Archaeology Terms - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center | UW-La Crosse
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Archaeology Terms
For help understanding a term used by archaeologists, click on a letter then click on a term.
- Abrader
- Absolute Dating
- Acquisitioning Artifacts
- Adze
- Adze - Trihedral
- Agate Basin – Isolated Find
- Annular Ware Waste Bowl – Lessard
- Annular Ware Whiteware Pitcher - Lessard
- Anomalous Globular Vessel – Chevrons or Zig-Zags
- Anomalous Globular Vessel – Sunburst
- Anomalous Sherds – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Anthropologist
- Anthropology
- Antler – Scored
- Antler and Antler Points
- Antler Points
- Aquatic
- Arbitrary Level
- Archaeologist
- Archaeology
- Arrow Making – Video
- Arrow Shaft Abrader - Bar Abrader
- Artifact
- Artifact – What happens to an artifact once an archaeologist finds it?
- Artifact Clusters
- Artifacts: From the Field to the Lab - Video
- Atlatl
- Atlatl - Video
- Awl
- Awl, Copper
- Axe
- Axe – Full Grooved
- Axe Preform
- Axes and Celts
- Bail Out
- Bannerstone
- Bar Abrader – Arrow Shaft Abrader
- Basalt
- Beads
- Beam - Wooden
- Beamers – Deer Bone
- Bears and Wolves
- Beaver
- Biface
- Biface Refit
- Bifaces - Video
- Bioturbation
- Bird – Carved Shale-Like Stone
- Birdstones/Bannerstones
- Bison
- Bison Bones - Comparative Collection
- Bison Horn Core
- Bison Scapula Hoe
- Bison Scapula Hoes
- Bison Scapula Hoes - Video
- Blank
- Bone – Worked Animal – A Bead in the Making?
- Bone Grease
- Bone Needles
- Bone Ornament – Second Fort Crawford
- Bone Tool Caches
- Bone Whistle
- Bones – What’s In This Jar??
- Bottle - John Wyeth & Brother
- Bottles – Liquor
- Bottles – Sewing Machine Oil
- Bow Making - Traditional - Video
- Boxes and Boxes!
- Bridge – Stone Arched
- Brooch
- Buckle
- Buckles
- Burin– Video
- Button – Great Coat
- Button - Scripted or Foliated “I” Button - Second Fort Crawford
- Calf Weaner
- Cataloging: The Basics – Video
- Catfish
- Catfish Cleithrums
- Catlinite Bear
- Catlinite Counter
- Catlinite Pipe – Midway Village
- Catlinite Pipe Bowl – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Catlinite Tablet
- Catlinite/Pipestone
- Celt
- Celts and Axes
- Ceramic Analysis
- Ceramic Spoons
- Chamber Pot – Ironstone Molded
- Chamber Pots
- Chert (flint)
- Chert Projectile Point
- Chunkey/Discoidal
- Chunks/Shatter
- Clay Pipe – Woodland
- Clay Pipe – Woodland – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Clay Pipe, Fluted - Lessard
- Clay Pipes – Historic
- Clay Pipes – Historic Logging Camp
- Clay Spoon - Video
- Coin – 1827 Republica Mexicana
- Comparative Collection - Bison Bones
- Comparative Fish Bones
- Context
- Contract Archaeology
- Copper Artifacts – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Copper Awl
- Copper Beads
- Copper Serpent
- Cord Impressed
- Cordage
- Cordage Analysis from Pottery
- Corduroy Road
- Core
- Corn Kernels
- Corncob
- Cortex
- Cow Skull
- Crowfoot Hooks for the Harvest of Freshwater Mussels
- Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
- Culture
- Curation
- Datum
- Daub
- Debitage
- Decanter
- Deer Hunting – Tainter Cave
- Dendrochronology - Video
- Diagnostic Artifact
- Dime – Second Fort Crawford
- Discoidal
- Discoidal/Chunkey
- Disturbance
- Dog
- Dog Skull in Oneota Feature - OT
- Domestic Dogs in Precontact North America Societies
- Drill
- Drills, Stone - Video
- Drum Fish
- Durst Point Base
- Earspool
- Earth Ovens and Hearths
- Ecofacts
- Elk Antler Hoe
- Elk Antlers
- Elk Pelvis with Embedded Projectile Point
- Elk Scapula Hoe
- Enameled Cookware
- End Scraper - Video
- End Scrapers
- Etched Stone Square
- Ethnoarchaeology
- Excavation - Video
- Excavation Timeline
- Experimental Archaeology
- Fauna
- Feature
- Feature Stains
- Features - What Are Archaeological Features? Some Upper Mississippi Valley Examples - Video
- Figurine – Clay
- Finding and Reporting Sites - Video
- Fire Cracked Rock (FCR)
- Fish Bones – Otoliths, Pharyngeal Arch
- Fishing Techniques
- Flakes
- Flakes - Video
- Flint
- Flintknapping
- Flora
- Floral Analysis
- Floral Analysis: Plant Remains and Past Peoples - Video
- Flotation
- Flotation - Step by step
- Flotation - The basics
- Flute
- Flute/Whistle
- Food Utensil
- Foundation – Limestone
- Game Pieces – Second Fort Crawford
- Garbage Pit
- Glass Beads
- Graver
- Great Coat Button
- Grooved Stones - Video
- Ground Stone Tools
- Habitation Site
- Hammerstone
- Hand-Painted Porcelain Teacups - Lessard
- Hand-Painted Whiteware – Lessard
- Hand-Painted Whiteware Saucers with Sprig Design - Lessard
- Harpoon and Netsinkers
- Hearths and Earth Ovens
- Heat Treated
- Heavy Fraction
- Hierarchical Society
- Hinges
- Historian
- Historic
- Historic Artifacts – Logging Camp
- Historic Solstice-Marking Petroglyph in Perrot State Park
- Hoes – Bison Scapula - Video
- Holocene
- Horn Core – Bison
- House Basin, Winter – Cade
- House, Keyhole - Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Hunter-Gatherers
- Hypothesis
- In Situ
- Inference
- Ironstone – Molded Saucer - Lessard
- Ironstone Molded Chamber Pot
- Is it an Artifact? Bone Tools - Video
- Is it an artifact? Chipped Stone: Characteristics of an Artifact - Video
- Is it an artifact? Chipped Stone: Cultural versus Natural - Video
- Is it an artifact? How to Recognize Pottery – Video
- Is it an artifact? Pottery Decoration – Video
- Is it an artifact? Groundstone Tools versus Natural Stones – Video
- Jesuit Ring
- Jewelry Box
- Kaolin Clay Pipe
- Kessell Points
- Kessell Side Notched-like Point
- Kill Site
- Knife – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Knives
- Kramer Point
- Lab Activities: Archaeology in Winter - Video
- Lab Activity - Winter
- Lanceolate Blade
- Lead and Pewter Military Buttons
- Levels
- Lice Combs
- Lifeway
- Light Fraction
- Lime Kiln
- Limestone
- Limestone Foundations
- Line Level
- Line Level Uses
- Lithic Artifacts – La Crosse County, WI
- Lithic Assemblage
- Lithic Scatter – Points and Scrapers
- Lithics
- Logging Camps – Personal Items
- Lotting
- Maize
- Mammoths and Mastodons – Video
- Mano
- Mano and Metate
- Mano and Metate - Video
- Mapping
- Marine
- Marshalltown Trowel
- Mastodon Ulna
- Mastodons and Mammoths
- Matrix
- Medicine Bottle - “WONDER WORKER”
- Medicine Bottle – Lessard
- Metate
- Metate and Mano
- Metate and Mano – Video
- Midden
- Mini Pot
- Mississippian Sherds – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Mn/Model
- Moccasin
- Modified Flake
- Mottling
- Munsell - Video
- Mussels
- Mussels in the Upper Midwest - Video
- NAGRPA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act)
- Naturally Layered Stone – Video
- Net Sinker – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Netsinkers and Harpoon
- Nettle (wood)
- Observation
- Obsidian
- Oneota Ceramics
- Oneota Garbage Pit
- Oneota Globular Vessel
- Oneota Pot – Sand Lake Archaeological District - Video
- Oneota Pot Sherds, Burned - Pammel Creek
- Oneota Pottery - Anomalous Globular Vessel – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Pottery - Koshkonong Bold - Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Oneota Pottery - Midway Incised – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Oneota Pottery – Non-local Motif
- Oneota Pottery - Perrot Punctate Variant – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Pottery – Rim and Shoulder, Handle
- Oneota Rim Sherd – Pammel Creek
- Oneota Storage Pits
- Oneota Vessel – La Crosse County
- Oneota Vessel – Meier Farm
- Oneota Vessel 108 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 13
- Oneota Vessel 23 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 29
- Oneota Vessel 30
- Oneota Vessel 44 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 46 – Onalaska
- Oneota Vessel 55
- Oneota Vessel 57 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 69 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 80 – Sanford Archaeological District
- Oneota Vessel 83
- Orthoquartzite
- Palisade
- Paperwork
- Paste
- Pearlware Transfer Print Platter
- Pearlware, Hand-Painted
- Pedestrian Survey
- Percussion Caps
- Percussion Flaking
- Petroglyph
- Pewter and Lead Military Buttons
- Pictograph
- Pictographs and Petroglyphs
- Pipe – Basalt
- Pipe – Copper Tubing
- Pipe - Eagle – Second Fort Crawford
- Pipe - Stub-Stemmed - Second Fort Crawford
- Pipe – Woodland Clay
- Pipe – Zachary Taylor Campaign
- Pipestone / Catlinite
- Pipestone Bear
- Pipestone Counter
- Pipestone Pipe – Midway Village
- Pipestone Pipe Bowl – Sanford Archaeological District
- Pipestone Pipe Stem
- Pipestone Tablet
- Pit
- Pit Feature
- Platform Mound
- Pleistocene
- Postmold
- Pot Sherd
- Potlid - Video
- Pottery
- Pottery Cluster
- Pottery Concentration, Woodland – Overhead
- Pottery Reconstruction
- Pottery Reconstruction – Video
- Prehistoric Archaeology
- Preservation - What Preserves Underground? - Video
- Pressed Glass Bowl
- Pressure Flaking
- Profile Map
- Profiles - Vertical View: Archaeology in Profile - Video
- Projectile Point
- Projectile Point – Durst/Preston
- Projectile Point – Quartz
- Projectile Points
- Projectile Points – Largest, Smallest
- Projectile Points – Medary Site
- Provenience
- Punctation
- Pythagorean Theorem
- Quarry Site
- Quartzite (Silicified Sandstone)
- Radiocarbon Dating
- RATTLESNAKE!
- RATTLESNAKE! Part II
- Redware Preserve Jar
- Reference Collection
- Reference Collections – Video
- Reference Library – Video
- Relative Dating
- Ridged Agricultural Fields – Sand Lake
- Ridged Fields
- Rim Radius - Video
- Rock Art
- Rock Art – Portable – Pipestone Tablet
- Rock Art – Portable – Sandstone Carving
- Rock Art Preservation
- Rockshelter
- Rodent Run
- Sandstone
- Sandstone Pendant
- Scapula
- Scraper
- Scrapers – Sand Lake Archaeological District
- Screening - Video
- Screening – Water
- Sedge
- Seeds – Blackberry
- Seeds – Goosefoot
- Serrated Point
- Settlement Pattern
- Shatter/Chunks
- Shell – Drilled
- Shell – Worked
- Shell Scoop
- Shovel Testing
- Shovel Testing - Video
- Sinew
- Site
- Site Datum
- Site Safety
- Size Grading - Video
- Skim Shoveling - Video
- Sod Removal
- Soil Probe - Video
- Spokeshave
- Spokeshave – Video
- Spoon-Like Clay Vessel
- Stain
- Stemmed Point
- Stockade
- Stoneware Jug/Storage Vessel
- Storage Pits
- Stove Parts - Oneida County
- Stove Parts - Rusk County
- Stratigraphy
- Style
- Surface Collection - Video
- Surface Survey
- Survey - Video
- TD Pipe – Lessard
- Temper
- Temper - Video
- Thatch
- Tinkling Cone
- Tobacco
- Tool Kit
- Toothbrush, Bone – Second Fort Crawford
- Torch – Birch Bark
- Trade Earring
- Transfer Print Whiteware - “Damascus” Pattern
- Transfer Print Whiteware – “Greyhound”
- Trim Walls
- Tumblers
- Turkeys and Trade
- Turtle
- Unit (Excavation Unit)
- UWL Archaeology Alumni Podcast Series
- Wagon
- Whistle/Flute
- Whiteware – Juvenile Cup
- Wild Rice
- Wolves and Bears
- Woodland Ceramics
- Woodland Points
- Woodland Pottery – Lane Farm
- Woodland Pottery – Madison Cord Impressed
- Woodland Pottery – Madison Punctated
- Woodland Pottery – Maples Mills
- Woodland Pottery - Naples Dentate Stamped
- Woodland Pottery – Overhead
- Woodland Pottery – Overhead – Incised-Over-Cordmarked
- Woodland Pottery – Overhead – Linn Ware
- Woodland Pottery – Sand Lake Archaeological District – Angelo
- Woodland Pottery – Sand Lake Archaeological District – Prairie Ware
- Woodland Pottery – Sand Lake Archaeological District - Pseudo Collared
- Woodland Pottery – Sand Lake Archaeological District 1
- Woodland Pottery – Sand Lake Archaeological District 2
- Woodland Pottery (Havana Ware) – Overhead
- Woodland Pottery Concentration
- Worked Shell
- Workshop – Bone and Antler Tools
- Woven Bag
- Yellowware Chamber Pot
- Yellowware Rockingham Baker
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MVAC Educational Programs are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project was supported in part by the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.