Roster and Lexicon

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Roster and Lexicon

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The concepts of roster and lexicon are fundamental to the whole UGR approach, and are described within the Grammar.

In the Ceramics book a special roster and lexicon has been developed to describe all the ceramic data from the Urkesh excavations. The overall system is based on the idea that each individual sherd can be identified, and then subsequently categorized according to the various characteristics as defined in the roster.

The rosters are paradigms of variables or categories. The roster determines what characteristics can be recorded systematically. It is a closed, -emic, system: this has meant that any addition or change had to be made with a view to its impact on the structure of the roster as a whole.

The lexicon is the complete list of potential entries for any one roster space. The Lexicon then contains codes and a detailed description of all the wares identified in the Urkesh excavations. It is an open (-etic) system. These then are the codes that are used for the ceramic analysis and found in the analysis records. –For example, within the roster there is a code for wares, ZcaW.

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Within the overall frame of the roster and lexicon, each sherd is individually analyzed as the codes for wares, shapes, decoration, etc are found there. Body sherds can only be analyzed from the point of view of the ware and sometimes the decoration, but this last feature is found only seldom. The lexicon is flexible in that it allows the addition of new codes in cases of new discoveries.

The intersection of the two dimensions, the roster (variables) and lexicon (variants) allows our attribute analysis to be broken down into discrete and verifiable units that can be explicitly compared.

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Definition

The concept of type corresponds to the notion of roster, and that of attribute to the notion of lexicon; for further detail see the grammar.

Types are clusters of variables. For example, “dimensions” is a roster slot that allows for a number of different measurement ranges.

Attributes are the actual variants that correspond (in the case of “dimensions”) to specific ranges, e.g., large, small, etc. One will find below an overall chart that describes the system as a whole.

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System structure

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The chart below outlines the overall structure of the system. Details about types are given in the following section. For details about attributes, see the pertinent section below.

variables: categories				variants: attributes
level 1	level 2		level 3
ceramic vessel	ware family		matrix	paste	porosity	firing	hardness	fracture	color inside	color outside
			inclusions	temper	color range
			manufacturing	forming techniques	exterior treatment	interior treatment
			measurements	max wall thickness	maximum height	maximum width	weigh	volume	capacity
	shape family		proportions	closed h>w (jar)	intermediate h=w (pot)	open h<w (bowl)
			dimensions	height range	width range	base range
			profile	rim	neck	shoulder	base
			appendages	handles	spouts
	decoration		aspect	painted	incised	excised	applied
			location	inside	outside
	function	generic	access	scooping	pouring
			portability	2 hands	1 hand	fingers	fixed
		specific	containment	oil	perfume	fruit	grain
			production	salt	cheese
			use	cooking	incense burning

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Details of type

term	example	definition
type	bevelled rim bowl	a distinctive clustering of attributes, drawn from ware, shape and function
subtype	conical cup 1	alternatives within type (e.g., same shape, alternative details of shape) see here
ware family	chaff tempered	a grouping of items sharing the same ware attributes see here
shape family	miniature vessel	a grouping of items sharing the same shape attributes see here
ware	fine chaff tempered	clustering of attributes pertaining to physical composition, manufacturing techniques, maximal measurements – predicated of any given sherd (see here)
shape	double strand lower rounded rims	clustering of attributes pertaining to proportions, profile, dimensions and appendages – predicated only of diagnostic sherds and complete vessels (see here)
function	oil jar	clustering of attributes pertaining to perception (generic function depending on how content is accessed or vessel is carried) and to use (specific function depending on what the vessel contains or serves to produce) – predicated only of complete (including reconstructible) vessels (see here)

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