apse
A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church (28)
beam
A horizontal structural member that carries the load of the superstructure of a building; a timber -lintel (28)
burin
A pointed tool used for engraving or incising (17)
carving
A sculptural technique in which the artist cuts away material (for example from a stone block) in order to create a statue or a relief (11)
chisel
A tool with a straight blade at one end for cutting and shaping stone or wood (18)
composite view
A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same is shown frontally; also called twisted perspective (22)
composition
The way in which an artist organizes forms in an artwork, either by placing shapes on a flat surface or arranging forms in space (7, 21)
dome
A hemispherical vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its vertical axis. In Mycenaean architecture, domes are beehive-shaped (27)
dry masonry
A mortarless stone construction technique in which the stones are held in place by their own weight (24)
engraving
The process of incising a design in hard material, often a metal plate (usually copper); also, the print or impression made from such a plate. (17)
findspot
Place where an artifact was found; provenance (18)
ground line
In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved baseline on which figures appear to stand. (21)
henge
An arrangement of megalithic stones in a circle, often surrounded by a ditch (28)
incise
To cut into a surface with a sharp instrument, especially to decorate metal and pottery (17)
landscape
A picture showing natural scenery, without narrative content (5,26)
lintel
A horizontal beam used to span an opening (28)
megalith
Greek, "great stone" A large, roughly hewn stone used in the construction of monumental prehistoric structures (27)
Mesolithic
The middle Stone Age, between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages ( 23)
mural
A wall painting (16)
naturalism
The style of painted or sculpted representation based on close observation of the natural world that was the core of the classical tradition (18)
Neolithic
The new Stone Age (23)
Paleolithic
The old Stone Age during which humankind produced the first sculptures and paintings. (15)
passage grave
A prehistoric tomb with a long stone corridor leading to a burial chamber covered by a great tumulus (27)
post-and-lintel
A system of construction in which two post support a lintel (27)
radiocarbon dating
A method of measuring the decay rate of carbon isotopes in organic matter to determine the age of organic materials such as wood and fiber (16)
sculpture in the round
Freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions (11)
statue
A three dimensional sculpture (11)
trilithon
A pair of monoliths topped with a lintel; found in megalithic structures (28)
tumulus
Latin, "burial mound" (27)