GLOSSARY
Ap’ - The traditional hut of the Chumash people. It is generally made with a frame of
willow branches covered with tule reed.
Archaeology - The study of material remains (artifacts and monuments) left by groups
of people from the past which enables scientists to understand the group from the past.
Art - Any object that a human being makes by using naturally occurring objects.
Asphalt - Any of several black semi-solid substances that form naturally in parts of
America. The Chumash used asphalt as a glue to seal and cover artifacts.
Artifact - Any movable object made or manipulated by humans.
Camouflage - The attempt to capture prey or hide from predators by blending into or
manipulating natural surroundings.
Carnivore - An animal that eats meat.
Chaparral - A dense thicket of shrubs and small trees found in the Southwestern region
of the United States and Mexico.
Chumash - A group of Native American people living on the coast of California between
where present day Malibu and San Luis Obispo are located.
Culture - The quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is
regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
Currency - Something that is used as a medium of exchange; money.
Decay - To rot or decompose.
Ecofact - Non-artifactual organic and environmental remains which have cultural
relevance. Natural resources used by a group but not manipulated or changed by the
group.
Ecology - The branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between
organisms and their environment, including other organisms.
Excavation - The principal method of acquiring data in archaeology by digging and
uncovering artifcats and monuments that have been buried.
Fact - Something that is true and can be objectively verified.
Food Web - A sequence of organisms in which each member of the chain feeds on the
members below it.
Fossil - An imprint of an organism buried by geologic forces uncovered after several
million years.
Herbivore - An animal that eats plants.
Hoof - The entire foot of a horse, donkey, deer, etc.
Hunter-Gatherer - A group of people who do not engage in farming or the raising of
animals. Instead they gather and hunt what is readily available in their environment.
Legend - A story handed down for generations amongst a people popularly believed to
have a historical basis; although not verifiable.
GLOSSARY
Midden - Trash dumps found near archaeological sites.
Mortar - A receptacle of hard material, having a bowl shaped cavity in which substances
are reduced to powder with a pestle.
Myth - A traditional story of unknown authorship that explains some phenomenon of nature
or the origin and customs of a particular group of people. Myths often involve a God or
Hero.
Native American - Any of the hundreds of groups of people living throughout the Americas
(Canada, United Sates, Mexico and Central and South America) prior to
European exploration and settlement.
Natural Resources - Objects produced or existing in nature and used by humans.
Omnivore - An animal that eats both plants and animals.
Pestle - A tool for punding or grinding substances in a mortar.
Petroglyph - A picture or symbol that is carved into rock.
Pictograph - A picture or symbol painted on rock.
Predator - An animal that survives by hunting, capturing and feeding on other animals.
Prey - An animal that is hunted, killed and eaten by another animal.
Recycle - To treat or process something in order to use it again.
Reuse - To use again and again.
Shaman - A spiritual leader of a Native American group. They are often the keepers of
myth, legend, religion, rites of passage and medicine.
Sinew - A thick cord or band of dense, tough, inelastic, white, fibrous tissue, serving to
connect a muscle with a bone or part.
Symbol - Something that represents or stands for another thing.
Taxidermy - The process in which animals are preserved by removing the skin and placing
it over a model, or stuffing the skin with material such as sawdust.
Technology - The body of knowledge available to a group of people that is used to build
and design tools and implements, so that the group can practice manual arts and skills,
and extract or collect materials.
Tomol - A canoe used by the Chumash made from the wood of redwood trees.
Tools - An implement designed and manufactured by a group, which is used in the
performance of a particular operation or task.
Trade - An exchange of items, usually without payment of money.