Ostracon

Giovanni Ciotti

The Greek term ostracon is used to refer to potsherds used as writing surfaces and, by extension, to limestone flakes used for the same purpose (see unfashioned written artefacts). Contrary to pottery, which was written on to indicate its content (e.g. tituli picti) (see tools and wares), ostraca are used to write texts unrelated to the origin of the writing surface. Greek ostraca were common throughout the Hellenised world, but we mostly possess items originating from Egypt between the 4th c. BCE and the 7th c. CE. Ostraca were cheap, if not even completely free, and easy to procure, in the majority of cases consisting of broken pieces of amphorae bodies, which in turn are flatter than the other parts of the amphorae and thus easier to write on. This reuse of a discarded and therefore cheap material was well-fitted for texts of immediate and practical use. Think of the use of ostraca for casting votes in Athens to decide about exiles (Węcowski 2022).

Texts were usually written on the outside, convex part of the potsherd (rarely on both sides) by tracing letters with liquid black or coloured ink by means of a reed - the same used to write on papyri (see scroll/roll). Ostraca ink has only survived well in dry countries such as Egypt and Libya; elsewhere, it has often been partially or completely erased. Seldom, texts were incised on the surface, like a palm-leaf pothi  or wall graffiti.