Glossary warp-weighted loom A rectangular, upright loom with the warp hanging from the top crossbar and anchored by weights on the free ends wattle and daub A method of building construction that involves a wooden lattice structure covered with packed mud, clay, and other materials wedge To stamp on clay to remove air pockets and impurities weft In weaving, the threads that run crosswise weir trap A cone-shaped wicker basket with an internal funnel weld A plant used to make yellow dye well-field system During the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, the territory controlled by a duke and divided into nine equal portions arranged in a square; the commoners worked all the land, but the produce of the center square belonged to the duke were-jaguar An Olmec sculptural figure combining human and jaguar traits wet nurse A woman who nurses another woman’s infant in exchange for wages whorl A pulley that helps to rotate a spindle wick A short length of cloth or fiber that draws fuel oil from a reservoir by capillary action and then can be burned to provide a steady light wickerwork shield A shield made from woven reeds or twigs supported by a wooden frame wisdom literature Ancient Egyptian texts that consist of either instructions or philosophical dialogue 1219 woad A plant used to make blue dye wuxing The five elements of ancient Chinese philosophy and science: fire, earth, water, wood, and metal xenia Greek word usually denoting the relationship between host and guest xenos Greek word meaning, variously, “foreigner,” “stranger,” or “guest-friend.” xoanon One of a set of wooden cult objects venerated in ancient Greece for the deities that they represented yakshi In India, a female supernatural being who guards the earth’s mineral treasures yang In Chinese philosophy, the form of energy that supposedly is hard, bright, active, and “male.” yaws A bacterial skin infection marked by red skin eruptions and joint pain yin In Chinese philosophy, the form of energy that supposedly is soft, dark, receptive, and “female.” zaliths Members of an assembly who governed an Etruscan city-state zenith The point on the celestial sphere directly above the place on which the observer stands and opposite the zenith ziggurat In ancient Mesopotamia, a pyramid-shaped tower rising in stages of decreasing size to a shrine at the top zooarchaeology A field of science that has to with uncovering, identifying, and interpreting animal remains in archaeological contexts zoomorphic Having animal attributes or an animal form zori A Japanese sandal that resembles modern flip-flops