Many of the words included below have more than one meaning. The explanations which are shown with them here are only those that are appropriate to their use in the preceding text.

Word	Its meaning
accessibility	Openness, easiness of approach or entry.
adjusted	Got used to, became familiar with.
ancient	Very old.
arcade	A covered walkway or passage.
bewildering	Confusing, puzzling.
boss	An outcrop, a raised area.
brow ridges	Enlarged areas over the eyes, caused by heavy bone formation in the skull.
buckled	Twisted, warped, bent out of shape.
carnivore	An animal that eats meat.
cautious	Very careful.
chamber	Large room-like opening in the rock.
chronological order	Arranged according to time, in the order in which things happened or appeared.
cleavage	The way in which something will break or split apart.
cleft	A crack or opening made when something is partly broken.
climate	General weather conditions of an area over a period of time.
commotion	A noisy disturbance.
compressed	Squashed under a great weight.
confined	Kept within certain limits, or in a restricted area.
crevice	Crack or narrow opening.
crucible	Small pot used to hold things over a great heat until they melt.
crypt	Secret or mysterious hidden passage.
debris	Broken material left lying around.
deposited / deposition	Laid down, left behind.
discarded	Thrown away, cast aside.
dissolve / dissolution	Absorbed by or melted into a fluid ( a gas or a liquid ).
dissimilar	Different, not having the same look or appearance.
distinctive	Recognisable, easily identified.
drapers shop	A place which sells cloth and linen.
efficient	Doing a good job, working very well.
elaborately	Complicated, having many small parts.
equator	An imaginary line running around the middle of the earth, between the two poles.
erosion	The gradual wearing away of a hard surface by the action of weather or water.
evidence	Clues, things found which help to prove something has happened.
evolve / evolution	Slowly change from one form into another.
excavated / excavation	Carefully uncovered something which was previously hidden.
exposed	Uncovered, open for all to see.
fault / faulting	A crack in a layer of rock.
filtering	Passing slowly through tiny holes.
fissure	Crack or opening caused by splitting.
flint	Type of stone used by man to produce sparks and also to shape into tools and weapons.
formal	Proper, according to certain rules.
fossil	Usually the remains of a plant or animal which have been preserved for a very long time by being buried in the ground, but often used to describe any object that has been buried for a very long time.
fragment	Small piece broken off something that was once much larger.
frequently	Happening often, again and again.
glimmer	Shine faintly, flicker, twinkle.
granite	A very hard rock, made when the lava of a volcano cooled and became solid.
grazing	Feeding on grass or other low plants.
grisly	Ghastly, horrible, causing distress.
harpoon	A spear with barbs or hooks along the edge.
hibernate	Spend a long time, usually the whole winter, asleep.
hunter-gatherer	Someone who gets their food by both hunting other animals, and by collecting or gathering fruits and vegetables.
ice age	Time when a large part of the earth's surface was covered by ice.
inevitable	Something which must happen, cannot be stopped or avoided.
inquisitive	Asks a lot of questions, is very curious.
inscription	Carving, usually words, cut into a hard surface like rock or wood.
intense	Very strong, concentrated at one spot.
lithely-moving	Graceful, supple, going along freely and easily.
lumbering	Moving slowly and heavily.
lush	Juicy, fresh, luxuriant.
marine	To do with or found in the sea.
massive	Very, very large.
memorial	Object or place which helps to keep something or someone in the memory.
mesolithic	Belonging to a period of time known as the middle stone age.
million	One thousand thousand, 1,000,000.
modern man	A term used to describe the present stage of man, also known as homo sapiens, 'thinking man'.
molten	Liquid, having been melted by a great heat.
morsel	Small piece.
mountain chain	A series of tall mountains connected by low hills and valleys.
mud flat	Open area of mud, usually uncovered when the tide goes out.
neanderthal	An early type of man, named after the place in germany where his remains were first found.
neolithic	Belonging to a period known as the new stone age.
numerous	Large in number, many, a lot.
occasionally	Only happening from time to time.
odour	A recognisable smell.
outcropping	Mostly buried beneath the surface, but in places breaking through and being easy to see.
paleolithic	Belonging to a period known as the old stone age.
percolating	Filtering, passing through very small holes in a liquid form.
plan view	The picture of something looking at it from immediately above.
predator	An animal that hunts or preys on others for food.
raised beach	A beach formed when the sea level was much higher than it is today and is thus found in strange places like on the top of a hill or half way up a cliff face.
rapid	Very fast.
reconstruct	Put back together, to rebuild.
reemerge	Come out once more.
remote	Far away, distant.
revealed	Uncovered, brought out into the open.
rugged	Rough, unpolished.
ruthless	Showing no mercy.
sally port	A way out or outflow.
scavenger	An animal that feeds on scraps and leftovers but does not hunt for itself.
sediment	Material that settles to the bottom of a liquid, material deposited by water, ice or wind.
sequence	Arrangement of things in an exact order.
shilling	Old coin worth 1/20th pound, or 5p.
silt	Mud deposited by water.
slithering	Slipping, sliding uneasily.
smothered	Covered over, suffocated.
squat down	Sit on ones heels.
stalking	Following carefully, stealthily.
strenuous	Very energetic.
stunted	Undersized, underdeveloped.
subsequent	Following, or coming after in time.
swirling	Moving with a circular motion.
teeming	Swarming, in great numbers.
thriving	Doing very well, flourishing.
thrust	Push along.
tidal surge	Forced along by the waves of the sea.
transport	Carry, take from place to place.
trilobite	A small prehistoric animal that lived in the sea.
tropical	Belonging to the warm regions of the earth, either side of the equator.
vaguely	Unclear, uncertain, indistinct.
vast	Very large, huge, great.
variety	Collection of many different kinds.
vestibule	Entrance hall.
Victorian	Connected with the period of time when queen victoria was on the throne of england, 1837 - 1901.
vivid	Very bright, clear.
wary	Watchful, cautious, alert.
weatherbeaten / weathered	Showing signs of being left out in all weathers, rough, cracked.
weaving / woven	Making separate threads into a pattern or piece of material/cloth.
wheel-turned pottery	Pottery made by turning a lump of clay on a wheel, shaping it as it spins around.

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Last modified: Mar 22 04