- aerial photograph
- An aerial photograph is usually taken from an aircraft or hot air balloon and shows the landscape beneath.
- amulet
- An amulet is a good-luck charm, like a locket, usually worn around the neck.
- ancient civilisation
- An ancient civilisation is one which existed over 1,500 years ago.
- archaeologist
- An archaeologist is a person who studies ancient civilisations by examining the materials they left behind. These materials can include buildings, pottery, graves and tools.
- artefact
- An artefact is an object that has been made by a person. Archaeologists use old artefacts to learn about the past.
- BC
- BC is the abbreviation for Before Christ - which is before the Christian era.
- bullock
- A bullock is a young bull or ox (male cattle) used to pull carts or ploughs.
- bronze
- Bronze is a metal made by mixing copper and tin.
- carnelian
- Carnelian is a reddish-brown mineral stone used to make jewellery.
- cemeteries
- A cemetery is a place where dead people are buried.
- citadel
- A citadel is a fortified place, usually in a raised position in or near a city.
- civilisation
- A civilisation is a culture and society that developed in a region at a particular time.
- compass
- A compass is a device that shows the direction of the magnetic or true North.
- copper
- Copper is a metal. It was used in ancient civilisations to make tools.
- detective
- A detective is a person who investigates crimes by finding evidence.
- drain
- A drain is a pipe or ditch made to carry away water from buildings.
- evidence
- Materials or facts that can help you form a conclusion or judgment about something.
- excavate
- To excavate an area is to uncover it by digging or removing earth.
- excavation map
- An excavation map shows the site where an archaeologist is searching for artefacts.
- faience (fie-unz)
- Faience is a material made by heating minerals until they melt; when it cools, it is hard and shiny.
- furnace
- A furnace is a very hot fire used to melt rocks containing metals, and melt metal soft enough to shape.
- geophysical scan
- A geophysical scan uses radar, lasers and other 'x-ray' technology to look beneath the ground for hidden objects.
- Himalaya
- The Himalaya are the highest mountains in the world, to the north of India.
- Hindu
- A Hindu is a person who follows the ancient religion of Hinduism, which began in India.
- irrigate
- To irrigate is to use water from a river or lake to feed farm crops in fields.
- jade
- Jade is a hard stone used to make jewellery and ornaments.
- kiln
- A kiln is a very hot oven used to bake and harden materials such as clay and bricks.
- Mesopotamia
- Mesopotamia was an ancient civilisation in what is now Iraq; it lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
- minerals
- Minerals are natural substances like gold, silver, stone or sand.
museum
A museum is a building that houses artefacts that have a historical value.
mythical
If something is mythical, it is imaginary or made-up.
- physical feature
- A physical feature is a land shape formed by nature. Valleys, mountains and deserts are all physical features.
- port city
- A port city is a city by the sea, where boats can dock and people can buy or sell goods.
- record
- A record is information or data that has been collected and kept.
- resources
- Resources are the raw materials people use for building or making things.
- seal
- An Indus seal was a small stone block with a picture that left an impression when stamped into soft clay.
- settlement
- A settlement is a place where people live together, such as a village, town or city.
- site
- An archaeological site is an area that archaeologists are investigating.
- scribe
- A scribe was a person in ancient times who could read and write, and wrote things for other people.
- slave
- A slave is a person who is not free and has to work for an owner.
- steatite
- Steatite is a soft stone which can be carved using metal tools. Steatite hardens when it is fired in a kiln.
- Stone Age
- The Stone Age was the period in ancient history when people made tools from stone, such as flint knives and axes.
- Sumer
- Sumer was a land in Mesopotamia, with one of the first civilisations, about 3500 BC.
- taxes
- Taxes are what people have to pay to their government, as money or in ancient times as goods, such as sacks of grain.
- trade/trader
- Trade is exchanging goods. A trader is someone who makes a living by trade, buying and selling things that they or other people have grown, collected or made.
- well
- A well is a hole dug to find water underground.
