WHAT IS THE COPROLITE ?

COPROLITE: Fossilized or desiccated human or animal feces. The study of these remains can provide information about human or animal activity in that particular locale, such as diet and disease; the study of these remains is called coprology. Coprolites only survive in exceptional circumstances – arid, frozen, and occasionally waterlogged deposits. They can be reconstituted by the addition of chemicals like trisodium phosphate, and can then be analyzed for their plant and animal remains. This gives additional insight into what was being eaten at a site, since the evidence from pollen analysis, or flotation, only suggests what was being grown.

WHAT IS THE CHIOT POTTERY ?

CHIOT POTTERY: Archaic pottery of the Greek island of Chios, though it may also have been made at Naucratis. The pots and chalices had a cream slip and glazed interior. Decoration on the exterior was of scenes with figures; inside were floral patterns.

WHAT IS THE CHEEKPIECE ?

CHEEKPIECE: 1. Part of a horse bridle, a crescent section of brow tine from a deer’s antler, perforated with a central hole or slot for the soft mouthpiece of rope or leather, with perforations above and below for a bifurcate rein. Found in the Early Bronze Age of the Carpathian Basin dating

to the mid 2nd millennium bc. 2. A plate or rod of bone, bronze, leather, or another metal that is attached to the lower rim of a helmet to protect the wearer’s cheeks.

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 CARNELIAN ?

CARNELIAN: A reddish-brown semiprecious stone used for beads, seal stones, and jewelry in antiquity. The Indus Valley civilization, Greeks, and Romans valued the stone. Engraved carnelians in rings and signets have offered information about the manners and customs of ancient Greeks and Romans. It is a translucent variety of the silica mineral chalcedony that owes its color to hematite (iron oxide). Carnelian is usually found in volcanic rocks, such as the Deccan Traps of western India, and is also found in Brazil, Australia, Africa, and the Nile Valley. [cornelian]

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 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 BRONZE AGE ?

BRONZE AGE: Second age of the Three Age System, beginning about 4000– 3000 bc in the Middle East and about 2000–1500 bc in Europe. It followed the Stone Age and preceded the Iron Age and was defined by a shift from stone tools and weapons to the use of bronze. During this time civilization based on agriculture and urban life developed. Trading to obtain tin for making bronze led to the rapid diffusion of ideas and technological improvements. Bronze artifacts were valued highly and became part of many hoards. In the Americas, true bronze was used in northern Argentina before ad 1000 and its use spread to Peru and the Incas. Bronze was never as important in the New World as in the Old. The Bronze Age is often divided into three periods: Early Bronze Age (c. 4000–2000 bc), Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1600 bc), and Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1200 bc) but the chronological limits and the terminology vary from region to region.

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 BODKIN ?

BODKIN: 1. A sharp slender instrument for making holes or for other functions. It may be shaped like a dagger, stiletto, or hairpin. 2. A blunt needle with a large eye for drawing tape or ribbon through a loop or hem.

WHAT IS THE BLUNT ?

BLUNT: A point that abruptly terminates part way up the blade with no true distal point for piercing. Typically the point is chipped in a mild excurvate or straight edge. Some feel that the point may have been used in hunting as a “stunning” weapon. However, most blunts show signs of being a conserved, former projectile, reworked into a handheld or hafted scraper.

WHAT IS THE BLOCK STATUE ?

BLOCK STATUE: A type of sculpture introduced in the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 bc), that represents the subject squatting on the ground with knees drawn up close to the body, under the chin. The arms and legs may be wholly contained within the simple cubic form, with the hands and feet protruding discretely. The 12th dynasty block statue of Sihathor in the British Museum is the earliest dated example. The block statue of Queen Hetepheres, in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is also one of the earliest examples of this type.

WHAT IS THE BLACK FIGURE ?

BLACK FIGURE: A type of Greek pottery that originated in Corinth c. 700 bc and was popular until red-figure pottery, its inverse, began in c. 530 bc. This style consisted of pottery with one or more bands of human and animal figures silhouetted in black against the tan or red ground. The red color was probably taken when the pot was fired. The delineation of the figures was often heightened by the use of incised lines and the addition of white or purple coloring. The figures and ornamentation were drawn on the natural clay surface of a vase in glossy black pigment; the finishing details were incised into the black. The first significant use of the black-figure technique was on proto- Corinthian-style pottery developed in Corinth in the first half of the 7th century bc. The Corinthian painter’s primary ornamental device was the animal frieze. The Athenians, who began to use the technique at the end of the 7th century bc, retained the Corinthian use of animal friezes for decoration until c. 550 bc, when the great Attic painters developed narrative scene decoration and perfected the black-figure style. There were also studios producing black-figure ware in Sparta and eastern Greece. [Black-figure ware; black-figured (adj.)]

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 BICONICAL URN ?

BICONICAL URN: Style of Early Bronze Age pot of northwestern Europe with a deep, largely plain, outwardly flared body. Above that is a sharp carination, decorated and sometimes with an applied cordon, and an inwardly angled neck with impressed cord designs. The rim is typically beveled and lightly ornamented.

WHAT IS THE BICONICAL DRILLING ?

BICONICAL DRILLING: A means of perforating beads or pendants for suspension. Accomplished by drilling in from both sides with a tapered drill resulting in an hourglass-shaped hole.

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.