Sherd
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In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery or other ceramic vessel, although the term is occasionally used of fragments from broken stone and glass vessels as well.
Occasionally, a piece of broken pottery may be referred to as a shard, or the more precise term potsherd can be used. It should be noted that while the word shard is generally reserved for referring to fragments of glass vessels (possibly as the word is reminiscent of —- though not etymologcally related to —- "sharp") the term does not necessarily exclude pottery fragments.
A sherd or potsherd with writing painted or inscribed on it can be more precisely referred to as an