archives Repository for an organized body of records. Archives are produced or received by a public, semipublic, institutional, or business entity in the transaction of its affairs and are preserved by it or its suc¬ cessors. The modern institution of archives and archival administration dates from the late 18th century, when national and departmental archives were established in France. In the U.S. the National Archives was estab¬ lished in 1934 to house the retired records of the national government; the Federal Records Act of 1950 authorized regional records repositories. Each U.S. state has its own archival agency. Archivists in the 20th cen¬ tury increasingly handled records involving new technologies, such as computer-kept records and motion pictures, as well as the records of busi¬ nesses, institutions, and individuals.
arch on In ancient Greece, the chief magistrate or magistrates in a city- state, from the Archaic period onward. In Athens, nine archons divided state duties: the archon eponymous headed the boule and Ecclesia, the polemarch commanded troops and presided over legal cases involving foreigners, the archon basileus headed state religion and the Areopagus, and the six remaining archons handled various judicial matters. At first only elected aristocrats could serve, and their term was for life; later, terms were limited to a year. Archons were chosen by a combination of elec¬ tion and lot. In the 5th century bc the authority of the archons declined as elected generals assumed most of their powers.
Archon \'ar-,kan\ In Gnosticism, any of various world-governing pow¬ ers created with the material world by the Demiurge. Because the Gnos¬ tics regarded the material world as evil or as the product of error, Archons were considered forces of evil. Seven or 12 in number, they were iden¬ tified with the seven planets of antiquity or the 12 signs of the ZODIAC. They were thought to have imprisoned the divine spark of human souls in material creation. The gnosis sent from the realms of divine light through Jesus enabled Gnostic initiates to pass through the spheres of the Archons into the realms of light.
archosaur Var-k3-,s6r\ Any of the various advanced reptiles in the sub¬ class Archosauria (“ruling reptiles”), including all thecodonts, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, birds, and crocodilians. The first known archosaurs appeared 242-227 million years ago during the Triassic Period. All early archosaurs possessed an ankle specialization that aided in upright posture, and most had long hindlegs and short forelimbs. Unlike the teeth of earlier reptiles, which were set in a shallow groove, the teeth of archosaurs were (and are) set in sockets.
Archytas \ar-'ki-tas\ (fl. 400-350 bc, Tarentum, Magna Graecia) Greek scientist, philosopher, and Pythagorean mathematician. Archytas is some¬ times called the founder of mathematical mechanics. Plato, a close friend, made use of his work in mathematics, and there is evidence that Euclid borrowed from Archytas for Book VIII of the Elements. An influential public figure, he served seven years as commander in chief of his city, Tarentum (now Taranto, Italy).
Arcimboldo V.ar-chem-'bol-doV Giuseppe (b. c. 1527, Milan—d. 1593, Milan) Italian painter. He began his career as a painter and designer of stained-glass windows for Milan Cathedral. In 1562 he moved to Pra¬ gue and became court painter to the emperors Ferdinand I and Rudolf II. He also painted scenery for the court theatre and became skillful at illu- sionistic imagery containing allegorical meanings, puns, and jokes. He is known for his eccentric and grotesque Mannerist compositions of fruits, vegetables, animals, landscapes, and implements arranged to resemble human forms. The style was regarded as being in poor taste until the Sur¬ realists revived the art of visual punning in the 1920s. See photograph on opposite page.
Arctic Archipelago Group of Canadian islands, Arctic Ocean. They lie north of the Canadian mainland and have an area of about 550,000 sq mi (1,424,500 sq km). The southeastern islands are an extension of the Canadian Shield; the balance consists of the Arctic lowlands to the south and the Innuitian Mountains to the north. The archipelago includes the large islands of Baffin, Ellesmere, Victoria, Banks, and Prince of Wales.
Arctic Circle Parallel of latitude approximately 66.5° north of the Equa¬ tor that circumscribes the northern frigid zone. It marks the southern limit
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Arctic fox ► Arendt I 99
of the area within which, for one day or more each year, the sun does not set or rise. The length of continuous day or night increases northward from the Arctic Circle, mounting to six months at the North Pole.
Arctic fox Northern fox ( Alopex lagopus ) found throughout the Arctic, usually on tundra or mountains near the sea. Its short, rounded ears and short muzzle reduce its body area exposed to heat loss, and it has fur- covered soles. It is 20-24 in. (50-60 cm) long (excluding the 12-in., or 30-cm, tail) and weighs 7-17 lbs (3-8 kg). It has two colour phases. Indi¬ viduals in the white phase are grayish brown in summer and white in win¬ ter; those in the blue phase (blue foxes of the fur trade) are grayish in summer and gray-blue in winter. The Arctic fox dwells in burrows and feeds on any available animal or vegetable material.
Arctic National Park, Gates of the See Gates of the Arctic National Park
Arctic Ocean Ocean centring approximately on the North Pole. Small¬ est of the world’s oceans, it is almost completely surrounded by the land- masses of Eurasia and North America, and it is distinguished by a cover of ice. Lands in it and adjacent to it include Point Barrow in Alaska, the Arctic Archipelago, Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and northern Siberia. The ocean covers about 5,440,000 sq mi (14,090,000 sq km) and reaches a maximum depth of about 18,000 ft (5,500 m). Its marginal seas include the Barents, Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian, Greenland, Kara, Laptev, and White seas. Areas within the Arctic Circle were first explored beginning in the 9th century by the Norse. In the 16th— 17th centuries explorers searching for the Northwest Passage reached the area; Martin Frobisher discovered the southern part of Baffin Island (1576-78), and Henry Hudson navigated the eastern coast of Hudson Bay (1610-11). Later explorers included Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert E. Peary, and Richard E. Byrd. Development of the area’s natural resources was spurred by the discovery of oil in Alaska in the 1960s. Virtually all of the Arctic has now been mapped. See map opposite.
Arctic tern Tern species {Sterna paradisaea ) that makes the longest annual migration of any bird. It breeds in the southerly reaches of the Arctic and winters in the Antarctic, making its migration a round-trip of nearly 22,000 mi (over 35,000 km). Its appearance—white with a black cap and grayish wings—is similar to that of the common tern (S. hirundo), its frequent companion.
Ardea \'ar-de-o\ Ancient town, Italy. Located south of Rome, Ardea was ruled by the Rutuli people and was an important center for the cult of Juno. In 444 bc the town signed a treaty with the Romans, who colonized it as a barrier against the Volsci. It declined in the Roman civil wars of the 1st century bc.
Arden, Elizabeth orig. Florence Nightingale Graham (b. Dec. 31, 1884, Woodbridge, Ont., Can.—d. Oct. 18, 1966, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Canadian-U.S. businesswoman who founded a chain of women’s salons. Graham moved to New York c. 1908, where she opened a beauty salon under the name Elizabeth Arden. She was instrumental in making cosmetics acceptable for respectable women. In 1915 she began to mar-
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ket her cosmetics products interna¬ tionally. At her death there were over 100 Elizabeth Arden salons through¬ out the world.