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time depth

A stratigraphic analogy, namely, the deeper the stratigraphy the longer the time recorded.

tradition

The continuity of technologies and other cultural forms over long periods of time. It can also mean a sequence of archaeological phases and cultures that share cultural similarities.

Tripolye

A major Eneolithic culture of south-eastern Europe.

tumuli burials

A burial inside a mound of earth and/or stone.

type-concept

An approach to artifact classification in which a specific artifact becomes the “ideal example” of that classificatory unit or taxon.

typology, typological seriation

The classification of artifacts into types based on the analysis of a range of attributes. Typologies that can be placed in a time series (seriated) are used in the construction of relative chronologies (see chronology).

Ubaid period

The period of the initial agricultural settlement of southern Mesopotamia, generally thought to have begun in the second half of the sixth millennium b.c.and lasted to nearly the end of the fifth millennium b.c.

Urnfield culture

A Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age culture identified with cemeteries of cremation burials in urn. Located in Central Europe between 5200 and 800 b.c.

Visigothic

Western Gothic settlements in southern France and Spain around a.d. 800.

Wessex culture

An early Bronze Age culture found in the south of England, particularly in Wiltshire.

Wurm glaciation

The last glacial advance in the Swiss Alps, dating from about 110,000 years ago until about 10,000 years ago.

zoomorphic

Taking the shape of animals.