rock-shelter

Or rock shel·ter

[rok-shel-ter]

noun

1. a shallow cave or cavelike area, as one formed by an overhanging cliff or standing rocks, occupied by Stone Age peoples, possibly for extended periods.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rock-shelter¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

In their paper, which was published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, researchers wrote: "The pebble from San Lázaro rock-shelter presents a series of characteristics that render it exceptional, based on which we have deemed it a visual symbol that could be considered a piece of portable art in some contexts."

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The new work by Hardy and his colleagues “supports the idea that microscopic residues of strings are preserved in nonwaterlogged rock-shelter deposits of Neandertal age,” Soressi observes.

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Almost all the teeth, including the oldest ones from about 20,000 years ago found at the Batadomba-lena rock-shelter in southwestern Sri Lanka, indicated a diet primarily of food from the rainforest.

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Only one race, however, that named after the rock-shelter of Crô-Magnon in the Dordogne, is represented by a fair number of specimens, namely, about a dozen.

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The disappearance of the herds caused Fleetfoot and Willow-grouse to leave the rock-shelter.

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Related Words

• cavern 
• grotto