Code Words Used in Some South Asian Archaeological Reports
I am NOT guaranteeing any of these but they might help you get started on making sense of some archaeological reports that seem hard to understand or contradictory. Please let me know any glaring errors...
BUT NOT EVERY EXCAVATOR USES EXACT SAME TERMINOLOGY though I'm trying to say how often used in certain ways
ALSO these are very possibly NOT true for after c800 CE or whenever more modern stuff appeared; I am only checking for up to c700 CE
Note that many of these terms are really shorthand for "something shaped like x."
Also be aware of typos and bad digitization eg "a covered dram of baked bricks" surely was a covered drain rather than some drink or measure.
apsidal shaped : seems to always just mean a building had some parts of it rounded, others not
ball : usually a sphere but also "oval" ones, never known for sure what for: cd be toy, slingshot stone, hammering tool, etc
bangle : always a wrist ornament without an opening; never modern style little glass things; at least sometimes refers to wide inc made of glass
barn : at least occasionally does not mean a building large enough to shelter animals but a tall but small-across silo-like structure
bathroom : never toilet, sink, bathing combo, but usually a room in which to bathe/shower/somehow wash whole body
began work : at least sometimes does not mean excavation work was not done here before; just means worked sometime during period being discussed (is basically a worthless phrase)
celt : at least sometimes simply an axhead
circular : sometimes means rounded even just on one edge; eg u-shaped, very much oval as opposed to round like a circle
courtyard : always just a walled yard, not neces surrounded even on 2 sides by the building unless it says so
cushion : occas refers to some thing made out of clay within a kiln (maybe a hollow thing), obviously not a soft pillow thing
dabber : possibly never like to dab on perfume, but usually something used by potters in making pottery (to decorate it??)
discover : see NOTICED
dishes : usually means plates, NOT even bowls, nor of course vases, jars, pots
dog : sometimes if not more often turns out to be surely a cat when speaking of artwork (I assume actual bones are correctly identified since they are done by professionals)
exotic : e.g. of a statue said to be of an "exotic" human; at least sometimes not at all realistic e.g. of a foreigner but could be for a joke as is extremely exaggerated and hardly human
factory : never modern of course; simply a place (possibly just all in the open) where something was made
few : at least sometimes can be more than a few in my opinion; e.g. a total of 14 is called "a few"
figure : usually same as figurine
figurine: always a little statue v often made of terracotta
fireplace : never early American style of course; simply a spot where a fire was made, says nothing of its style
furniture : in phrase "graveyard furniture" and similar, never means actual furniture but other stuff found in grave eg pots
frying pan : possibly never a metal one like we have but often a terracotta shallow pan suitable for frying over a fire
gamesman : poss never in shape of a person or even animal but geometric eg pyramid, cone, cylinder
hall : always in Indian sense of large public room (nowadays often a living room); never a narrow corridor/hallway (which are often called a passage)
hammerstone : never shape of our hammers of course; at least sometimes just a ball
hearth : SEEMS to mean same as fireplace which see except it also implies there was some way to demarcate it eg raised earth, stones, or a pit, because differentiate between a hearth and an "ash patch on the floor."
hopscotch: never is for sure used as a hopscotch piece; sometimes adults were buried w them; could be toy, ritual, currency, etc
house: occas just means building or just a separate room that is not just a eg small structure; though note residential always refers to something to do w a home
incense burner : at least sometimes could be a lamp
jar : sometimes at least not for storage but even for cooking; I think just refers to a container that gets narrower below its top
lane : always simply a narrow road
leaf : often even when stated "a gold leaf" just means foil-thin, not natural leaf-shaped thing
lid : often not a domed lid but goes down on side where apparent knob handle is; sometimes called a saucer
marble other than building material : always just a small ball which see often made out of terracotta
miniature pots : not necessarily toys nor ritual; occasionally conjecture were for working with molten metal
noticed : never that no one else had ever noticed it; could even be well known locally; but always that made official record of for the right government department (such as the Archaeological Survey of India); sometimes even discovered is used in the same way
oblong : I think usually means they are not sure it was oval or rectangular; but also might mean rectangular with rounded edges, because always mentioned as dif from oval, but also because rectangular is so commonly used they must mean something different by this in the cases when they've uncovered enough evidence to know
on : occas a non-English writer uses it for OF, as in "copies on terracotta" means copies made out of terracotta
oven : I THINK an enclosed place in which to cook something; are many dif styles
parer : never a clear vegetable cutter or something; usually or always could also have been a razor
pencil, eye : never eye makeup but I think a stick type thing with which to apply kohl
planning : to do w a house always re layout of several houses/neighborhood design, not floorplan etc of indiv house
plaster : never modern white plaster, often just mud
platform : often not like counter height but very short, just a few inches; can be the width and length though of maybe a small table all the way to huge and underneath a whole settlement; just means something built up from the ground, usually of dirt
pounder : at least sometimes just a stone ball (also see hammer)
razor : SEE parer; ALSO at least sometimes could also be a scraper for something other than one's face
ringwell : EITHER a septic tank type arrangement or a well for drawing cleanish water, though usually seems to be septic type; refers to its style of being made w terracotta rings stacked on top of each other
rubble : sometimes or often seems to mean better than random smallish rocks but just unfinished stones poss largeish
saucer : never looks much like ours; often has a knob handle, so see lid
silo : never huge like a farmer's grain silo today; I think always round and often built up from the ground and usually w evidence of having had grain in it, but only maybe a foot across
slingball : always a stone sphere at least roughly; at least usually could be a pounder too; I've seen no mention of actual slingshots found though this name could just mean something that can be thrown
spoon : usually a ladle
structure : always anything built/constructed by humans, including quite small things like ovens as well as big buildings; also incs plain mud floors; though never includes jewelry, dishes, artwork but things that are more in the construction trade
structural complex : at least sometimes not a set of buildings that really belong together (a la a modern-day office complex) but buildings that just happen to be close to each other but are obviously eg totally separate homes
tandoor oven : never what I've seen in restaurants today but an underground oven (see oven)
vase : at least sometimes if not always not a decorative container for flowers but a container at least sometimes just for storage [[I THINK is a tallish container with a narrower top than bottom]]
well : rarely actually proved to be a well in the sense of a hole dug for water, though usually that is the best explanation; sometimes could have been for storage (if shallow)
GENERAL NOTES
• Can't always completely trust reports because of careless writing; eg cfg their description w their drawing say rooms opened into courtyard not corridor but drawing is v clearly corridor; if absolutely crucial try to check more than one source or format of presentation. (My approach gets around this usually.)
• Can't always completely trust photographs because of reconstruction.
I am NOT guaranteeing any of these but they might help you get started on making sense of some archaeological reports that seem hard to understand or contradictory. Please let me know any glaring errors...
BUT NOT EVERY EXCAVATOR USES EXACT SAME TERMINOLOGY though I'm trying to say how often used in certain ways
ALSO these are very possibly NOT true for after c800 CE or whenever more modern stuff appeared; I am only checking for up to c700 CE
Note that many of these terms are really shorthand for "something shaped like x."
Also be aware of typos and bad digitization eg "a covered dram of baked bricks" surely was a covered drain rather than some drink or measure.
apsidal shaped : seems to always just mean a building had some parts of it rounded, others not
ball : usually a sphere but also "oval" ones, never known for sure what for: cd be toy, slingshot stone, hammering tool, etc
bangle : always a wrist ornament without an opening; never modern style little glass things; at least sometimes refers to wide inc made of glass
barn : at least occasionally does not mean a building large enough to shelter animals but a tall but small-across silo-like structure
bathroom : never toilet, sink, bathing combo, but usually a room in which to bathe/shower/somehow wash whole body
began work : at least sometimes does not mean excavation work was not done here before; just means worked sometime during period being discussed (is basically a worthless phrase)
celt : at least sometimes simply an axhead
circular : sometimes means rounded even just on one edge; eg u-shaped, very much oval as opposed to round like a circle
courtyard : always just a walled yard, not neces surrounded even on 2 sides by the building unless it says so
cushion : occas refers to some thing made out of clay within a kiln (maybe a hollow thing), obviously not a soft pillow thing
dabber : possibly never like to dab on perfume, but usually something used by potters in making pottery (to decorate it??)
discover : see NOTICED
dishes : usually means plates, NOT even bowls, nor of course vases, jars, pots
dog : sometimes if not more often turns out to be surely a cat when speaking of artwork (I assume actual bones are correctly identified since they are done by professionals)
exotic : e.g. of a statue said to be of an "exotic" human; at least sometimes not at all realistic e.g. of a foreigner but could be for a joke as is extremely exaggerated and hardly human
factory : never modern of course; simply a place (possibly just all in the open) where something was made
few : at least sometimes can be more than a few in my opinion; e.g. a total of 14 is called "a few"
figure : usually same as figurine
figurine: always a little statue v often made of terracotta
fireplace : never early American style of course; simply a spot where a fire was made, says nothing of its style
furniture : in phrase "graveyard furniture" and similar, never means actual furniture but other stuff found in grave eg pots
frying pan : possibly never a metal one like we have but often a terracotta shallow pan suitable for frying over a fire
gamesman : poss never in shape of a person or even animal but geometric eg pyramid, cone, cylinder
hall : always in Indian sense of large public room (nowadays often a living room); never a narrow corridor/hallway (which are often called a passage)
hammerstone : never shape of our hammers of course; at least sometimes just a ball
hearth : SEEMS to mean same as fireplace which see except it also implies there was some way to demarcate it eg raised earth, stones, or a pit, because differentiate between a hearth and an "ash patch on the floor."
hopscotch: never is for sure used as a hopscotch piece; sometimes adults were buried w them; could be toy, ritual, currency, etc
house: occas just means building or just a separate room that is not just a eg small structure; though note residential always refers to something to do w a home
incense burner : at least sometimes could be a lamp
jar : sometimes at least not for storage but even for cooking; I think just refers to a container that gets narrower below its top
lane : always simply a narrow road
leaf : often even when stated "a gold leaf" just means foil-thin, not natural leaf-shaped thing
lid : often not a domed lid but goes down on side where apparent knob handle is; sometimes called a saucer
marble other than building material : always just a small ball which see often made out of terracotta
miniature pots : not necessarily toys nor ritual; occasionally conjecture were for working with molten metal
noticed : never that no one else had ever noticed it; could even be well known locally; but always that made official record of for the right government department (such as the Archaeological Survey of India); sometimes even discovered is used in the same way
oblong : I think usually means they are not sure it was oval or rectangular; but also might mean rectangular with rounded edges, because always mentioned as dif from oval, but also because rectangular is so commonly used they must mean something different by this in the cases when they've uncovered enough evidence to know
on : occas a non-English writer uses it for OF, as in "copies on terracotta" means copies made out of terracotta
oven : I THINK an enclosed place in which to cook something; are many dif styles
parer : never a clear vegetable cutter or something; usually or always could also have been a razor
pencil, eye : never eye makeup but I think a stick type thing with which to apply kohl
planning : to do w a house always re layout of several houses/neighborhood design, not floorplan etc of indiv house
plaster : never modern white plaster, often just mud
platform : often not like counter height but very short, just a few inches; can be the width and length though of maybe a small table all the way to huge and underneath a whole settlement; just means something built up from the ground, usually of dirt
pounder : at least sometimes just a stone ball (also see hammer)
razor : SEE parer; ALSO at least sometimes could also be a scraper for something other than one's face
ringwell : EITHER a septic tank type arrangement or a well for drawing cleanish water, though usually seems to be septic type; refers to its style of being made w terracotta rings stacked on top of each other
rubble : sometimes or often seems to mean better than random smallish rocks but just unfinished stones poss largeish
saucer : never looks much like ours; often has a knob handle, so see lid
silo : never huge like a farmer's grain silo today; I think always round and often built up from the ground and usually w evidence of having had grain in it, but only maybe a foot across
slingball : always a stone sphere at least roughly; at least usually could be a pounder too; I've seen no mention of actual slingshots found though this name could just mean something that can be thrown
spoon : usually a ladle
structure : always anything built/constructed by humans, including quite small things like ovens as well as big buildings; also incs plain mud floors; though never includes jewelry, dishes, artwork but things that are more in the construction trade
structural complex : at least sometimes not a set of buildings that really belong together (a la a modern-day office complex) but buildings that just happen to be close to each other but are obviously eg totally separate homes
tandoor oven : never what I've seen in restaurants today but an underground oven (see oven)
vase : at least sometimes if not always not a decorative container for flowers but a container at least sometimes just for storage [[I THINK is a tallish container with a narrower top than bottom]]
well : rarely actually proved to be a well in the sense of a hole dug for water, though usually that is the best explanation; sometimes could have been for storage (if shallow)
GENERAL NOTES
• Can't always completely trust reports because of careless writing; eg cfg their description w their drawing say rooms opened into courtyard not corridor but drawing is v clearly corridor; if absolutely crucial try to check more than one source or format of presentation. (My approach gets around this usually.)
• Can't always completely trust photographs because of reconstruction.
