A label is the identifier of a constituent.

A label is in the form of an alpha-numeric code, derived from a sequential log.

There are several types of labels, as they relate to

• elements or para-elements;
• referents or
• incidentals.

They are discussed in what follows.

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Definition

A generic label identifies uniquely any given constituent, in the sense that it remains forever linked with the pertinent constituent as defined at the moment of excavation; there is no other required registration number assigned subsequently to any constituent.

Being generic, it attributes the minimum level of specificity. Whenever the term “label” is used by itself, it refers to such a generic label.

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Ranks

A full label consists of a maximum of seven segments, which may be called “ranks,” as follows:

          Rank 1: Project and archive
          Rank 2: Book
          Rank 3: Element
          Rank 4: Element sequential number
          Rank 5: Component
          Rank 6: Component sequential number
          Rank 7: Sub-component

The sequence of these ranks is fixed, and Ranks 2 and 3 are obligatory, while the others are optional.

Labels are case sensitive.

More details about each rank are given below.

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Examples

Some examples are given here, including elements, para-elements and element clusters (obligatory ranks are shaded):

	1 Project	2 Book	3 Element	4 Seq.number	5 Component	6 Seq.number	7 Sub-component	full label
aggregate	[MZ]	A16	a	14				A16a14
item	[MZ]	A16	i	16				A16.16
item and major component	[MZ]	A6	i	63	j	2		A6.63-j2
item and minor component	[MZ]	A6	i	63	n	3		A6.63-n3
negative	[MZ]	A15	n	1				A15n1
q-pottery	[MZ]	A16	q	1	p	5		A16q1-p5
q-item and sub-component	[MZ]	A15	q	1220	i	11	1	A15q1220.11.1
zero	[MZ]	J5	z	1				J5z1

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Rank 1: Project

The first rank is optional, and refers to the Project. Typically, this refers to an excavation site, cited in an abbreviated form, in our case “MZ” for Mozan. It may also stand for a project that does not involve excavation, such as a survey, and in that case an analogous kind of abbreviation will be chosen. Rank 1 needs to be included in the label only where the constituent in question may become separated from the site or its archive.

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Rank 2: Book

Rank 2 is obligatory. It refers to the digital book.

The code for the UGR digital books is found in the UGRS website.

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Rank 3: Element

Rank 3 is obligatory.

It refers to the constituent proper, identified by a single lower case letter corresponding to the type of element in question).

With items, the identifying letter “i” is regularly replaced by a period in the label, as in A16.16 instead of A16i16. It is retained in other instances, e.g., when only a partial label is used (thus, in a context devoted to A16 one will write i16 instead of A16.16), and as directory names.

Note that the period used instead of the letter “i” makes the label easier to read. It is also an apt abbreviation in that an item is in fact a point triangulated individually, i.e., with unique coordinates.

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Rank 4: Element sequential number

Rank 4 is reauired is there is an entry in rank 3.

This is an index taken from a sequential list of constituents (see for example the items in A16.

The maximum range allowed for the sequential number is 4 digits, so that the highest number allowed is 9999.

The series of numbers from 9000-9999 is used for classes of elements that present problems discovered after the standard label has been assigned, and cannot be corrected on the original. This applies, for example, to old drawings that do not have a component number.

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Rank 5: Component

Rank 5 is optional.

A component is found only with items and q-lots, and is identified by a lower case letter (see presently), preceded by a hyphen. As for constituents proper, the code –i is replaced by a period.

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items

The codes in use currently refer to typology, and specifically to the compositional structure of a given item, e. g., the iconography of a seal or seal impression and the role the component plays in the composition (j for major and n for minor).

code	definition	example
-j	major compositional element	A6.63-j2
-n	minor compositional element	A6.63-n3

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q-lots

The code refers to one of three possible types of typological components, as follows:

code	definition	example
-b	bones	[none available]
-i	items other than bones and pottery (replaced by a dot)	J5q64.1
-p	pottery	J5q21-p3

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Rank 6: Component sequential number

Rank 6 is optional

The sequential number refers to an individual component and is taken from a sequential order from 1 to 99. Thus, in A16.63-j2, the number 2 refers to the second major compositional component in A16.63, and in J5q21-p3 the number 3 refers to the third sherd in lot J5q21.

The series of numbers from 70 to 99 is used for classes of components that are analyzed only as groups, e.g., body sherds in a pottery lot. Thus A16q4-p71 refers to four body sherds fo hte same ware (Dark Red Burnished).

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Rank 7: Sub-component

Rank 5 is optional.

It consists of a single numeric code, from 1 to 99, that serves as the quantitative identifier – i.e., it gives the number of an individual component found within either an element or a component. Thus in A15q1220.11.1 the number 1 refers to the first sub-component of item 11 within lot 1220. In this case, entry for item A15q1220.1 gives a definition of the item as a cluster of sub-components (they are all shells), while each sub-component has a separate entry, with its own documentation, up to sub-component 9.

For some other examples, see various groups of lithic artifacts in A12 (q633.1, q658.1, q689.3, q717.1, q742.5).

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Definition

A specific label attributes to a constituent (e. g., A16q638.3) the specificity inherent in a definition, adding an indexing factor (e. g., “^human figurine 1”) established through a a sequential list.

The term typological label may also be used, since the specificity is derived from the typological characteristics of the element.

A specific label serves therefore as an overlay on a constituent label. In other words, a specific label does not establish a new constituent, but serves to qualify an existing constituent.

To this end, there are two parallel systems, one within the unit book and one within a topical book:

generic or basic label	A16q638.3	this is the primary label of the pertinent constituent, with a full page assigned to it, containing all relevant stratigraphic and typological information
1. unit specific label	A16^fh1	a specific label within the pertinent unit book: out of a total of 104 figurines, some of the more notable ones are selected as belonging to a distinct sequence (even if it is a sequence of one); the sequence is given as a separate list.
2. topical specific label	Tfh^f25	within the topical book of all Urkesh human figurines (TFH), this item is assigned the typological label "^f" for "female figurine" and the sequential number 25.

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Ranks

The format of a specific label is the same in both systems (unit book and topical book), with only ranks 1 through 4 (rank 1 is omitted below for brevity’s sake).

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Examples

Generic label Full label A16q638.3 A16.129 J5a705

1. Unit specific label 2 Book 3 Definition 4 Seq.number Full label A16 fh 1 A16^fh1 – – – – J5 apron 1 J5^apron1

2. Topical specific label 2 Book 3 Definition 4 Seq.number Full label TFH f 25 TFH^f25 TFH u 19 TFH^u19 – – – –

other examples, e.g. J5 A20 aggregates

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Rank 1: Project

See above.

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Rank 2: Book

The two parallel systems are evidenced by the book label identifying each system, i. e., a unit book (e.g., A16) and a topical book (e.g., TFH).

In most cases, only one of the two systems is used.

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Rank 3: Definition

Specific labels are derived from a lexicon of variants, and are properly attributed to elements only, since referents do not have higher levels of specificity.

A caret or circumflex symbol (^) is used to identify a specific label.

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Rank 4: Definition sequential number

The sequential number is required, even if the list consists of only one item.

All labels in these categories are formatted in the same way as the elements, except that phases and strata must add the reference to the sequence being used. Some examples:

The number 0 is reserved for a stratum which is mixed or unclear as to statigraphy, as, for example, with the excavation of a purely “volumetric” entity such as a baulk. The number 9 is reserved for the phase of that same stratum.

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Definition

Strata and phases have a distinctive labeling system. Within any given book, the strata/phases are generally taken from a different book (e.g., within J3, the strata/phases are taken from JP). It is also necessary to indicate the generation to which the strata/phase sequence belongs. Accordingly, the reference book (JP in our example) and the generation (indicated with a CAPITAL LETTER) must be given as a label index preceded by a hyphen. Thus, J3s1-JPA indicates that the current strata sequence in book J3 is generation A of book JP.

Note that the numeric component of templates (t) is always identical to the numeric component of the equivalent view (v).

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Examples

	1 Project	2 Book	3 Referent	4 Seq.number	5 Suffix	full label
locus	[MZ]	A16	k	110		A16k110
relay	[MZ]	A16	r	15		A16r15
view	[MZ]	A16	v	25		A16v25
phase	[MZ]	A16	h	6c	AAH	A16h6c-AAH
stratum	[MZ]	A16	s	315	AAH	A16s315-AAH

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Ranks

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Rank 1: Project

See above.

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Rank 2: Book

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Rank 3: Referent

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Rank 4: Referent sequential number

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Rank 5: Suffix

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Definition

The labels for photos and drawings have a special status, articulated in six ranks as in the following two examples.

The referent label occurs as the first element of a photo or drawing file name, to which the links in the examples refer

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Examples

1 Project	2 Book	3 Season	4 Type	5 "Roll"	6 Image	full label
[MZ]	V	23	d	20	16	V23d2016
[MZ]	W	23N	c	15	03	W23Nc1503

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Ranks

In point of fact, these labels occur only as the first field in a file label: since these files contain images, there is no space for metadata within the file itself, and so they are expressed in the file label:

• V23d2016 J2q566.2 U816 dM fg f220.jpg
• W23Nc1503 A10q0249.1 xxxx mTS si cylinder seal partial bird table

Detail about the individual ranks follows.

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Rank 1: Project

See above.

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Rank 2: Book

Only the letter V for photos (“Visuals”) or the letter W for drawings are allowed.

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Rank 3: Season

The code for the season consists of a number for excavation seasons, and a number plus a lower case letter for study seasons (see the Mozan sitewide digital book). Thus in W23Ad0101 J3w100 Z726 jW k1 W23A stands for the study season of 2011.

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Ranks 4: Type

A single lower case letter refers to the type of subject which the imaghe renders, according to the following two lists:

Photos:

b	assemblages
c	conservation
d1	main selection
e2	extra
i	incidentals
k	kite
m	movies (video clips)
p	site presentation
q	ceramic q lots
s	storage
u	unit photos not taken by photographer

Drawings:

a	sketches
b	pencil drawings
c	pen drawings
d	vector drawings

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Rank 5: “Roll”

The term “roll” is borrowed from the pre-digital era, when photos were taken with film rolls. It corresponds now to a folder.

The code consist of two numbers, from 01 to 99. A maximum number of 99 “rolls” is allowed.

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Ranks 6: Image

The code consist of two numbers, from 01 to 99. A maximum number of 99 images per “roll” is allowed.

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Definition

As indicated, incidentals approximate the status of constituents, even though they are structurally quite distinct. I have called them para-constituents (2.2) as a way to refer both to the similarities and the differences between them and constituents proper. They are not, accordingly, part of a closed system, and thus no structural listing is possible as the one given above for constituents. An important difference is that there is no sequential numbering of incidentals. As a result, the label for incidentals is limited to the type, expressed by an alphabetic code preceded by a hyphen (-). For instance, -sg refers to “strategy,” and A1-sg refers to a discussion of strategy within A1.

The codes used to denote incidentals belong, as I have stressed (see above) to an open system, and only a lexical listing is possible. A list of codes currently in use at Tell Mozan will be found below in 7.5.4, but any addition is possible to this list. The only formal constraint is that the code begin with a hyphen and contain no space.

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Examples

Fig. S3.8 below provides a synoptic chart of all possible combinations that may be found to identify a minimal constituent. (Rank 1, referring to Mozan, is omitted.)

Fig. S3.8: Synopsis of constituent labels.
Dark shaded cells represent obligatory fields, light shaded cells represent fields that are obligatory only outside the pertinent book

The obligatory ranks are 2 and 3, so that minimal examples of legal constituent labels are as follows: A1f1, A1.10, AKr1001, OS12.101.

With the optional addition of rank 1, where needed (e.g., when the label is written on an object), we would have: MZ A1.10.

With the optional addition of ranks 4 and/or 5, we would have: MZ A10q8.1, MZ A10q8p1, A10q8p1-3, OBq987.66.1.

For the constituent prefix of drawings and photographs see below, chapter 23.