noun
- plural of ostracon; pottery fragments or limestone flakes used in ancient times as writing surfaces, especially for temporary records, receipts, or voting
Usage: archaeology; ancient history
Examples
- Archaeologists discovered thousands of ostraca at the ancient Egyptian site.
- The ostraca contained records of daily transactions and tax receipts.
- Students examined ostraca to learn about ancient writing practices.
- Many ostraca were found with Greek and Coptic inscriptions.
- The museum’s collection includes ostraca dating back to the Roman period.
- Scholars translated the hieratic script found on several ostraca.