16th April 2014, 08:14 AM
Marc Berger Wrote:Most of those languages are still alive and we can argue with the interpreters over the right meaning. Classists have been dredging up terms like Terra sigillata and spraying them around sticking it all over the place. I think that every time I hear a latinish term or word it always sticks in the craw. Each ones shorthand for arts Phd with the conclusion that its been wrongly applied or misunderstood. mortaria - I am still yet to find a pestle or is that a pistillum (or is it that mortatia is not a mortar-which is not used to launch rockets or stick bricks together)
I would've thought Latin was entirely appropriate when dealing with Roman archaeology...assuming the words used are actually what the Romans called the stuff.