A list of terms relating to archaeology 

Agriculture: farming 

Archaeology: The study of people from the past

Artifact: objects made and used by someone in the past

Atlatl: a long spear with throwing handle used during the Paleoindian and Archaic period 

Context: the place where an artifact is found and the relationship between that artifact and the things around it

Excavation: the scientific process of uncovering and studying an archaeological site

Fishing Weir: wood and stone funneling systems for trapping large numbers of migrating fish in a narrows along a stream

Flintknapping: the process of chipping away at a rock to create a tool with sharp edges 

Hypothesis: an idea or explanation for a question that you test through study and experimentation.

Indigenous: originating, occurring naturally to a particular place (native)

Midden: a trash heap

Nomadic: people who move continuously across the landscape following seasonal animal and plants

Prehistory: a time before written texts 

Radiocarbon Dating: a scientific test for determining the age of an organic (animal or plant-based) object.  To learn more, click here

Relative Dating: determining the relative age of past events in comparison to each

Sedentary: People who settle down and live in one place year-round

Slash and Burn Farming: a method of clearing land for farming by cutting down and burning wild forest and field plants to replace with farmed plants

Stratigraphy: the study of the layers of soil and artifacts under the ground