Glossary of Terms
Adobe:A building material made out of a mixture of clay, straw & water.
Archaeologist: The scientist who studies the people who lived in the past by analyzing the materials they left behind.
Artifact: An object made or used by humans
Biomorph: A rock art figure that could be human or animal.
Caliche: Crusted calcium carbonate formed on certain soils in dry regions by evaporation of rising solutions.
Cobblestone: A stone that is naturally rounded.
Cradleboard: A device to carry an infant. Made up of a wooden frame, with leather side panels and ties - often with a shade to protect the baby's face from the sun. The board could be laid flat, propped up, tied to a horse, or worn on the mother's back.
Culture: Beliefs, behaviors, and values shared by a group of people.
Deface: Spoiling the surface of an object.
Domestication: Making something suitable for human use such as taming wild animals or farming wild plants.
Excavation: Dig or unearth remains of people, plants, animals, and artifacts.
Hohokam: The Akimel O'odahm (Pima Indian) word meaning "all gone, all used up".
Javalina:A wild pig found the Southwestern United States.
Kiva: An underground structure built originally by the Anasazi people for use in ceremonies.
Patina: The darkened surface of the rocks caused by a slow growing bacteria that oxidizes the minerals in the dust and cements them to the rock surface.
Percussion: The striking of one body against another such as a hammer stone pounded directly on a rock surface.
Petroglyphs: Designs and figures carved, pecked, or engraved on stone.
Pictographs: Designs and figures painted on stone.
Pithouse: A house with a floor and part of the walls dug into the ground. The walls extending above ground were made with sticks, grasses, and mud.
Rock Art: A general term for designs pecked or painted into rocks - both petroglyphs & pictographs.
Sherd: A broken pottery piece
Sonoran Desert: Boundaries vary when defined according to climate, rainfall, flora or vegetation. In general, the Sonoran Desert covers southwestern Arizona, the southeastern corner of California, the northwestern corner of the state of Sonora, Mexico, and most of Baja, California and Mexico.
Vandalism: The act of destroying or defacing other people's property.
Yucca:The various parts of this plant are used to make soap, food sweetener, and for weaving into sandals, baskets, nets and mats.
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