, brass appeared later in use than bronze (copper and tin) and other copper alloys. Mosaic gold, pinchbeck, and prince’s metal are varieties of brass differing in the proportions of the ingredients. Corinthian brass is an alloy of gold, silver, and copper.

WHAT IS THE BOUFFIOULX STONEWARE ?

BOUFFIOULX STONEWARE: the Bouffioulx region has been producing ceramics for almost 500 years. Many artists contributed to the revival of the Bouffioulx genre in the first part of the 20th century when producing hand-thrown stoneware artworks, known today as the grès d’art of Bouffioulx.

WHAT IS THE BIRCH-BARK MANUSCRIPT ?

BIRCH-BARK MANUSCRIPT: Early Russian letters and documents scratched onto thin pieces of birch bark, dating to the 11th to 15th centuries ad. They were first found in 1951 in Novgorod by A. Artsikhovski and form a very important source of information as no other documents earlier than the 13th century have survived because of frequent fires in the wooden cities of Old Russia. The manuscripts are quite well preserved from layers of organic materials. [birch-bark beresty]

WHAT IS THE BIG HORN MEDICINE WHEEL?

BIG HORN MEDICINE WHEEL: A medicine wheel in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming that consists of a D-shaped stone cairn from which 28 individual stone spokes radiate. The outer circumference has six smaller cairns. The feature may be astronomically aligned.

WHAT IS THE BIFID RAZOR ?

BIFID RAZOR: Type of tool, possibly a razor, of the Middle Bronze Age of Europe, with two ovate, sharp-edged lobes of thin metal attached to a central tang.

WHAT IS THE BI DISK ?

BI DISK: A flat jade disk with a small hole in the center, made in ancient China for ceremonial purposes, possibly symbolizing heaven. Bi disks have also been described in ancient Chinese texts as a symbol of rank. Jade disks and disklike axes have been found in 4th and 3rd millennium bc graves at east-coast Neolithic sites such as Beiyinyangying. Polished stone disk segments are known still earlier at Banpo. [bi]

WHAT IS THE BEWCASTLE CROSS ?

BEWCASTLE CROSS: A runic standing cross monument in the churchyard of Bewcastle, Northumberland, northern England, dating from the late 7th or early 8th century. Although the top of the cross has been lost, the 4.5 m (15-foot) shaft remains, with distinct panels of the figures of Christ in Majesty, St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist, while on the back there is an inhabited vinescroll. Like the Ruthwell Cross, that at Bewcastle possesses a poem inscribed in runic script. The worn inscription suggests that the monument was a memorial to Alchfrith, son of Oswiu of Northumbria, and his wife Cyneburh (Cyniburug). It is one of the finest examples of early Christian Northumbrian art.

WHAT IS THE BETYL ?

BETYL: A sacred stone, often a standing stone fashioned into a conical shape.