Glossary of Terms

Seeds and Bones:

• Context: At Wingo’s, each excavation quadrat was given a unique number, and each deposit was assigned a letter. The number and letter combination, which is known as the context, is the unique identifier for each archaeological deposit at a site.
• Element: The name of a particular bone in the skeleton.
• Fauna: Animals
• Species: The basic category of classification for animals and plants. Members of a species resemble one another and can breed with one another, but not with members of other species.
• Weight: All bones were weighed in grams.

Elements:

• Auditory bulla: A hollow bony area in the back of the skull that encloses parts of the middle and inner ear.
• Beak: the horny projecting jaws of a bird, the bill
• Canine:  tooth found next to the incisor, used to hold food in place
• Carapace: bony shell of a turtle
• Carpal: bone in the wrist
• Carpometacarpus: bone in a bird’s wing formed by fusion of the carpal and metacarpal bones
• Coracoid: bone found in birds and reptiles that articulates with the scapula and sternum
• Eggshell: the keratin fibers and calcite crystals that form the outer, protective coating of a bird’s egg
• Femur: thick long bone of the upper leg
• Furculum: wishbone of a bird
• Fibula: thin long bone of the lower leg
• Fibular tarsal: a bone of the ankle that articulates with the fibula
• Humerus: the long bone of the upper fore limb that articulates with the shoulder
• Ilium: a bone of the pelvis
• Incisor: front tooth, used to cut food
• Long bone: term used to describe a bone that is unidentified due to fragmentation but could be a femur, tibia, fibula, humerus, radius or ulna
• Mandible: the lower jawbone
• Maxilla: the upper jawbone
• Metacarpal: part of the fore limb between the carpus and phlanges
• Metatarsal: part of the hind limb between the tarsus and phalanges
• Molar: tooth in the back of the mouth used to grind food
• Pelvis: cavity at the lower part of the trunk of many vertebrates, includes the pubis, ilium and ischium
• Premolar: tooth next to the canine used to hold and crush food
• Petrous process: part of the sphenoid bone of the skull
• Phalanx (phalanges, pl.): bone of the fingers or toes
• Quadrate: bone of the skull
• Radius: bone in the fore leg, paired with ulna
• Rib: curved bone that connects to vertebra, ribs are paired
• Sacrum: bone formed from fused vertebra in the lower spine, forms the back wall of the pelvis
• Scale: hard plate covering the body of fish
• Scapula: flat, roughly triangular bone that forms the shoulder
• Shell: hard outer covering of an animal or an egg
• Skull: the bony framework of the head that holds the brain and supports the face
• Sternum: narrow bone connecting with clavicle and ribs
• Tarsometatarsus: large bone in the lower leg of a bird formed by the fusion of the tarsal and metatarsal bones
• Tibia: long bone in the lower leg
• Tibial tarsus: bone of the ankle that articulates with the tibia
• Tibiotarsus: the main bone in the leg of a bird
• Tooth: hard body or process attached by a root to the jaw, used for chewing food and for defense or attack
• Ulna: bone in the fore leg, paired with radius
• Vertebra: a bone or segment that is part of the spinal column
• Vertebra, caudal: a bone or segment that forms part of the tailbone
• Vertebra, cervical: the vertebra immediately below the skull

Wills and Historical Documents