Absolute dates

In chronology, absolute dates are those obtained using methods that only taken into account intrinsic characteristics of a given object, such as its carbon 14 content or, for historical periods, when an object carries the mention of a date, as is the case with coins or epigraphic inscriptions.

Acculturation

Process by which on humain group assimilate some or all of the cultural values of another human group.

Achenes

Dried fruits that consist of a single grain and that do not open at maturity. The small capsules found on the surface of strawberry are achenes.

Anthropic

Resulting from the action of man.

Articulated

To describe parts or all of a skeleton whose original anatomic layout has been preserved.

Artifact

Object produced or modified by people.

Aurochs

Species of large wild ox, today extinct.

Bastillage

Variations de niveau d'un plan d'eau.

Batardeaux

Digue, barrage provisoire pour assécher le terrain où l'on a des travaux à faire.

Battens

Horizontal pieces of wood to which roofing elements are attached.

Bizardes

S'applique au cerf : se dit d'une tête anormale dont les bois sont déformés.

Brêlage

Assemblage de deux pièces de bois à l'aide de liens.

Calcicole

Qui pousse bien en sol calcaire.

Corniformes

Représentations d'animaux cornus, en l'occurence des bœufs.

Cortaillod

Swiss Neolithic civilization named after the village of Cortaillod in the canton of Neuchâtel (first half of 4th millenium).

Drill

Instrument used to take core samples of soil.

Étiage

Le plus bas niveau des eaux.

Évaluation archéologique

Ensemble d'opérations permettant de déterminer le potentiel archéologique d'une zone considérée.

Excavation unit

Surface of an archaelogical site that is explored integrally.

Faciès culturel

Groupe culturel régional à l'intérieur de l'aire générale d'une civilisation.

Facies variations

Variation in the nature or composition of a layer of sediment.

Ferrières

The Ferrières culture occupied a vast region that extended form the Rhône as far as the Aude River. They created the oldest dolmens (megalithic burial chambers) in the Languedoc region. The culture takes its name from the site of Ferrières-lès-Verreries (late 4th-early 3rd millenium).

Fondière

Affaissement, trou plein d'eau ou de boue dans un chemin défoncé.

Glaciolacustrine

Deposit resulting from glacial erosion and lacustrine (lake) sediment.

Gueule

Encoche profonde aménagée à l'extrémité supérieure d'un poteau, destinée à recevoir un bois horizontal.

Herminette

Hachette dont le tranchant est orienté perpendiculairement à l'axe du manche.

Horgen culture

Late Neolithic civilization (3,400-2,800 BCE.), named after a site on the shores of lake Zurich.

Itinerant agriculture

Agriculture that uses open spaces in a forest. These spaces are cultivated for a few years and then abandoned, leaving the forest to reclaim them.

Lateral sedimentary variability

Variation in the nature or composition of a layer of sediment.

Lunulae

Large semicircular ornament worn over the throat and upper chest.

Marqueurs ethniniques

Système de signes qu'utilise un groupe humain pour se démarquer de ses voisins et afficher son autonomie.

Merlin

Instrument s'apparentant à la masse, au maillet, au marteau.

Moraine

Accumulation of rock debris carried by a glacier.

Morainiques

Moraine : accumulation de débris de roche entraînés par un glacier.

Mortise

Slot cut into a piece of wood, into which is inserted the tenon of another piece of wood, stone, etc.

Néolithique Moyen Bourguignon

Faciès culturel du Néolithique de l'Est de la France, daté de la première moitié du IVe millénaire avant notre ère.

Overdetermined

Invested with a higher value in the area of social representations.

Palimpsest

A parchment manuscript that has been re-used, but on which the original text, although erased, remains more or less readable.

Palynologique

Discipline fondant son objet sur l'étude des pollens.

Pfyn

Swiss Neolithic civilzation named after the Pfyn-Breitenloo archaelogical site in the canton of Thurgau (first half of the 4th millenium).

Primary position

Describes an archaeological vestige discovered in its original setting, i. e. not having been moved during sedimentation processes.

Primeval forest

Forest that is untouched by cutting, or that has returned to a natural state after a century or more of regeneration.

Radiocarbone

Carbone 14.

Retouched

Reworked and made more even by removing small flakes of stone from the edges.

Retting

Isolating fibers by soaking them in water.

Sledge

A hauling device resting on its single rear point that acted as a runner. The front part was raised.

Sparterie

Objets faits de fibres végétales vannées ou tissées.

Swing-plough

A simple plowing device with no forewheel or moldboard.

Tar

Pasty residue obtained by distilling organic matter.

Typological

In this case a question of distinguishing categories of posts that share the same characteristics, such as the type of wood or the technique used to prepare the trunk.

Wallplate

Piece of wood positioned horizontally that supports other pieces of wood.

Winnowed

Shaken in a basket to separate the grains from the chaff.