| Archaic | The chronological period in the New World
that follows the Paleoindian period, begins at the
end of the Pleistocene, and represents a period of
cultural adaptation to the new, postglacial environment
by Native Americans.
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| backed blade | A stone blade tool in which one edge
has been dulled, or “backed,” so it can more readily
be held in the hand during use.
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| camelid | A large, ruminant animal, including bachtrian
and dromedary camels in the Old World and
llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas in the New
World.
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| Capsian | A culture in northwestern Africa dating to
after 10,000 B.P. and characterized by hunting of
wild sheep, collecting of shellfish and snails, and
harvesting of wild grains.
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| Hamburgian | A culture of the northern European
Upper Paleolithic.
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| Hoabinhian | Southeast Asian Mesolithic stone-tool
tradition based on the manufacture of tools from
chipped pebbles.
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| Iberomaurusians | A culture in northwestern Africa
dating to after 16,000 B.P. that inhabited the coastal
plain and interior of modern Tunisia and Morocco.
Subsistence was based on hunting wild cattle,
gazelle, hartebeest, and Barbary sheep and collecting
marine mollusks.
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| lacustrine | Having to do with lakes.
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| Lake Forest Archaic | An Archaic culture of eastern
North America centered in, though not restricted
to, the region of the Great Lakes. Lake Forest people
exploited the food resources of the large lakes
of eastern North America.
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| littoral | Related to the seashore.
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| Maglemosian | An early Mesolithic culture of Europe
adapted to a forest and lakeside environment.
The famous site of Star Carr is a Maglemosian site.
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| Maritime Archaic | An Archaic-period culture of
northeastern North America centered along the
coast of northern New England and the Canadian
Maritime provinces. The subsistence focus was on
the sea, fishing and hunting sea mammals. Burials
with elaborate grave goods mark the Maritime
Archaic.
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| Mast Forest Archaic | An Archaic-period culture of
northeastern North America centered in central
and southern New England. Subsistence focus was
on the interior forest of New England, especially
on the resources of the mast forest: nut foods such
as acorn, hickory, chestnut, and walnut, and animals,
especially deer.
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| mattock | A digging tool with a working blade set at
right angles to the handle. Antler mattocks have
been found in European Mesolithic sites such as
Star Carr.
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| Mesolithic | The culture period after the Paleolithic
and before the Neolithic; a period of the proliferation
of many regional adaptations and an explosion
of local cultural diversity.
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| microlith | A very small stone tool.
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| midden | An archaeological feature that consists of a
refuse heap. A preserved pile of trash, often food
remains.
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| pelagic | Anything related to or that lives in the open
sea, far from shore.
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| Younger Dryas | The name given in Europe to a cold
period that lasted from 12,600 years ago to 11,450
years ago. Though a relatively short interlude of renewed
glacial expansion during a general warming
trend at the end of the Pleistocene, the Younger
Dryas may have been severe enough to have caused
the temporary abandonment by humans of much
of northwest Europe.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education