| Word | Definition & Example |
|---|---|
| civilisation n. |
An advanced stage of human society with cities, writing, and government. "The Indus Valley civilisation flourished from about 3300 to 1300 BCE." Collocations: ancient civilisation, rise of civilisation |
| era n. |
A long and distinct period of history. "The Industrial Era transformed labour and society in Europe." Collocations: modern era, post-war era |
| empire n. |
A group of countries ruled by a single authority. "The Roman Empire eventually stretched from Britain to North Africa." Collocations: build an empire, fall of an empire |
| dynasty n. |
A series of rulers from the same family. "The Tang dynasty is often considered the high point of Chinese civilisation." Collocations: establish a dynasty, ruling dynasty |
| artefact n. |
An object made by humans, often of historical interest. "Pottery artefacts allow archaeologists to date a site." Collocations: archaeological artefact, ancient artefact |
| excavation n. |
The careful digging up of an archaeological site. "Excavations at Pompeii continue to yield new findings two centuries on." Collocations: archaeological excavation, conduct an excavation |
| chronology n. |
The arrangement of events in the order they occurred. "Establishing a reliable chronology is essential for any historical analysis." Collocations: establish a chronology |
| evidence n. |
Information indicating whether something is true. "Archaeological evidence suggests early human settlements were nomadic." Collocations: physical evidence, archaeological evidence |
| source n. |
A document or object that provides information about the past. "Primary sources are documents created during the time being studied." Collocations: primary source, secondary source |
| document n. |
A written or printed record. "Surviving documents from the period are fragmentary and often biased." Collocations: historical document, original document |
| heritage n. |
Things passed down from previous generations. "UNESCO World Heritage sites preserve places of cultural significance." Collocations: cultural heritage, world heritage |
| legacy n. |
Something handed down from the past. "The Roman legacy in law and language is still visible across Europe." Collocations: lasting legacy, cultural legacy |
| preserve v. |
To keep something safe from loss or change. "Cold, dry conditions in Egyptian tombs preserved organic materials for millennia." Collocations: preserve a document, preserve evidence |
| restore v. |
To return something to its earlier condition. "Restoring an ancient mosaic requires patience and specialist training." Collocations: restore a building, restore an artefact |
| decipher v. |
To work out the meaning of something written in code or in an unknown script. "Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822." Collocations: decipher a script, decipher hieroglyphs |
| nomadic adj. |
Moving from place to place rather than settling permanently. "Many early human societies were nomadic, following game and seasonal plants." Collocations: nomadic lifestyle, nomadic peoples |
| settlement n. |
A place where people have established a permanent community. "Çatalhöyük is one of the earliest known settlements." Collocations: early settlement, permanent settlement |
| ritual n. |
A set of actions performed in a fixed order, often for religious purposes. "Burial rituals reveal much about a society's beliefs about death." Collocations: religious ritual, daily ritual |
| tribute n. |
Payment made by one ruler to another as a sign of submission. "Conquered cities often paid annual tribute to Rome." Collocations: pay tribute |
| currency n. |
A system of money used in a particular country or era. "The drachma served as the standard currency of ancient Greece." Collocations: common currency, foreign currency |
| trade route n. |
A path used for commercial exchange between regions. "The Silk Road connected China with the Mediterranean for over a thousand years." Collocations: ancient trade route, maritime trade route |
| conquest n. |
The act of taking control of a place by force. "The Norman conquest of 1066 transformed English language and law." Collocations: conquest of a region, military conquest |
| decline n. / v. |
A gradual decrease in strength or importance. "Many factors contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire." Collocations: rapid decline, decline in influence |
| successor n. |
A person who takes over a position from someone else. "Augustus was the successor to Julius Caesar." Collocations: designated successor, political successor |
| radiocarbon dating n. |
A technique for determining the age of organic remains. "Radiocarbon dating revealed that the cave paintings were 30,000 years old." Collocations: radiocarbon date, carbon-14 dating |
How this vocabulary appears on the TOEFL
History & Archaeology terms appear directly in passages and audio across Reading · Listening. The questions you'll see most frequently target this vocabulary are paraphrase identification (the test rewords a sentence using a synonym from this list), inference questions (you need the term's meaning to follow the argument), and reference questions (the term is the antecedent of a pronoun in another sentence). Knowing the term plus one or two natural collocations lets you decode passages faster and recognise paraphrases on the answer choices without re-reading.
How to study this list effectively
Don't try to memorise the whole list in one sitting. Effective vocabulary study works in three passes: (1) recognise — read each entry once until the word feels familiar; (2) retrieve — cover the definitions and try to recall each one from the word alone; (3) produce — write a sentence of your own that uses the word in a TOEFL context. Spaced repetition over 5–7 days will make the words stick far better than a single intensive review session. Pair this list with a practice test in the same section so you encounter the words in real test contexts.
Practise this vocabulary on real TOEFL tests
- Reading practice tests — passages on academic topics
- Listening practice tests — campus conversations and academic talks
- Full-length practice tests — vocabulary in context across all four sections
- More TOEFL vocabulary by topic