Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Blarney

(Encyclopedia)Blarney, village, Co. Cork, SE Republic of Ireland. Those who kiss the Blarney Stone, placed in an almost inaccessible position near the top of the thick stone wall of the 15th-century castle, are sup...

Paleolithic period

(Encyclopedia)Paleolithic period pāˌlēəlĭthˈĭk, –lēō–, pălˌ– [key] or Old Stone Age, the earliest period of human development and the longest phase of mankind's history. It is approximately coexten...

bluestone

(Encyclopedia)bluestone, common name for the blue, crystalline heptahydrate of cupric sulfate called chalcanthite, a minor ore of copper. It also refers to a fine-grained, light to dark colored blue-gray sandstone....

Kaaba

(Encyclopedia)Kaaba or Caaba both: käˈbə or käˈəbə [key] [Arab.,=cube], the central, cubic, stone structure, covered by a black cloth, within the Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The sacred nature of the...

cromlech

(Encyclopedia)cromlech krŏmˈlĕk [key] [Welsh or Breton,=crooked stone], term that has changed in meaning from its original equivalent to dolmen. It later came to be used for a single standing stone and now usual...

Borobudur

(Encyclopedia)Borobudur or Boroboeder both: bōˌrōbo͝odo͞orˈ [key], ruins of one of the finest Buddhist monuments, in central Java, Indonesia. Built by the Sailendras of Sumatra, this magnificent shrine dates ...

pipestone

(Encyclopedia)pipestone, hard, dull red or mottled pink-and-white clay stone, carved by Native Americans into pipes. Called calumets (see calumet) the pipes were used extensively in ceremonials. Native Americans he...

Great Zimbabwe

(Encyclopedia)Great Zimbabwe zĭmbäbˈwā [key] [Bantu,=stone houses], ruined city, SE Zimbabwe, near Masvingo (formerly Fort Victoria). Its mortarless, curving granite walls and buildings were constructed in 11th...

barrow, in archaeology

(Encyclopedia)barrow, in archaeology, a burial mound. Earth and stone or timber are the usual construction materials; in parts of SE Asia stone and brick have entirely replaced earth. A barrow built primarily of st...

Trevor, William

(Encyclopedia)Trevor, William, 1928–2016, Anglo-Irish fiction writer, b. William Trevor Cox, grad. Trinity College, Dublin (1950). He resided in England from 1960. Trevor's novels are usually set in England or Ir...