- artifact: That which is produced by human art.
- avant-garde: The cultural front-runners – artists and architects ahead of the pack.
- Chavin: A Peruvian culture lasting from c1000 B.C. to c200 B.C., based on the worship of the jaguar god and characterized by excellent stone sculpture, elaborate gold work, and remarkable ceramics: named after the town of that name in central Peru, where a complex of massive stone buildings with subterranean galleries surround formal courtyards.
- Chimu: An Amerindian people inhabiting the northern coast of Peru and having a highly developed urban culture that lasted from about A.D. 1000 to its destruction by the Incas c1470.
- civilization: An advanced state of human society marked by a relatively high level of cultural, technical, and political development.
- culture: The integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to the next.
- culture hearth: A source area in which cultural traits develop, and from which these traits spread.
- cum: In Latin, with, the preposition; in English ecclesiological use, denoting the combination of two parishes into one; in such phrases a Bolton-cum-Stowe.
- Harappa: A Bronze Age culture that flourished in the Indus valley c2300-1500 B.C.
- Heian: Of or pertaining to the period in Japan, A.D. 785-1185, characterized by the modification and naturalization of ideas and institutions that were earlier introduced from China. During this time indigenous feudalism superseded Chinese-based social order and Japanese architecture developed in isolation from China.
- Khmer: A people of Cambodia who established an empire in the 5th century A.D. and dominated most of Indochina from the 9th to the 12th centuries.
- material culture: The physical or tangible objects, such as housing, furniture, and jewelry, of a people.
- Maurya: A member of ancient Indian people united northern India and established an empire c320 B.C.: architecture from this period shows the cultural influence of Achaemenid Persia and the first use of dressed stone.
- Moor: A member of the Muslim people of northwest Africa who invaded Spain in the 8th century and occupied it until 1492.
- Norman Conquest: The conquest of England by the Normans under William the Conqueror, in 1066.
- pax romana: The Roman Peace. The contrast between the distracted and devastated condition of the ancient world and the peace brought to it at the beginning of the reign of Augustus led to identifying peace and prosperity with Rome…
- popular culture: The culture, both material and non-material, of ordinary people; also, the culture of societies having high-tech communications and marketing systems.
- society: An enduring and cooperating large-scale community of people having common traditions, institutions, and identity, whose members have developed collective interests and beliefs through interaction with one another.
- Tiahuanaco: A pre-Incan culture existing from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 900, chiefly in Peru and Bolivia, characterized by monolithic stone carving, polychrome pottery, and bronze artifacts.
- Yang-shao: A Neolithic culture in China centered around the fertile plains of the Yellow River, characterized by pit dwellings and fine pottery painted in geometric designs.
- Ch’in: A dynasty in China, 221-206 B.C., marked by the emergence of a centralized government and the construction of much of the Great Wall of China.
- Chou: A Chinese dynasty, c1030 B.C.-256 B.C., marked by the division of China into separate feudal states and the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism, which gave thrust to all subsequent Chinese culture.
- Gupta: The dynasty of the Mauryan empire in northern India, A.D. 320-540, whose court was the center of classical Indian art and literature: the earliest substantial architectural remains are from this period.
- Hsia: A legendary dynasty in China, 2205-1766 B.C. Also, Hsia.
- Qin: A dynasty in China, 221-206 B.C., marked by the emergence of a centralized government and the construction of much of the Great Wall of China. Also, Ch’in.
- Shang: A Chinese dynasty, c1600 B.C.-1030 B.C., marked by the introduction of writing, the development of an urban civilization, and a mastery of bronze casting. Also, Yin.
- Tang: A dynasty in China, A.D. 618-907, marked by territorial expansion, the invention of printing, prosperous trade, and the development of poetry. Also, T’ang.
- Xia: A legendary dynasty in China, 2205-1766 B.C. Also, Hsia.
- Yin: A Chinese dynasty, c1600 B.C.-1030 B.C., marked by the introduction of writing, the development of an urban civilization, and a mastery of bronze casting.
- Zhou: A Chinese dynasty, c1030 B.C.-256 B.C., marked by the division of China into separate feudal states and the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism, which gave thrust to all subsequent Chinese culture. Also, Chou.
- history: A systematic, often chronological narrative of significant events as relating to a particular people, country, or period, often including an explanation of their causes.
Also see Architecture index.