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Archaeology Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Archaeology | to study what is ancient |
| artifact | object created or produced by humans then left behind |
| bog | wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter (acidic soil) |
| coprolites | preserved feces (POOP) |
| decompose | to break down or rot |
| dendrochronology | study of of tree rings to date wooden remains |
| excavate | to remove or expose by digging |
| locus | a specific location in which artifacts are found |
| Mt. Vesuvius | volcano located between the cities of Pompeii and herculaneum, erupted |
| Pompeii | Roman city destroyed in 79 A.D by the vocanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius |
| preserve | to keep an item in tact (uninjured) so that it will not decay |
| site | a place or area to be excavated |
| stratified site | place people have lived thousands of years and built settlements, one on top of another |
| funerary objects | objects buried with the dead |
| hieroglyphics | picture-symbol writing developed in ancient Egypt |
| mosaic | picture made from small pieces of rock or glass |
| ostraca | broken piece of pottery on which there is writing |
| papyrus | first form of paper made from the papyrus plant in ancient Egypt |
| quipus | groups of knotted strings used as an early calendar and as a way of recording events, keeping accounts, or sending messages |
| rosetta stone | archaeological discovery that enabled scholars to decode hieroglyphics by comparing them to Greek writing on the stone |
| scribe | a high-ranking person who wrote documents |
| stylus | sharp metal writing tool used by Romans to write on wax tablets |
| trowel | small hand shovel, most commonly used archaeological tool |