Chapter 15

Wet Lab

A chemistry facility with lab tables, equipment, and running water.

Molecule

A combination of atoms held together by chemical bonds.

Lipids

A generic category of greasy compounds including fats, oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides, that are constitutes of living tissues.

Archaeological Science

A generic term that includes non-instrumental areas such as faunal analysis, paleoethnobotany, and human osteology.

Obsidian

A glassy rock produced from sand in volcanic conditions, used for making stone tools in the past.

Archaeological Chemistry

A part of archaeometry, the investigation of inorganic and organic composition, elements and isotopes, molecules, and compounds in archaeological materials.

Enzyme

A protein that catalyses a chemical reaction.

Stelae

A stone monument, carved and/or painted with designs and/or inscription, common in the Maya region.

Fume Hood

A ventilation system for removal of toxic gas in a chemistry lab.

Fluorine Absorption

An archaeometric test for relative dating based on the assumption that fluorine accumulates at a constant rate in buried bone.

Kouros

Ancient stone statue of a nude Greek youth.

Mass Spectrometer

Any analytical instrument that records components of a spectrum by weight.

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

Archaeometric method for measuring mineral and elemental composition of most solids using distinctive patterns of X-ray shattering.

Gas-Chromatography-Mass-Spectrometry (GC-MS)

Archaeometric technique for organic materials in which samples in gas state separate in a column and exit sequentially to a detector that produces a spectrum of the weight and amount of the molecules.

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Archaeometric technique in which samples introduced to a plasma source are ionized and elemental mass and concentration are measured.

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

Archaeometric technique using neutron bombardment to release detectable element-specific gamma rays in samples.

Element

Building blocks of matter, different atoms by weight.

Compounds

Combinations of elements in either organic or inorganic molecules in nature.

Protein

Complex organic macromolecule composed of more chains of amino acids containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; fundamental components of all living cells and many substances such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.

Nucleic Acid

Compounds found in all living cells and viruses, composed of purines, pyrimidines, carbohydrates, and phosphoric acid.

Anthropogenic

Created or produced by human activity, e.g., anthropogenic soils are a result or human activity.

Ion

Electrically charged atoms that have lost or gained electrons.

Exotic

Foreign, unusual; in archaeology refers to artifacts and other materials from nonlocal sources.

Culture Change

In archaeology, innovations or modification in technology or material culture.

Crystalline

Materials with atoms arranged in a regular geometric pattern, used in XRD analysis.

Inorganic Compounds

Molecules that do contain carbon.

Hydrocarbon

One of many organic compounds that contain only carbon and hydrogen.

Luminous Plant (Legume)

One of thousands of species with seed pods that split along both sides when ripe; more common legumes include beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, and soybeans; plants that absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere rather than from soil.

Fatty Acid

Organic compound in animal and vegetable fats and oils, made up of saturated or unsaturated fats.

Proton

Particle in the core of an atom with a positive electrical charge.

Neutron

Particle in the core of an atom with no electrical charge; part of nucleus of an atom.

Diagensis

Physical and chemical changes in bone after burial.

Trophic Level

Position in the food chain, e.g., herbivore, carnivore, bottom-feeder.

Diffraction

Principle of X-rays being scattered when striking a crystal, used in X-ray diffraction analyses.

Photosynthesis

Process in plants for manufacture of carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll with sunlight as the energy source.

Fractionate

Process through which the ratio of isotopes in a material can be changed by heat, photosynthesis, enzymes, or other natural mechanisms.

Acropolis

Refers to the citadel or upper part of ancient cities in the classical world or Maya region.

Amino Acid

Simple organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and in certain cases sulfur. Twenty amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.

Isotopes

Slightly different atoms of the same element with the same atomic number, but different numbers of neutrons.

Molecular Archaeology

Sometimes used to refer to the organic component of archaeological chemistry and particularly to the investigation of ancient DNA in plant and animal remains, including humans. Sometimes called biomolecular archaeology.

Provenience Postulate

States that if differences within a source of material are less than differences with other sources, then it is possible to distinguish individual, or provenience.

Discriminate Analysis

Statistical technique for classifying a set of observations into predefined classes based on new measurement.

Plasma

The gaseous state of hot ionized material consisting of ions and electrons used as a source for ions in spectrometry.

Archaeometry

The measurement of the chemical or physical properties of an artifact in order to solve problems of chemical composition, technology, chronology, etc. Sometimes described as "instrumental".

Hydroxyapatite

The mineral component of bone.

Silica

The mineral component of sand.

Organic Compounds

The molecules of living organisms with the element carbon as a base.

Atomic Number

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.

Provenience

The place of discovery or origin. Where an item is from.

Collagen

The protein that makes up the organic portion of bone.

Sterol

Unsaturated solid alcohol, such as cholesterol and ergosterol, present in the fatty tissues of plants and animals.