- 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.