Syntax

Giorgio Buccellati – April 2026

Intro

dating;

An example: the prestige of a drinking cup

As an example, we look back at the the conical cup assemblage. We already saw how the correlation with a depiction on cylinder seals indicates how the cup would be used in ceremonial occasions.

An assemblage: 23 selected conical cups
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We can now draw a more complex inference from a statistical array of conical cups from eight excavation units, giving the total of vessels and sherds and the totals and percent of conical cups.

There is a total of 2,370 conical cups (wholes or sherds), which is almost one percent (.80%) of a total of almost 300,000 vessels and sherds, with considerable variations among the various units.

Lowest percentage: this occurs either in open spaces (J1-J6, the Temple Plaza) or in a unit (A16) that includes burials from the later periods and the formal courtyard of the Palace of Tupkish. Nowhere here would we expect much use of conical cups in a ceremonial function.
Medium percentage (0.88%, highlighted in white): this is found in unit A15 which includes a ceremonial platform near the necromantic structure. A higher use of the conical cups makes good sense in this context.
Highest percentage (1.65%, highlighted in green): this is found in unit A12 which consists mostly of the necromantic structure (the abi), where rituals would take place which would have likely required the use of conical cups.

unit	total	c.cups	%
A12	47,815	790	1.65
A15	62,117	552	0.88
A16	59,818	350	0.58
J1	44,732	262	0.58
J2	33,582	246	0.73
J3	13,301	13	0.10
J5	18,309	85	0.46
J6	17,182	80	0.46
total	296,856	2,370	0.80

A grammatical global record

This example gives a good indication of the nature and significance of grammatical analysis in function of drawing valid inferences from the data, inferences that have a direct bearing on hermeneutics.

The inference was only possible possible because the data had been properly grammaticalized. The 2,370 elements in the assemblage can be so grouped because they have been originally identified as conical cups.

Furthermore, the validity of the inference rests on the global nature of the corpus. The nearly 300,000 items in the sample represent the entire body of ceramic vessels and sherds for these units, and that is what gives the statistics their power and validity.

Ws can on this basis recapture the sense of what a conical cup meant for the ancients. We do not just see it as a container for liquid, appropriate for drinking. We can identify with what would have been an instinctive appreciation for the ceremonial aura that the cup would hold, for its use whether in a high level social context within the royal family or as part of a religious ritual that connected humans with the spirits of the deceased.

This is in line with the other examples we have already seen in the section on semantics, where several examples have been cited that lead our perception to a level of higher closeness with the perception of the ancients.