Sherds

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Fragments or broken pieces of pottery or ceramic materials typically found in archaeological contexts
2. remnants of earthenware that can provide insights into past cultures through analysis
3. small shards of ancient cooking or storage vessels often uncovered during digs or explorations

Etymology: "Sherds" is the plural of "sherd," a word for a broken fragment of pottery. The singular is itself a variant of "shard," which means a fragment of any broken, brittle material, and the two spellings have long been used side by side for pottery pieces. The "sh" form is the older version in English, and it has kept its hold in archaeology, where a single piece of pot is conventionally called a sherd. Because the word has narrowed so specifically to ceramics, the broader "shard" now covers glass, stone and other breakage, while "sherd" is the term specialists reach for. Its plural carries the same narrow meaning, so the word is most often found in reports describing excavated potsherds.