Free Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology by Timothy Darvill

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    Archaic period [CP].
    In the Old World from 700 bc to the end of the Persian Wars in the early 5th century bc .
     
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    archaistic [Ge].
    Referring to a style or tradition which imitates an earlier form.
     
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    archer's wrist guard [Ar].
    See BRACER .
     
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    architrave [Co].
    The horizontal member above two columns spanning the interval between them.
     
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    archon [De].
    Strictly ‘one who rules’, but in classical Greek times the term was applied to one of the chief magistrates of Athens, and of certain other city-states.
     
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    arc style [De].
    An early style of Celtic art, an eastern subgroup in Bavaria, Bohemia, and Austria in which compass-drawn geometric motifs predominate.
     
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    Arctic Small Tool Tradition [CP].
    Small-scale hunter-gatherer communities settled around the Alaskan Peninsula and the eastern shores of the Baring Strait from about 2000 bc. They may have originated among the Bel'kachinsk farmers of the Aldan River in Siberia. At about the same time, Arctic Small Tool Tradition communities also appear among the islands of northern Canada and in western Greenland.
Arctic Small Tool Tradition groups, also known in Alaska as the Denbigh Flint Complex, shared the widespread use of a microlithic stone industry. Stone tools include delicately made blades, microburins, burins, scrapers, and adzes. The most important innovation they brought to North America was the bow and arrow. Bifacially worked projectile points were made to tip the wooden arrowshafts. The main quarry was caribou and waterfowl.
Settlements were often small, represented archaeologically by stone scatters and traces of a tented encampment. More permanent structures in the form of square semi-subterranean houses are known where settlements take advantage of especially abundant food resources. By c. 800 bc , the Arctic Small Tool Tradition had given way to a series of localized distinctive traditions, for example the Pre-Dorset Tradition and the Norton Tradition.
     
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    ard [Ar].
    A simple form of plough in which the share (point) is dragged through the soil, parting it rather than turning it over. The earliest examples from the Near East date to the 4th millennium bc . See also PLOUGH .
     
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    area excavation [De].
    See OPEN AREA EXCAVATION .
     
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    area of competence (AOC) [Ge].
    Specialist areas of archaeological endeavour identified and defined by the INSTITUTE OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGISTS and used by them in assessing the capabilities of applicants for full membership of the Institute (MIFA). Validated areas of competence are subsequently listed in the directory of members. The following AOCs have been defined: archaeological field practice; archaeological resource management; finds and environmental study, collections research and conservation; archaeological research and development; and recording and analysis of buildings.
     
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    Arenal Complex [CP].
    Hunter-gatherer communities living on the Peruvian coast c. 6000–5000 bc. Small temporary campsites are known and the relative abundance of debris from marine as against terrestrial food sources suggests that fishing was more important than hunting. A few grinding stones suggest that seeds from wild plants made a small contribution to diet.
     
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    Argar Culture [CP].
    An early Bronze Age culture of southeastern Spain, named for the type-site in Almeria. Settlements are generally fortified with rectilinear layout of houses and streets, as at El Oficio, and include extensive burials within the settlement area. Burials are individual or paired, rather than communal, in cists in the early phase of the culture and subsequently in jars. Characteristic artefacts including