type site

plural type sites · alternative type-site · alternative typesite

1. archaeologyAn archaeological site considered the representative example of a particular culture, frequently its first discovery and frequently used as its eponym

   Bambata is the type site for the Stillbay Culture in Rhodesia.

   1959, J.G.D. Clark, Reflections on the significance of prehistoric cultural influences in South West Africa, VI 159

   2 more examples

   The Late Bronze Age assemblage to which the type site offers no significant parallel.

   1935, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1 6

   A ‘type-site’ is, in archaeological jargon, the site after which a culture is named, often the site at which it was first discovered or recognized as distinct.

   1981, P. Salway, Roman Britain, section 7

2. geographyA geologic site considered the representative example or first discovery of a stratographic level or other feature

   Each interglacial is named after a type site or area where deposits of that stage occur.

   1975, J.G. Evans, The Environment of Early Man on the British Isles, I 8