Glossary: T Terms
Tlaltecuhtli
Tlaltecuhtli is the name of the Aztec Earth Goddess whose monstrous body was turned into the earth.
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters were maize, beans and squash, grown together in one field in what recent scientific research has shown was a stroke of genius.
Tipis and Tipi Rings
Tipis are animal hide skin tents, which were used by Plains Indian peoples during prehistory and well into the 19th century as well. Tipi Rings are the archaeological evidence of these sites.
Tlatelolco, Mexico City
Tlatelolco, in Mexico City, is the remains of the city that was the twin capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire.
Tianluoshan (Zhejiang Province, China)
Tianluoshan in Zhejiang Province, China, holds important evidence for early rice cultivation.
Tlaloc, the Aztec Rain God
Tlaloc is the rain god, and one of the most important gods in Aztec religion
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca was the Aztec god of night, north direction and patron deity of Aztec kings
El Teúl, Zacatecas (Mexico)
El Teul is an isolated hilltop site on the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, and known for early evidence of metalworking during the Early Postclassic period
El Tajín (Mexico)
Most archaeologists today agree that El Tajin began as a ceremonial center at the end of the Classic and in the Epiclassic periods (AD 700-1000), developed into an urban center during the Classic period, and declined in the 13th century
Toniná
Toniná is a Classic Maya site located in the highlands of Chiapas.
Titris Hoyuk (Turkey)
Titris Hoyuk is the archaeological ruins of an Early Bronze Age site, and the capital of a northern Mesopotamian (Akkad) city-state.
Tobacco History
The history of tobacco begins in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia or northern Argentina, probably around 1000 BC.
Toba Volcano (Sumatra)
The Toba Volcano saw one of the largest eruptions Planet Earth has ever known, about 74,000 years ago.
Topper Site
The preclovis Topper site is located about 80 kilometers from the Atlantic coast within the Savannah River coastal plain.
Tonatiuh
Tonatiuh was the name of the Aztec Sun God, and one of the most important deities in Aztec religion.
Torihama (Japan)
Torihama is the name of a shell mound site in Fukui Prefecture of Japan, first occupation about 10,000 RCYBP.
The Tower of Abusir
The Tower of Abusir is a Ptolemaic burial monument, built by Ptolemy II of Egypt as a scale replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, but still standing today.
Turquoise
Turquoise is found in deposits throughout the world and it was cherished for its beauty by many prehistoric societies, most particularly by those of the American continents
Tou Houan
Tou Houan was a T'ang Dynasty craftsman, who was captured by the Abbasids and spent eleven years in Baghdad passing along secrets.
Turkey (Melagris gallapavo and spp)
The turkey (Meleagris gallapavo) was definitely domesticated in the New World, but the history of turkey domestication is somewhat problematic.
Thapsos (Italy)
The archaeological site called Thapsos is a Middle Bronze Age site on the island of Sicily near Syracuse, and the type site for the Thapsos culture.
Thayngen-Weier (Switzerland)
The archaeological site of Thayngen-Weier is an early Neolithic (Cortaillod culture) Alpine lake settlement occupied between about 5500-5000 years ago.
Tula de Hidalgo (Mexico)
Tula de Hidalgo is an enormous, dispersed settlement, and the likely capital of the Toltec civilization, at least according to the Aztecs.
Torcello (Venice, Italy)
Torcello is the name of an island in the Venetian lagoon, where evidence for the development of Venetian glass-making arising from that of the Romans has been identified.
Thule Tradition
Thule tradition is the name given to late prehistoric whale hunters of the Chukchi Sea.
Thebes (Egypt)
The Egyptian Middle and New Kingdom capital of Thebes, in the modern town of Luxor Egypt, was first occupied during the Old Kingdom.
Tianyuan Cave (China)
Tianyuan Cave is an important Upper Paleolithic site containing human remains dated to approximately 40,000 years ago.
Three Age System
The so-called Three Age System was developed by the Danish curator of the National Museum of Denmark C.J. Thomsen, at the instigation of his predecessor Rasmus Nyerup, and to resolve display issues.
Timber Grave Culture
The name Timber Grave Culture (or Srubnaya) refers to a group of pastoralists who lived in substantial villages in the arid steppes and semi-desert areas of Asia
Tikal (Guatemala)
The ruins of the Maya temple known as Tikal are located in the rain forest of the central Peten peninsula of Guatemala.
Tiwanaku (or Tiahuanaco) Empire
The Tiwanaku Empire (also spelled Tiahuanaco) controlled portions of what is now Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia in South America for four hundred years (AD 550-950)
Timbuktu (Mali)
The city of Timbuktu (also spelled Tombouctou or Timbuctoo) is located on the inner delta of the Niger River in the African country of Mali.
Tlachuachero (Mexico)
The archaeological site of Tlachuachero is a Chantuto phase site in Chiapas state, Mexico.
Tiryns (Greece)
The Mycenaean site of Tiryns is located on a rocky hill on the Argolid coast of Greece, facing the Aegean Sea.
Tlapacoya (Mexico)
The archaeological site of Tlapacoya is a multicomponent settlement located on an island in a precolumbian lake at the foot of the Tlapacoya volcano, in the central southern Basin of Mexico.
Tiwanaku Empire
The Tiwanaku Empire controlled portions of what is now Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia in South America for four hundred years (AD 550-950).
Tlaxcala (Mexico)
Tlaxcala is the name of the state and its capital city in Mexico; and one of the rival city states with the Aztec nation in the mid-15th century AD.
Tochibara Rockshelter (Japan)
The Tochibara rockshelter is the name of an inland, Early Jomon period archaeological site overlooking the Aiki river in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Toltec Civilization
The Toltec Civilization was one of three great empires of the Basin of Mexico, after the fall of Teotihuacan and before the rise of the Aztecs.
Tombos (Sudan)
The archaeological site of Tombos is a New Kingdom period colony in Nubia (present-day Sudan).
Tlatelolco (Mexico)
The town of Tlatelolco was a sister city to Tenochtitlan during the Aztec rule of Mexico.
Totonac Culture
The Totanac Culture was a rival city state to the Aztecs, who had ruled most of what is now Veracruz in Mexico.
Tollund Man (Denmark)
Tollund Man is the name given to an Iron Age man whose body was recovered in amazingly pristine state from the Bjældskovdal peat bog near Tollund, Denmark.
Tournai (Belgium)
Tournai is a Frankish town in Belgium, and the site of the royal tomb of Childeric, who died about AD 480.
Triple Alliance (1428 – 1521)
The Aztec Triple Alliance was a military and political accord formed by the Aztec or Mexica of Tenochtitlan and other two cities of the Valley of Mexico: Texcoco and Tlacopan (Tacuba)
Torralba and Ambrona (Spain)
The paleontological sites of Torralba and Ambrona are located on the Ambrona River, two kilometers apart in the Soria region of Spain, 150 kilometers northeast of Madrid.
Tower of London (United Kingdom)
London's famous Tower has been used for a number of different things during the 1000 years it's stood on the river Thames in London.
Trafficking
The illegal trafficking of artifacts and antiquities is a multi-billion dollar industry, third in terms of dollars earned behind the illegal traffic in drugs and weapons.
Transportation
Transportation--building roads, canals, viaducts, and carts, boats, ships to travel on them--is an early important invention of humans, and an important part of daily life.
Tzintzuntzan
Tzinztuntzan is an important Mesoamerican site in the north of Mexico, and the capital of the Postclassic Tarascan empire
Trundholm Sun Chariot (Denmark)
The Trundholm site refers to a single artifact pulled out of a Danish bog near Sjælland in 1902; but what an artifact!
Toutswe Tradition
The Toutswe Tradition is the name given to an African iron age cultural group in the Limpopo River valley of Botswana from about AD 700 and 1300
Toutswemogala (Botswana)
The site of Toutswemogala is a large permanent settlement of the Toutswe Tradition located in the Limpopo River valley of eastern Botswana.
Turnover Pulse Hypothesis
The Turnover Pulse Hypothesis was constructed by paleoanthropologist Elizabeth Vrba to explain the appearance of an extensive evolutionary shift world wide, that led to early hominin forms in Africa.
Tula (Mexico)
The archaeological ruins of Tula are located in the Mexican state of Hildalgo about 50 kilometers northwest of Mexico City.
Trenton Gravels (USA)
The Trenton Gravels is the name of a quarry site in the American northeastern state of New Jersey where early American archaeologists such as C.C. Abbott and Frederick Ward Putnam sought early man in the New World.
Tutankhamun's Tomb (Egypt)
The archaeological site of Tutankhamun's Tomb must surely be one of the most famous burials on the planet.