antimony: a brittle silvery-white metalloid element.
archaeometallurgy: the study of the history, use, and production of metals by humans.
backstrap loom: a loom in which the warp is held taut via body weight. One end is attached to a stationary object and the other end is either attached to the weaver, or they kneel on it to create tension in the warp. The user may then weave the weft through, but must maintain the warp tension.
carinated: this describes a type of decoration on a vessel, meaning "ridged". A ridge design is present around the rim or shoulder of the vessel.
chalcopyrite: important ore of copper, consists of a sulfide of copper and iron.
conchoidal structure: this is a type of stone structure which is characterized by spiral breakage. Flint and obsidian are two examples of stones with a conchoidal structure, and usually other types of fine-grained minerals have this quality as well.
down-the-line trade: a form of exchange put forward by Colin Renfrew which describes items being traded in multiple transactions. This way, itemswould be traded in small distances many times to eventually end up far away from where they originated.
ecology: the study of the relationships between organismis as well as between organisms and their environments.
electrochemistry: branch of chemistry dealing with the relationship between electrical and ehemical occurences.
elite emulation: when members of a non-elite sector of society try to appear of higher status by adopting the mannerisms of the elite class, including copying their objects, clothes, or architecture.
geomorphology: the study of the earth's physical features and their realationship to geological structures.
Giparu: the purpose of a Giparu is to serve as the official place of residence of the entu or high priestess
Great Khorasan trade route: also known as the Silk Road, an East-West trade route which ran from the Far East through Northern Iran, just under the Caspian Sea.
ha: Hectare, a metric system unit of measurement equalling 100 ares or 10,000 square meters.
Harappa: this is another term for describing the Indus Valley. The Harappan Civilization existed from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, and much information is known about them through their interactions with Mesopotamia.
horizontal ground loom: a loom created by a placing stakes into the ground and secures poles across. The warp threads are attached to these poles to hold them taut. The weft is then woven through this warp.
in situ: in it's original place, or in position
in the round: sculpture which is carved in three dimensions
lathe: a lathe is a tool for shaping stone, consisting of a platform which turns quickly and places the working piece against cutting tools.
linen: a type of fabric made from woven flax fibers.
low relief: shallow carvings on the face of an object or building.
Malachite: bright green mineral ore of copper.
material record: the data which is discovered during the course of archaeological excavations.
metallurgy: brance of science focused on the properties, production, and purification of metals.
Moh's Scale of Hardness: this scale is used to classify different types of stones and minerals (in ascending order) by the rank of their hardness. Very soft stones which can be scratched with a fingernail, such as talc, are ranked as 1 or 2, while the hardest stone, diamond, is ranked 10.
onager: the onager is a type of equid related to the donkey which existed in the ancient world and was used for working and riding.
provenance: place of origin.
retting: the process of soaking flax in water to allow bacteria to dissolve cell tissues and pectins, allow the separation of the flax fibers.
stratigraphy: the order and position of layers of archaeological remains.
tell: a type of site which has been occupied for many periods, where new inhabitants level and build on top of the dwellings of the previous inhabitants. Over time, this creates an artificial hill, which is referred to as a "tell site".
tellurium: a rare, brittle, silvery-white metalloid element, usually found along with gold and other metals.
wadi: a dried-out riverbed
warp: the vertical/longitudinal threads of a weave. The weft is drawn through these in an "over and under" pattern to create cloth.
warp-weighted loom: a loom in which the warp is held taut by weights attached to one end.
weft: the horizontal/transverse thread of a weave. The weft is drawn through the vertical warp to create cloth.
X-ray fluorescence: a non-destructive technique used to test the composition of materials. XRF irritates a sample with X-rays which produces a graph with varying peaks, each representing a different element within the sample.