WHAT IS THE ANIMAL STYLE ?

ANIMAL STYLE: A term describing a type of gold production whose themes were animals and which arose from the Scythians, a seminomadic people from the Eurasian steppes who moved from southern Russia into the territory between the Don and the Danube and then into Mesopotamia. During the 5th to 4th centuries bc, this style appeared on shaped, pierced plaques made of gold and silver, which showed running or fighting animals (reindeer, lions, tigers, horses) alone or in pairs facing each other. The animal style had a strong influence in western Asia during the 7th century bc. Ornaments such as necklaces, bracelets, pectorals, diadems, and earrings making up the Ziwiye treasure (found in Iran near the border of Azerbaijan) show evidence of highly expressive animal forms. This Central Asian Scythian–Iranian style passed by way of Phoenician trading in the 8th century bc into the Mediterranean and into Western jewelry. The most popular themes are antlered stags, ibexes, felines, birds of prey and, above all, the animal-combat motif, which shows a predator, usually bird or feline, attacking a herbivore. The joining of different animals and the use of tiny animal figures to decorate the body of an animal are also characteristic. Animal bodies were also contorted – animals curved into circles and quadrupeds with hindquarters inverted. The term is shorthand for this complex of motifs and treatments, which for long periods represented the art of the vast steppe zone of Europe and Asia. The transformations they underwent in the course of their long history on the steppes often leave the sources and affiliations of particular versions obscure.

WHAT IS THE ANDEAN CHRONOLOGY ?

ANDEAN CHRONOLOGY: chronological systems of the Central Andes area with two main stages, Preceramic and Ceramic. The Ceramic is broken down into: Initial Period, 1900–1200 bc, Early Horizon 1200–300 bc, Early Intermediate Period 300 bc to ad 700, Middle Horizon 700–1100, Late Intermediate Period 1100–1438/1478, and Late Horizon 1438–1532. These Horizon periods are times of widespread unity in cultural traits. Intermediate periods are times of cultural diversification.

WHAT IS THE ANCESTOR BUST ?

ANCESTOR BUST: Small, painted, apelike busts that were the focus of ancestor worship in Egypt’s New Kingdom. Many were of limestone or sandstone, with some smaller examples made of wood and clay.

Limestone Ancestor Bust

WHAT IS THE ANAGLYPH ?

ANAGLYPH: a term describing any work of art that is carved, chased, embossed, or sculptured – such as bas-reliefs, cameos, or other raised working of a material. Materials which are incised or sunken are called intaglios or diaglyphs. The Egyptians also used the term anaglyphs for a kind of secret writing.

WHAT IS THE ANACHRONISTIC ?

ANACHRONISTIC: pertaining to the representation of something as existing or occurring at other than in its proper time, particularly earlier, and involving or containing anything out of its proper time.

WHAT IS THE AMPHORA ?

AMPHORA: A large Greek or Roman earthenware storage jar, with a narrowneck and mouth and two handles (“two-eared,” each called an anem) at the top. The body of the jar is usually oval and long, with a pointed bottom. It was used for holding or transporting liquids, especially wine or oil, and other substances such as resin. Its shape made it easy to handle and ideal for tying onto a mule’s or donkey’s back. They were often placed side by side in upright positions in a sandfloored cellar; sinking them into the sand or ground kept the contents cool. Amphorae were also made of glass, onyx, gold, stone, and brass and some had conventional jar bottoms with a flat surface. The container

would be sealed when full, and the handle usually carried an amphora stamp, impressed before firing, giving details such as the source, the potter’s name, the date, and the capacity. Amphorae were probably not normally reused. [amphorae (pl.)]

WHAT IS THE ALBARELLO ?

ALBARELLO: a late medieval (15th to 18th centuries) Near East, Spanish, and Italian apothecary pottery jar. It was made in the form known as majolica or with a fine tin glaze over typically blue designs imitating the forms of Arabic script. Its basic shape was cylindrical but incurvedand wide-mouthed for holding, using, and shelving. They average 18 cm (7 inches) high and are free of handles, lips, and spouts. A piece of paper or parchment was tied around the rim as a cover for the jar. Drug jars from Persia, Syria, and Egypt were introduced into Italy bythe 15th century, and luster-decorated pots influenced by the Moors in Spain entered through Sicily. Spanish and Islamic influence is apparent in the colors used in the decoration of early 15th-century Italian albarelli, which are often blue on white. A conventional oakleaf and floral design, combining handsomely with heraldic shields or with scrollwork and an inscribed label, frequently occurs. Geometric patterns are also common. By the end of the 18th century, albarelli had yielded to other containers. Albarelli have occasionally been found in Britain and the Netherlands. [albarelli ]

WHAT IS THE ADZE ?

ADZE: A cutting tool, similar to an ax, in which the blade is set at right angles to the handle or haft. One of the earliest tools, it was widely distributed in Stone Age cultures in the form of a handheld stone chipped to form a blade. By Egyptian times, it was made ofstone, metal, or shell and had acquired the handle. It is distinguished from the ax (working edge parallel with the haft) by its asymmetrical cross-section. This carpenter’s tool was used for rough dressing of timber and possibly for tree felling and for hollowing out a dugout canoe. The adze also was used in the ritual ceremony

“opening of the mouth” in Egypt; touching it to the mouth of the mummy or statue of the deceased was thought to restore the senses. [adz, adze blade]

WHAT IS THE ADENA ROSSVIILLE POINT ?

ADENA ROSSVILLE POINT: Contracting stemmed point with a narrower section at the base than the main part of the arrowhead point.

WHAT IS THE ADENA, ADENA POINT ?

ADENA: a widespread Native American culture of the Early Woodland period in the Ohio Valley and named after the Adena Mounds of Ross County. It is known for its ceremonial and complex burial practices involving the construction of mounds and by a high level of craftwork and pottery. It is dated from as early as c. 1250 bc and flourished between c. 700 and 200 bc. It is ancestral to the Hopewell culture in that region. It was also remarkable for long-distance trading and the beginnings of agriculture. The mounds (e.g., Grave Creek Mound) are usually conical and they became most common around 500 bc. There was also cremation. Artifacts include birdstones, blocked-end smoking pipes, boatstones, cord-marked pottery, engraved stone tablets, and hammerstones. Artifacts distinctive of Adena include a tubular pipe style, mica cutouts, copper bracelets and cutouts, incised tablets, stemmed projectile points, oval bifaces, concave and reel-shaped gorgets, and thick ceramic vessels decorated with incised geometric designs. [Adena point]

WHAT IS THE ADDITIVE AND ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY ?

ADDITIVE: An organic or mineral material mixed with clay by the potter to modify its properties in forming, drying, and firing.

ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY: manufacturing processes in which material is added to an original mass to form an artifact. Ceramic production and basketmaking are additive technologies. 

WHAT IS THE AD ?

AD: used as a prefix to a date, it indicates years after the birth of Christ or the beginning of the Christian calendar. Anno Domini (Latin) means “In the year of our Lord.” The lower case “ad” represents uncalibrated radiocarbon years and ad denotes a calibrated radiocarbon date or a historic date that does not need calibration. There is no year 0; 1 bc is followed by ad 1.

WHAT IS THE ACROTERION ?

ACROTERION:  A sculptured figure, tripod, disk, or urn, made of bronze, marble, or terra cotta, placed on the apex of the pediment of a Greek temple or other substantial building.

WHAT IS THE ACRATOPHORUM ?

ACRATOPHORUM: a Greek and Roman table vessel for holding pure wine, as opposed to the crater which held wine mixed with water. This vessel was often made of earthenware and metal, though some were gold or silver.

WHAT IS THE ACQUISITION ?

AQUISITION: First stage of the behavioral processes (followed by manufacture, use, and deposition), in which raw materials are procured. 

WHAT IS THE ACOUSTIC VASE ?

ACOUSTIC VASE: large earthenware or bronze vases that were used to strengthen actors’ voices and were placed in bell towers to help boost the sound of church bells. A church in Westphalia contains fine 9thcentury Badorf wares, and larger relief-band amphorae were used in 10th- and 11th-century churches. [acoustic vessel] 

WHAT IS THE ACLIS ?

ACLIS: A small javelin or harpoon, consisting of a thick short pole set with spikes. This massive weapon resembles a trident or angon. [aclys, aclyx]

WHAT IS THE ACISCULUS ?

ACISCULUS: A small pick used by stone-cutters and masons in early Roman times.

WHAT IS THE ACHZIB WARE ?

ACHZIB WARE: A Phoenician, Iron Age II, red-slip pottery type consisting primarily of jugs with a trefoil mouth of “mushroom” rims, red slipped, and highly burnished.

WHAT IS THE ACERAMIC AND ACERAMIC NEOLITHIC ?

ACERAMIC: Without pottery or not using pottery; a term applied to periods and societies in which pottery is not used, especially in contrast to other periods of ceramic use and with neighboring ceramic cultures. Aceramic societies may use bark, basketry, gourds, leather, etc. for containers.

ACERAMIC NEOLITHIC: early part of the Neolithic period in western Asia before the widespread use of pottery (c. 8500–6000 bc) in an economy based on the cultivation of crops or the rearing of animals or both. Aceramic Neolithic groups were in the Levant (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B), Zagros area (Karim Shahir, Jarmoan), and Anatolia (Hacilar Aceramic Neolithic). Aceramic Neolithic groups are rarer outside western Asia.