Glossary purpose of studying past environmental or human conditions sedimentary rock Rock formed from sediment that has drifted down and settled in a seabed seine A fishing net that hangs vertically in the water via floats at the top and weights at the bottom seismic Relating to an earthquake selvedge Edge of a textile created by the looping of the weft around the warp senator The highest-ranking Roman class, consisting essentially of former magistrates Their wealth lay in land, since they were banned from engaging in trade senyu In ancient Egypt, a weight in silver equal to one-half deben, or 1.75 ounces sepulchre A tomb serf A category of dependent person attached to the soil sericulture The breeding and raising of silkworms serpentine A soft, blue-green stone, sometimes used by the Olmec as an apparent substitute for more valuable jade sesterti (pl sestertii) A Roman coin, made of silver or bronze, equal to one-fourth of a denarius sexagesimal In a mathematical system, relying on the base number 60 sexireme A ship with six rows of oarsmen sextant A navigational device used measuring angles to a celestial body as a way to calculate, with a calibration of 60 degrees shabitib (pl shabitii) Small figure placed in an Egyptian tomb used as a substitute workman in case the spirit of the deceased is called on to work in the afterlife shaduf A tool for irrigation made of a long branch or pole on a frame, with a bucket at one end and a counterweight at the other, allowing the operator to lower the bucket into the water and then easily raise it out with the help of the counterweight shaman A person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events shed rod A stick that separates warp threads into over-andunder groups sheet bronze Bronze that has been beaten or compressed into a thin sheet, which can then be fashioned into tubular and other shapes shemu The “drought season,” one of three seasons in the Egyptian calendar, based on the stages of the Nile’s transformation shinty A game resembling field hockey and dating to ancient times in the British Isles sibbe An ancient Germanic clan sickle sword A sword with a blade that curves so that it resembles the sickle used in harvesting crops sidelock of youth A long ponytail, worn to one side by youngsters sidereal Having a relation to or based on the stars silt 1215 Sand or earth, usually fine grained, carried by flowing water and then deposited singlet A loose shirt made of one layer of cloth sirocco A warm, moist Mediterranean wind sistrum (pl sistra) An ancient Egyptian hand-held percussive musical instrument consisting of a handle and a U-shaped frame with crossbars holding loose rings that would jangle or tinkle when the instrument was shaken situla (pl situlae) A bronze vessel, similar to a bucket skene A rectangular building with one to three doors at the rear of the Greek stage, often representing a house, palace, military tent, cave, or other enclosure skyphos (pl skyphoi) A deep, two-handled cup slag What remains after ore is smelted and metal is removed slash-and-burn agriculture The practice of felling and burning trees to clear land for planting slip A thick clay-based liquid coating applied to the surface of a ceramic vessel, either for decorative purposes or to make the vessel surface less porous smallpox A highly contagious and deadly viral disease that produces fever and skin eruptions smelting A method of separating metal from surrounding rock or soil through heating or mixing with chemicals; also the process of heating and transforming mineral ores into more refined and usable finished metals and alloys social stratification The division of people into classes; from the word strata, meaning “layers.” socket ax A battle-ax with a bronze or iron head possessing a socket that slips over the end of the ax’s handle to which the head is fastened with a rivet soil resistivity testing Detecting changes in the electrical resistance of the soil in order to find the remains of structures hidden beneath the ground solar calendar A calendar that bases a year on the time it takes the earth to complete one revolution around the sun solar year A year based on the time it takes the earth to complete one revolution around the sun; a calendar year of 365 days solar zenith passage The day of the year when the sun passes directly overhead and casts no shadow on vertical objects solstice The point at which days are longest or shortest, depending on the earth’s tilt to its orbital plane The winter solstice occurs in December in the Northern Hemisphere and in June the Southern Hemisphere, and the summer solstices are the reverse sophistēs A sophist, or professional teacher of rhetoric in ancient Greece; literally “professional wise person.” sorghum A cereal grain crop sound box On a stringed instrument, the hollow shell that amplifies the sound of the strings souterrain Underground chambers lined with stone