science

Type site

Type site is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Type site rather than just read about it. In short: In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron Age into the La Tène culture and Hallstatt culture, named after their respective type sites.

Key takeaways

Type site belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Type site to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Type site from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron Age into the La Tène culture and Hallstatt culture, named after their respective type sites. The concept is similar to type localities in geology and type specimens in biology.

Notable type sites

Africa Nok (Kaduna, Nigeria), of the Nok culture

East Asia Banpo (Yangshao culture, Neolithic Yangshao culture, China) Liangzhu Town, near Hangzhou (Liangzhu culture, Neolithic, China) Songguk-ri (Middle Mumun culture, southern Korea) Suemura cluster of kilns – Kilns of Sue pottery (Middle and Late Kofun period, Osaka, Japan) Sanage cluster of kilns — Kilns of Green Glazed Ware and Ash Glazed Ware (Nara and Heian period, Aichi Prefecture, Japan)

Europe a river terrace of the River Somme (Abbeville, France), of the Abbevillian culture Aurignac (Haute Garonne, France), of the Aurignacian culture Hallstatt (Salzkammergut, Austria), of the Hallstatt culture La Tène, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, of the La Tène culture Vinča, Belgrade, Serbia, of the Vinča culture Abri de la Madeleine (Dordogne, France), of the Magdalenian culture Le Moustier (Dordogne, France), of the Mousterian culture Saint Acheul (near Amiens, France), of the Acheulean culture Butmir (near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), of the Butmir culture Cucuteni (Romania) and Trypillia (Ukraine), of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture

Mesoamerica Uaxactun (Maya civilization, Dept.of Peten, Guatemala) Dzibilchaltun (Maya civilization, northern Yucatan, Mexico) Monte Albán (Zapotec civilization, Oaxaca, Mexico)

Near East Tell Halaf, Syria, for the Halaf culture Tell Hassuna, Iraq, for the Hassuna culture Jemdet Nasr, Iraq, for the Jemdet Nasr period Tell al-'Ubaid, Iraq, for the Ubaid period Uruk, Iraq, for the Uruk period

Northern America Folsom, New Mexico (Folsom Tradition), United States Clovis, New Mexico (Clovis culture), United States: generally accepted as the type site for an early human culture in North America La Plata County, Colorado (Basketmaker II period of the Anasazi culture), United States Barton Gulch of the Blackwater Draw Paleo-Indian culture Adena Mound (Adena culture), United States Borax Lake Site, for two of the earliest cultural traditions in California: the Post Pattern and Borax Lake Pattern.

Oceania New Caledonia, of the Lapita culture.

South Asia Kot Diji (Pre-Indus civilization, Pakistan) Harappa (Indus civilization, Punjab, northeast Pakistan)

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Type site

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Type site claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Type site before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Type site ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Type site

In research: Type site appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Type site in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Type site is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Archaeological type sites, Bronze Age, Iron Age, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Type site outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Type site in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Type site means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Type site out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Type site in simple terms?

Why does Type site matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Type site?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Type site.