ostracon  Limestone ostracon from Deir el-Medina, Egypt (New Kingdom, c. 1300–1200 BC), now in the Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy. Ostraca are fragments of pottery or limestone that were widely used in antiquity as a surface for drawing or (as an alternative to papyrus) for writing, as well as for calculating accounts. The ostracon pictured is thought to be a business record of Prince Sethikhopsef, son of Ramses III. | In ancient Egypt, a piece of limestone or pottery used as a cheap alternative to papyrus. It was also used for voting tablets in Athens. |
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