Articulated skeleton: A skeleton whose bones are in the same relative position as in life. If a skeleton is articulated, one normally assumes that ligaments and flesh were still present when it was buried.
Biface: A type of stone tool worked on both sides.
Bilobate: Having two lobes.
Black-figure technique: A technique employed in Greek painted pottery first found in the seventh century BC. Figures are painted in a slip that fires black, and details such as anatomy and clothing are incised through the slip.
Carbon-14 dating: See Radiocarbon dating.
Carolingian: The name of a dynasty of Frankish kings that was founded in AD 714 by Charles Martel. The term “Carolingian” derives from “Carolus,” the Latinized form of Charles.
Chateleine: A female decorative ornament worn at the waist, with a series of chains suspended from it.
Cloisonné: A decorative technique whose name is derived from the French word “cloison,” meaning “cell.” A pattern of small cells was made using thin gold strips, a paste, possibly beeswax, and was put at the bottom of each cell, supporting a piece of textured gold foil and a thin piece of garnet, both of which had been cut to the shape of the cell.
Commune: The smallest territorial division of the French Republic for administrative purposes.
Crouched burial: A burial position in which the deceased’s legs have been pulled to the chest in a fetal position.
Cup mark: See Cupule.
Cupule: A motif found in prehistoric rock art consisting of a roughly circular hollow or hollows sometimes surrounded by one or more concentric rings.
Debitage: The waste by-product resulting from the manufacture of stone tools. Debitage in the form of chips or flakes of flint normally is found in large quantities in areas in which the tools were made.
Département: An administrative division of France. There are ninety-six mainland départements, including two on Corsica. In addition, there are five “outre-mer” (overseas) departéments.
Dionysiac: Relating to the Greek god Dionysus.
Dionysus: The Greek god of wine and the theater. Dionysiac scenes on Greek painted pottery often show Dionysus with his companions, known as maenads and satyrs.
Dolmen: A tomb constructed from upright stones supporting a capstone.
Dressel: A system for classifying the shape of ceramic amphorae, mainly covering Roman types. It was developed by Heinrich Dressel (1845–1920) and published in 1899.
Etruscan: The name given to the people who dominated central Italy, with a distinctive material culture from around 800 BC. The rise in the power of Rome resulted in the Etruscan cities being in decline from around 500 BC.
Extended burial: A burial position in which the deceased has been placed lying flat, with arms or legs straight, or with arms folded on the chest.
Fibula: A brooch in the form of a pin with a catch, sometimes highly decorated, assumed to have been used for fastening clothing.
Franks: A Germanic people who settled in northern France in the post-Roman period. Their leader from AD 480 to AD 511 was Clovis, who became the dominant ruler in what had been Gaul and the first king of the Merovingian dynasty.
Gallo-Roman: The material culture of Gaul under provincial rule during the Roman Empire.
Gaul: For much of the period between 600 BC and AD 486, the region of modern-day France was considered by ancient writers as “Gaul,” an area separate from modern-day Spain, Italy, Britain, and Germany.
Hypocaust: A Roman architectural feature that heated houses and bath complexes. A floor was supported on pillars made from tiles, with air, heated by a furnace, drawn beneath the floor and up through vertical flues built into the walls.
Martyrium: A church or other structure, especially a tomb, associated with a Christian martyr or saint.
Massaliot: Relating to Massalia, a colony founded in around 600 BC on the southern coast of France, now modern-day Marseille.
Meander: An ornamental motif often used in Roman mosaics consisting of a continuous band of rectilinear forms in a series of successive half turns.
Menhir: A single standing stone.
Merovingian: The name of a dynasty of Frankish kings who ruled from the late fifth to the mid-eighth century AD. It is named after Merovech, the semilegendary figure who was the father of Childeric I, king of the Franks. The last Merovingian king was Childeric III, who was deposed in AD 751.
Mithraeum (plural Mithraea): A building devoted to the cult of Mithras, recognized from its distinctive architecture of a rectangular assembly hall that had benches running along both long sides.
Mithras: A male deity whose cult was prominent in the Roman Empire, from the first to the fourth centuries AD, and was particularly associated with soldiers. Mithras, who wears distinctive headgear, usually is depicted in the act of killing a bull. Mithras also appears in Iranian, Hindu, and Zoroastrian traditions.
Oinochoe: The Greek term for a wine jug.
Oppidum: The word used by Julius Caesar to describe hill forts as well as large defended settlements that were not in an elevated position. Accordingly, the term “oppidum” often is used by French archaeologists to describe pre-Roman settlements.
Passage grave: A type of tomb in which the burial chamber is accessed from the edge of a covering mound by means of a long passageway.
Pre-Columbian: The period in the Americas before contact with Europe.
Radiocarbon dating: Also known as carbon-14 dating, a dating technique used for determining the age of carbon-bearing materials, including wood and other plant remains, charcoal, bone, peat, and shell.
Red-figure technique: A technique employed in Greek painted pottery first used in the late sixth century BC. The background is painted in a slip that fires black, leaving figures “reserved” in red. Details such as anatomy and clothing are painted in slip using a brush.
Romanesque: A style of European art that emerged around AD 1000 and was predominant until around AD 1150, when the Gothic style of art emerged. The preceding period is known as pre-Romanesque.
Scaenae frons: The architectural background of the stage of a Roman theater, often elaborately decorated.
Situla: A container in the shape of a bucket, with a single movable handle.
Terra sigillata: A type of Roman pottery whose surface is covered with a slip that fired to a glossy red, made in Gaul between the first and third centuries AD. The name of the maker sometimes is stamped on the vessel.
Torc: A metal neck ring, with a small opening at the front.
Type site: An archaeological site that produced objects that are considered as defining the characteristics of a particular period or technology. This is often the site on which the distinctive material culture was first recognized.
Villa: A large agricultural establishment from the Gallo-Roman period, which began to appear in the first century AD. Villas consisted of domestic buildings, often of high status, within an estate that frequently included industrial as well as agricultural activities.