scrapers, and split-based bone points.
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aurochs [Sp].
The wild ancestor of domestic cattle (Bos primigenius), found widely throughout Europe and Asia in early post-glacial times. It generally inhabited open woodland, and with its dark coat and great bulk (up to 1.8m high at the shoulder and weighing up to 1 tonne) it was an impressive beast. Aurochs became extinct during the late medieval period in Europe as a result of hunting and interbreeding.
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Australian Small Tool Tradition [CP].
Stone tool assemblages characteristic of hunter-gatherer communities across Australia, but not Tasmania, during the period 3000 bc through to European contact. The tool types represented include hafted implements, such as Bondi points, a range of bifacial and unifacial points and projectile tips, microliths in geometric forms, and a variety of blade-based items. There is considerable spatial variation in the composition of the Australian Small Tool Tradition, and its unity and integrity has been called into question. The introduction of the dingo into Australia has sometimes been linked with the adoption and spread of the Australian Small Tool Tradition.
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Australopithecus [Sp].
Early hominid reconstructed as being bipedal but small-brained. The earliest specimens, classified as Australopithecus afarensis come from East Africa and date to about 3.75 million years ago, although claims of still greater age have been made on fragments of fossil bone from Lothagam in Kenya which date to about 5 million years ago. Australopithecus africanus has been recognized at about 2–3 million years ago in southern Africa. Both A. afarensis and A. africanus have a relatively light build and are considered ‘gracile’ australopithecines. Many regard them as direct human ancestors. A more robust australopithecine (A. robustus/ paranthropus) is known from a number of sites in Kenya at about 2 million years ago when it seems to have been contemporary with Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
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autocratic military rule [Ge].
Rule by a specific military leader, who concentrates power in his own hands.
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autonomous invention [Th].
The development of a new technology, artefact, or style which is similar to one that already exists in another time or place but which has come about completely independently. Many important discoveries and inventions have been made several times over, for example: the domestication of plants and animals; metalworking; and writing.
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auxilia [Ge].
Latin name for the units comprising auxiliaries or non-citizens in the Roman army, usually 500 or 100 strong.
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Avebury, Lord (1834–1913) [Bi].
See LUBBOCK .
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Avebury, Wiltshire, UK [Si].
The largest and finest henge monument in Britain set on the rolling chalk downlands of southern England near the headwaters of the River Kennet. The great ditch encloses an area of 11.5ha and has a diameter of 350m. On the inner edge of the ditch stood a ring of 98 stones. Near the centre of the henge were two smaller stone circles with internal settings. Limited excavation within the interior of the site revealed very little, as is the case at most henge monuments. It is, however, known that prior to its construction in about 2100 bc some or all of the area was under cultivation.
Two avenues of upright stones led away from Avebury, connecting it to the wider landscape. The Beckhampton Avenue to the southwest has largely disappeared, but the West Kennet Avenue to the southeast remains, in part reconstructed.
At the southeastern end of the West Kennet Avenue is the Sanctuary, a complicated and long-lived monument that started its life as a series of timber circles. Two rings of stone slabs were later added and it is the outer of these that connects
Back -
New Search
aurochs [Sp].
The wild ancestor of domestic cattle (Bos primigenius), found widely throughout Europe and Asia in early post-glacial times. It generally inhabited open woodland, and with its dark coat and great bulk (up to 1.8m high at the shoulder and weighing up to 1 tonne) it was an impressive beast. Aurochs became extinct during the late medieval period in Europe as a result of hunting and interbreeding.
Back -
New Search
Australian Small Tool Tradition [CP].
Stone tool assemblages characteristic of hunter-gatherer communities across Australia, but not Tasmania, during the period 3000 bc through to European contact. The tool types represented include hafted implements, such as Bondi points, a range of bifacial and unifacial points and projectile tips, microliths in geometric forms, and a variety of blade-based items. There is considerable spatial variation in the composition of the Australian Small Tool Tradition, and its unity and integrity has been called into question. The introduction of the dingo into Australia has sometimes been linked with the adoption and spread of the Australian Small Tool Tradition.
Back -
New Search
Australopithecus [Sp].
Early hominid reconstructed as being bipedal but small-brained. The earliest specimens, classified as Australopithecus afarensis come from East Africa and date to about 3.75 million years ago, although claims of still greater age have been made on fragments of fossil bone from Lothagam in Kenya which date to about 5 million years ago. Australopithecus africanus has been recognized at about 2–3 million years ago in southern Africa. Both A. afarensis and A. africanus have a relatively light build and are considered ‘gracile’ australopithecines. Many regard them as direct human ancestors. A more robust australopithecine (A. robustus/ paranthropus) is known from a number of sites in Kenya at about 2 million years ago when it seems to have been contemporary with Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
Back -
New Search
autocratic military rule [Ge].
Rule by a specific military leader, who concentrates power in his own hands.
Back -
New Search
autonomous invention [Th].
The development of a new technology, artefact, or style which is similar to one that already exists in another time or place but which has come about completely independently. Many important discoveries and inventions have been made several times over, for example: the domestication of plants and animals; metalworking; and writing.
Back -
New Search
auxilia [Ge].
Latin name for the units comprising auxiliaries or non-citizens in the Roman army, usually 500 or 100 strong.
Back -
New Search
Avebury, Lord (1834–1913) [Bi].
See LUBBOCK .
Back -
New Search
Avebury, Wiltshire, UK [Si].
The largest and finest henge monument in Britain set on the rolling chalk downlands of southern England near the headwaters of the River Kennet. The great ditch encloses an area of 11.5ha and has a diameter of 350m. On the inner edge of the ditch stood a ring of 98 stones. Near the centre of the henge were two smaller stone circles with internal settings. Limited excavation within the interior of the site revealed very little, as is the case at most henge monuments. It is, however, known that prior to its construction in about 2100 bc some or all of the area was under cultivation.
Two avenues of upright stones led away from Avebury, connecting it to the wider landscape. The Beckhampton Avenue to the southwest has largely disappeared, but the West Kennet Avenue to the southeast remains, in part reconstructed.
At the southeastern end of the West Kennet Avenue is the Sanctuary, a complicated and long-lived monument that started its life as a series of timber circles. Two rings of stone slabs were later added and it is the outer of these that connects
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