floral remains: remnants of past vegetation found in archaeological sites (see microfloral remains). Useful in the reconstruction of past environments.

　　fluvial deposits: sediments laid down by running water.

　　frequency seriation: a relative dating method which relies principally on measuring changes in the proportional abundance, or frequency, observed among finds (e.g. counts of tool types, or of ceramic fabrics).

　　functionalism: the theory that all elements of a culture are functional in that they serve to satisfy culturally defined needs of the people in that society or requirements of the society as a whole.

　　G

　　geochemical analysis: the investigatory technique which involves taking soil samples at regular intervals from the surface of a site, and measuring their phosphate content and other chemical properties.

　　grave goods (also: "grave inclusions", "mortuary goods", etc.): tools, weapons, food, or ceremonial objects placed with a burial.

　　graver: a small pointed or chisel-like stone tool used for incising or engraving.

　　grid-system: a system of rectangular excavation or sampling units laid over a site by strings and stakes.

　　ground reconnaissance: a collective name for a wide variety of methods for identifying individual archaeolog ical sites, including consultation of documentary sources, place-name evidence, local folklore, and legend, but primarily actual fieldwork.

　　ground stone: stone artifacts shaped by sawing, grinding, and/or polishing with abrasive materials (e.g. "ground slate knives", "polished soapstone pendants" etc.).

　　H

　　hand-level: a small, simple, hand-held surveying instrument for establishing horizontal lines-of-sight over short distances.

　　historical archaeology: the archaeological study of historically documented cultures. In North America, research is directed at colonial and post-colonial settlement, analogous to the study of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Europe.

　　historical particularism: a detailed descriptive approach to anthropology associated with Franz Boas and his students, and designed as an alternative to the broad generalizing approach favored by anthropologists such as Morgan and Tylor.

　　historiographic approach: a form of explanation based primarily on traditional descriptive historical frameworks.

　　hoards: deliberately buried groups of valuables or prized possessions, often in times of conflict or war, and which, for one reason or another, have not been reclaimed. Metal hoards are a primary source of evidence for the European Bronze Age.

　　holocene: the post-glacial period, beginning about 10,000 B.P.

　　horizontal datum: a base measuring point ("0.0 point") used as the origin of rectangular coordinate systems for mapping or for maintaining excavation provenience.

　　horizontal provenience: the location of an object on a two-dimensional plane surface.

　　house-pit: an aboriginally excavated house floor.

　　hypothetico-deductive explanation: a form of explanation based on the formulation of hypotheses and the establishment from them by deduction of consequences which can then be tested against the archaeological data.

　　I

　　iconography: an important component of cognitive archaeology, this involves the study of artistic representations which usually have an overt religious or ceremonial significance; e.g. individual deities may be distinguished, each with a special characteristic, such as corn with the corn god, or the sun with a sun goddess etc.

　　idealist explanation: a form of explanation that lays great stress on the search for insights into the historical circumstances leading up to the event under study in terms primarily of the ideas and motives of the individuals involved.

　　in situ: archaeological items are said to be "in situ " when they are found in the location where they were last deposited.


　　industry: all the artifacts in a site that are made from the same material, such as the bone industry.

　　Iron Age: a cultural stage characterized by the use of iron as the main metal.

　　isotopic analysis: an important source of information on the reconstruction of prehistoric diets, this technique analyzes the ratios of the principal isotopes preserved in human bone; in effect the method reads the chemical signatures left in the body by different foods. Isotopic analysis is also used in characterization studies.

　　K

　　kill-site: a type of special activity site where large game animals were killed and butchered.