• Artifact Context
• Basic Formal Data
• Obverse
• Obverse Top Design
• Obverse Base Design
• Obverse Production Information

Artifact Context

Catalogue No. – Each plaque or plaque fragment has been assigned a unique catalogue number in ESPRIT. These numbers range from 0001- 1108.

Site No. – Each site context, including individual megaliths within megalithic groups, has been given a number. These numbers range from 1 – 210.

Parish – These refer to a ‘freguesia’ in Portugal, and a ‘termino municipal’ in Spain.

Municipality – These refer to a ‘concelho’ in Portugal, and a ‘municipio’ in Spain.

District – These correspond to a ‘distrito’ in Portugal, and a ‘provincia’ in Spain.

Country – Either Portugal or Spain

Site Type – This field identifies whether the find context is a burial or settlement. If it is a burial, it identifies whether it is a megalith, cave, hypogeum, rock-cut tomb, rockshelter, tholos, or tumulus.

Find Context – This field describes the nature of the find context. Information such as evidence of post-depositional disturbance and relative or absolute dates for the find context are included here.

Location – This field indicates the museum that currently houses the plaque, if known.

Cat/Acc. No. – This field identifies the museum catalogue or accession number for the plaque.

Method of Study – This field indicates the general source/s of information used in creating the record. This field was produced as a way of assessing the reliability of the information recorded for the plaque.

The different possible entries include:

• Publication – information gathered from publication
• Seen, not handled – information gathered by studying the plaque in a museum display, but the plaque was not handled (not weighed, for example)
• Seen, handled – information gathered by handling the plaque.
• Unpublished manuscript – information gathered from an unpublished manuscript
• Publication and handled – information gathered from a published source as well as by handling the plaque. This method would be considered the most reliable level of study.

Visit Date – If the plaque was seen, the date of this study is recorded here.

Comments – Miscellaneous information not included in other fields is included here.

Basic Formal Data

The fields in this section describe the basic formal qualities of the plaque.

Raw Material – The stone (and sometimes its color) used to make the plaque is recorded here. If the plaque was seen and handled, this is based on first-hand study. If this information was gathered in a published reference, this information is based on another person’s geological classification (and denoted in ‘quotes’).

Height – Orienting the plaque with the top (or narrower dimension) up, the length of the plaque in cm.

Weight – The weight of the plaque in g. These are only known for those plaques which I was able to handle, and of these, only relatively complete plaques.

Condition – This field describes the condition in which the plaque is found. The different possible entries include:

• fragment-? – A fragment from an indeterminate part of the plaque.
• fragment-top – A fragment from the top of the plaque
• fragment-top? – A fragment from what is likely to be the top of the plaque.
• fragment-base – A fragment from the base of the plaque.
• fragment-base? – A fragment from what is likely to be the base of the plaque.
• fragment-top and base – A fragment of the top and base of the plaque.
• moderately complete – A plaque that is about 1/2 complete. Not all the design features can be known from the plaque.
• nearly complete – A plaque that is about 3/4 complete. All design features can be determined, although the exact counts of these features may not be known.
• complete – A plaque that is complete. All design features or counts of features can be determined.

Life Stage – This field identifies the stage in the ‘life’ of a plaque that is represented by the plaque. This is often difficult to determine with certainty and, thus, this field is based on an educated guess.

The possible entries include:

• unknown – Impossible to know stage of life.
• finished – Plaque appears to be finished.
• finished? – While most likely finished, there is some evidence for an incompleteness that warrants this classification.
• unfinished – Plaque has not been completely engraved or the motifs have not been completely hatchured.
• unfinished? – While most likely unfinished, there is some evidence that is may be complete.
• reused – Plaque has been recycled. Evidence of polish over a break and/or reperforation has been noted.
• reused? – While most likely reused, the evidence is somewhat ambiguous.

Form – This field describes the overall form or shape of the plaque. Possible entries are:

• unknown – Plaque is too fragmented to determine its original form.
• composite – Plaque is made up of two formal components, usually a narrower trapezoidal part at ‘top’, and a wider part at ‘base’. composite? – Because of a plaque’s fragmentary nature, it may be uncertain whether it was definitely composite, though based on design features or suggestions of form it is likely to be composite.
• rectangular – Plaque is rectangular in form. The width at the top of the plaque is basically the same as the bottom of the plaque. 
• rectangular? – Plaque is likely to be rectangular, though its fragmentary nature makes this difficult to know with certainty.
• trapezoidal – Plaque is trapezoidal in form. The width at the top is notably smaller than the bottom of the plaque.
• trapezoidal? - Plaque is likely to be trapezoidal, though its fragmentary nature makes this difficult to know with certainty.

Structure – This field describes the overall structure of the design field on the plaque. Possible entries are:

• unknown – Plaque is too fragmented to determine its structure.
• bipartite – Plaque’s design field is divided clearly into a top and base by a horizontal line or band, or a set of horizontal bands.
• bipartite? – Plaque is fragmented, but is likely to be bipartite.
• transitional – There is some division into a top and base, but this is different from a bipartite plaques as the plaque has either 1) a horizontal line or band which is very close to the top edge of the plaque or 2) no horizontal line or band but maintains an unengraved triangular field near the top edge of the plaque. 
• transitional? – Plaque is fragmented, but is likely to be transitional.
• unipartite – There is not compositional separation of top and base through horizontal bands. Area near perforation engraved with design.
• unipartite? – Plaque is fragmented, but is likely to be unipartite.

No. Engraved sides – This field describes the number of sides that are engraved. Possible entries are:

• 0 – Neither side is engraved.
• 0? – Neither side appears to be engraved, but this is uncertain.
• 1 – Only 1 side is engraved.
• 1? – Only 1 side appears to be engraved, but this is uncertain (as plaque was not seen first-hand, for example).
• 2 – Both sides are engraved.
• 2? – Both sides appear to be engraved, but this is uncertain.

Perforations – This field describes the number of perforations found on the plaque. A perforation is defined as a hole that pierces both sides (obverse and reverse) of the plaque (as opposed to a circular depression, which only affects one side of the plaque).

Possible entries are:

• Unknown – Plaque fragmented, top not preserved. Cannot determine whether perforated.
• 0 – Plaque relatively complete at top, but shows no perforation.
• 0? – Plaque not entirely complete at top, so uncertain whether it has no perforations, though it most likely does not.
• 1 – Plaque relatively complete at top, and shows only 1 perforation.
• 1? – Plaque not entirely complete at top, so uncertain whether it has 1 perforation, though it most likely does.
• 2 – Plaque relatively complete at top, and shows 2 perforations.
• 2? - Plaque not entirely complete at top, so uncertain whether it has 2 perforations, though it most likely does.
• 3 - Plaque relatively complete at top, and shows 3 perforations.
• 4 – Plaque relatively complete at top, and shows 4 perforations.

Perforation Form – This field describes the form of the perforation in a cross-section. Possible entries are:

• Unknown – Plaque too fragmented to determine form of perforation.
• n.a. – Not applicable. Plaque is relatively complete at top and shows no perforation.
• conical – Perforation is conical; drilling most likely from only one side.
• conical? – Perforation appears to be conical, though evidence is somewhat ambiguous.
• biconical – Perforation is biconical; drilling most likely from both sides.
• biconical? – Perforation appears to be biconical, though evidence is somewhat ambiguous.

Major Type – This field identifies the major type the plaque corresponds to. Seven major formal types have been identified, with one of these types (VII-Biomorph) divided into 2 subtypes (A – Whiskered, and B – Simple). In addition to these 7 types, there are two classes of plaques that do not fall into these formal types (Style Variants and Recycled). These are described below.

• Classic
  • Structure – bipartite
  • Form – trapezoidal and rectangular
  • # Perforations – 0, 1, 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1
  • Design Elements – all
• Transitional
  • Structure – transitional
  • Form – trapezoidal and rectangular
  • # Perforations – 1, 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1
  • Design Elements – chevrons
  • Not all motifs are found on Transitional plaques, unlike the Classic plaques. The principal motifs found on Transitional plaques are chevrons, zigzags, triangles, and inverted triangles.
• Hoe
  • Structure – transitional
  • Form – composite
  • # Perforations– 1, 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1
  • Design Elements – triangles
  • Hoe plaques are always composite in form, transitional in structure, engraved on just one side, and decorated with horizontal registers of triangles.
• Unipartite
  • Structure – unipartite
  • Form – trapezoidal, rectangular, composite
  • # Perforations – 1, 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1, 2
  • Design Elements – chevrons, triangles, radiating chevrons, zigzags, inverted triangles
  • These plaques are decorated continuously from the top to bottom, without any horizontal bands distinguishing between a top and base. The principal design motifs found on these plaques are chevrons and triangles, though zigzags and inverted triangles also appear.
• Rug
  • Structure – unipartite
  • Form – rectangular
  • # Perforations – 1, 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 2
  • Design Elements – triangles, inverted triangles, herringbone
  • Rug plaques are primarily rectangular in form, unipartite in structure (typically with a rectangular unengraved field in the center), and engraved on both sides with triangles and inverted triangles along the edges of the plaques.
• Strappy
  • Structure – unipartite
  • Form – composite
  • # Perforations – 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1
  • Design Elements – triangle
  • Strappy plaques are always composite in form, unipartite in composition, perforated with 2 holes, and decorated with horizontal registers of triangles on one side. They are called ‘strappy’ as they have curved vertical ‘straps’ between the top and base portion of the plaques.
• Biomorph
  • Structure – unipartite
  • Form – trapezoidal, rectangular, composite
  • # Perforations – 2
  • # Sides Engraved – 1, 2
  • Design Elements – ocular, ‘arms’

  • There are two subtypes of the biomorphs: A) Whiskered and B) Simple.

    The Biomorph Whiskered plaques are a very consistently engraved type. They have two ‘eyes’, a vertical ‘nose’, two sets of two, three, or four horizontal bands or ‘whiskers’ emanating from the lower part of the ‘nose’ to the edge of the plaque. These plaques also generally have two perforations and are decorated primarily with horizontal bands of inverted triangles, though the triangles are sometimes combined with lying chevrons and regular (upward pointing) triangles. These plaques are often engraved on both sides.

    The Biomorph Simple Plaques, on the other hand, show more variability, but all suggest a being of some sort through the presence of appendages of some sort  - arms/feet or facial features – eyes, nose. These plaques are also very often engraved on two sides. 

    In addition to these 7 formal types, there are two other types that are more difficult to classify formally. These are the Style Variants (VIII) and Recycled Plaques (IX).

• Style Variants
  • In these plaques, the engraving style is usually very sketchy and does not appear to be aimed at producing any one of the recognizable types. This type may represent ‘practice’ plaques for apprentices, a child’s attempt at making a plaque, a chronological later ‘evocation’ of the more classic plaques, or some other phenomenon.  
• Recycled
  • Type IX plaques are plaques that represent a reuse of another plaque. Often these are fragments of plaques that were repolished, re-engraved, and/or reperforated. I also discuss this type later in the book.
• Unknowns
• There are a fairly large number of plaques (200, or 20%) that, because of their fragmentary nature, cannot be classified into a formal type. While for the purposes of spatial analyses, these plaques are not very useful, they may reveal some aspects of the biography of the plaques. For example, it is known that fragments of plaques were recycled and made as pendants. This indicates that some plaques, at least, after being completed, were reused and possibly brought into different tombs. One could conceivably analyze the fragments to determine if there are conjoining pieces; in this way, it will be possible to identify plaques that indeed were moved or circulated.

Obverse

The plaque obverse is that side that is decorated (if only 1 side is engraved), that side which appears to be the front a biomorphic (with the face, i.e.), or that side which appears to have the final version of an engraving (sometimes a sketch appears, and the side with this sketch is considered the reverse). If none of these criteria are satisfied, yet the plaque is engraved on its two sides, I arbitrarily assigned each side as obverse or reverse. 

ESPRIT has been designed as a research and educational tool for archaeologists, museum curators, and other scholars interested in the Iberian plaques. This work is copyrighted. The copyright holder of all images are provided with the image.

Note – The complete bibliographic references to all references cited in ESPRIT can be found in the ESPRIT Bibliography

OBVERSE TOP DESIGN

For plaques that are bipartite or transitional in structure, the motifs that appear at the top are described here. For plaques that are unipartite in structure, the designation of n.a. (or not applicable) is recorded. Their design motifs are described in the Obverse Base Design section.

The possible values are:

• unknown – Plaque too fragmented to determine nature of top motifs.
• n.a. – not applicable, used in all cases of unipartite plaques.
• none – None of the typically top motifs appear. Design is carry-over from base. Typical of transitional plaques.
• straps – thin bands that are either oriented vertically or horizontally .
• half-circles – half circles
• ocular – 2 circles
• hairy ocular – 1 or 2 circles with raylike lines emanating from them
• fishnet – triangular motifs filled with netlike hatchure
• rays – multiple raylike motifs
• inverted v's – inverted v’s
• variant – a motif that is very unusual
• triangle – a ‘normal’ triangle (pointing upward)
• inverted triangle – a triangle pointing downward
• hollowed triangle – a v-like triangle
• chevron – chevrons pointed up and down, along horizontal plane
• lying chevron – chevrons pointing left and right, along horiontal plane
• lines – incised lines, generally horizontal
• collar – triangular bands outlining triangular field near perforation/top

Strap Shape – If plaque has straps, this field describes the shape of these straps. Possible values include:

• unknown – Plaque too fragmented to determine strap shape.
• n.a. – Plaque does not have straps.
• straight – Straps are straight and parallel to each other.
• slightly curved – Straps are slightly curved.
• very curved – Straps are very curved.
• wiggly – Sides of straps not parallel to each other and irregular.
• variant – Unusual strap shape.

Strap Angle – If plaque has straps, directionality of the straps are noted here.

Possible entries are:

• unknown – Plaque is too fragmented to determine this information.
• n.a. – Plaques does not have straps (typical of transitional and unipartite plaques).
• horizontal/upward – Straps are horizontal and angled upward toward midline of plaque.
• horizontal/level – Straps are horizontal and level.
• horizontal/downward – Straps are horiozontal and angled downward toward midline of plaque.
• horizontal/level and upward – Straps are horizontal. Some are level and some are angled upward toward midline of plaque.
• horizontal/level and downward – Straps are horizontal. Some are level and some are angled downward toward midline of plaque.
• horizontal/downward and upward – Straps are horizontal. Some are angled downward toward midline and some are angled upward toward midline.
• vertical – Straps are angled vertically.
• variant – Straps are angled in an unusual way.

# of Left Straps and # of Right Straps –

• Unknown – Top not well-preserved enough to determine number (or presence) of straps
• n.a.  – Top of Plaque well-preserved, but does not have straps at all (also used for transitional and unipartite plaques).
• 1 – 1 strap
• 1+? – At least 1 strap, possibly more, though fragmented
• 2 – 2 straps
• 2+? –  2 straps, possibly more, though fragmented
• 3- 3 straps
• 3+? – 3 straps, possibly more, though fragmented
• 4- 4 straps
• 4+? – 4 straps, possibly more, though fragmented
• 5- 5 straps
• 5+? – 5 straps, possibly more, though fragmented
• 6- 6 straps
• 6+? – 6 straps, possibly more, though fragmented
• 7 - 7 straps
• 8 - 8 straps
• 9 - 9 straps

Collar Shape – Shape of collar.

• unknown – Plaque not well-preserved enough to determine whether collar present.
• n.a. – Top of plaque well-preserved, but no collar present.
• straight – Collar is straight.
• curved – Collar is curved.
• variant – Collar shape is unusual in some way.

Collar Fill – Nature of collar fill.

• unknown - Plaque not well-preserved enough to determine whether collar present.
• n.a. Top of plaque well-preserved enough, but no collar present
• unfilled – Collar is unfilled.
• filled – Collar is filled (with hatchure)
• isolated filled – Collar is isolated filled.
• filled with variant – Collar is filled/hatchured in an unusual way. (usually with chevron-like design or stripes).

Bands – In plaques that are bipartite or transitional, the number and nature of fill of the horizontal bands. The description of the bands and their designs are from top to bottom of the plaque. When bands are denoted as ‘filled’, they are hatchured.

Possible values are:

• unknown – Plaque not well-preserved enough to determine whether bands existed.
• n.a. – Plaque not bipartite or transitional.
• 0 – Plaque well-preserved and clearly bipartite or transitional, but no bands.
• 0? – 0 bands, but incomplete preservation
• 1F – 1 filled band
• 1?F – at least one filled band, incomplete preservation
• 1F with triangles – 1 band filled with triangles
• 1F with lying chevrons – 1 band filled with lying chevrons
• 1F with stripes – 1 band filled with stripes
• 1?F with triangles – at least 1 band filled with triangles, incomplete
• 1E – 1 empty band
• 1E? – at least one empty band, incomplete preservation
• 2F – 2 filled bands
• 2?F – 2 or more filled bands, incomplete preservation
• 2 (1E, 1F) – total of 2 bands, with 1 empty band and 1 filled band
• 2 (1E, 1F with stripes) – total of 2 bands, with 1 empty band and 1 filled with stripes
• 2 (1F, 1E) – total of 2 bands, with 1 filled and 1 filled
• 2F with lying chevrons – total of 2 filled bands with lying chevrons
• 2F with triangles – total of 2 bands filled with triangles
• 2 (1E, 1F with triangles) – total of 2 bands, with 1 empty and 1 filled with triangles
• 2 (1F with triangles, 1E) – total of 2 bands, with 1 filled with triangles and 1 empty
• 2 (1F, 1F with triangles) – total of 2 bands, with 1 filled and 1 filled with triangles
• 2 (1F with triangles, 1F) – total of 2 bands, with 1 filled with triangles, and 1 filled
• 2E – 2 empty bands
• 3F – 3 filled bands
• 3?F – 3 or more filled bands, incomplete preservation
• 3 (1E, 1F, 1E) – total of 3 bands, with 1 empty, 1 filled, and 1 empty
• 3 (1F, 1E, 1F) – total of 3 bands, with 1 filled, 1 empty, and 1 filled
• 3 (2 lying chevron, 1F with triangles) – total of 3 bands, with 2 filled with lying chevrons, and 1 filled with triangles
• 3F with lying chevron – 3 filled with lying chevrons
• 4F – 4 filled bands
• 4?F – 4 or more bands, incomplete preservation
• 4 (1E, 1F, 1E, 1F) – 4 bands, with 1 empty, 1 filled, 1 empty, and 1 filled
• 4 (3F, 1E) – 4 bands, with 3 filled and 1 empty
• 4? (1E, 1F, 1E, 1F) – 4 or more bands, with 1 empty, 1 filled, 1 empty, and 1 filled
• 5F – 5 filled bands
• 5 (2F, 1E, 2F) – 5 bands, with 2 filled, 1 empty, and 2 filled
• 5 (4F, 1E) – 5 bands, with 4 filled, and 1 empty
• 6 (1E, 1F, 1E, 1F, 1E, 1F) – 6 bands, with 1 empty, 1 filled, 1 empty, 1 filled, 1 empty, and 1 filled
• 6 (5F, 1E) – 6 bands, with 5 filled and 1 empty
• 7F – 7 filled bands
• 7 (6F, 1E) – 7 bands, with 6 filled, and 1 empty
• 7 (1E, 5F, 1E) – 7 bands, with 1 empty, 5 filled, and 1 empty
• 10 (1E, 8F, 1E) – 10 bands, with 1 empty, 8 filled, and 1 empty

Obverse Base Design

These fields describe the nature and organization of the design motifs on the base of the plaque in a bipartite plaque. If a plaque is a transitional or unipartite, any of the motifs that appear on the plaque are also identified here.

Structure – This field identifies whether one motif or multiple motifs or design elements are employed on the base. Possible entries are:

• unknown – The top of the plaque is the only part preserved, and thus it is impossible to know the nature of the base design structure.
• simple – Plaque is well-preserved in base, and only 1 design motif is found.
• simple? – Plaque is largely complete in base, 1 design motif is found, but there may have been others that were not included in fragment
• hybrid – Plaque is well-preserved in base, and more than 1 design motif is found.
• hybrid? Plaque is largely complete in base, and it appears that 2 design motifs are found, though this is not certain.

Registers – Registers refer to the horizontal engraved fields of decorative motifs. The number of registers is recorded for only those plaques of the following types - Classic, Transitional, Unipartite, Hoe, and Strappy.

• Unknown –none apparent, but too fragmented to known
• n.a. – not applicable – used for Rugs, Biomorph Simple, Biomorph Whiskered, some Style Variants
• 01 – 1 register
• 01+? – 1 or more registers
• 02 – 2 registers
• 02+? – 2 or more registers
• 03 – 3 registers
• 03+? – 3 or more registers
• 04 – 4 registers
• 04+? – 4 or more registers
• 05 – 5 registers
• 05+? – 5 or more registers
• 06 – 6 registers
• 06+? – 6 or more registers
• 07 – 7 registers
• 07+? – 7 or more registers
• 08 – 8 registers
• 08+? – 8 or more registers
• 09 – 9 registers
• 09+? – 9 or more registers
• 10 - 10 registers
• 10+? – 10 or more registers
• 11 – 11 registers
• 11+? – 11 or more registers
• 12 – 12 registers
• 12+? – 12 or more registers
• 13 – 13 registers
• 14 – 14 registers
• 15 – 15 registers
• 16 – 16 registers
• 17 – 17 registers
• 18 – 18 registers

Base Design Elements –

• Unknown – unknown, too fragmented
• n.a. – not applicable, too sketchy or unengraved
• linear designs – linear designs
• triangle – triangle with apex at top
• inverted triangle – triangle with apex facing downward
• invtri zigzagline tri – design with inverted triangles above zigzag line above triangles
• hollowed triangle – triangle with hollowed out triangular section within design
• mini-triangle – small triangles
• vertical triangle – series of triangles oriented along vertical axis
• vertical hollowed triangle – series of triangles with hollowed out triangular section oriented along vertical axis
• floating triangle – triangle placed in middle of register, not directly ‘sitting’ on register line
• checkerboard – checkerboard, filled squares next to unfilled squares
• vertical band – vertical band
• vertical band variant – unusual orientation of vertical band, i.e., along diagonal
• empty vertical band – unfilled vertical band
• horizontal band – filled horizontal band
• empty horizontal band – unfilled horizontal band
• chevron – series of chevrons, with vertical lines at each angle bend
• undivided chevron – series of chevrons, with vertical lines only every two angle bends
• lying chevron – chevrons oriented along their side
• radiating chevron – radiating chevron motif, symmetrical along both vertical and horizontal axes
• alternating chevron – chevron, whose two halves are asymmetrical in their fill
• off-set chevron – asymmetrical chevron
• zigzag - zigzag
• lying zigzag – zigzags oriented along their side
• herringbone – herringbone pattern
• 'forehead v' – in Biomorphs, a straight or curved ‘V’ centered at top
• ocular – ‘eye-like’ motifs
• hairy ocular – ‘eye-like’ motifs with radiating lines
• 'nose' – ‘nose-like’ motif in Biomorph
• subnasal double triangles – pair of triangles 1 to left and 1 to right of ‘nose’
• subocular lines – set of two or three parallel filled bands found beneath ‘eyes’
• collar – ‘v’ or ‘u’ –shaped lines or bands from top to center of plaque
• arms/legs – appendage-like motifs
• bandolier - x-shaped design, covering half to entire side of plaque
• 'tassels' – fringe-like motifs, often found on obverse of Biomorph Whiskered plaques

Obverse Production Information

These fields describe some of the more qualitative, stylistic aspects of the plaques. They can potentially be used to identify the features of individual engravers or regional styles. Engraving Style and Specific Markers are fairly objectively based; General Markers are more subjective

Engraving Style –

• Unknown – not known, plaque too fragmented 
• Regular – consistent production of parallel lines and hatchure
• regular? – likely to be regular
• intermediate – somewhat inconsistent production of parallel lines and hatchure
• intermediate? – likely to be intermediate
• n.a. – not applicable
• sketchy – engraving style very irregular, register lines and hatchure not parallel
• sketchy? – likely to be sketchy

Specific Markers –

• Rectangular 'Triangle' Section – a rectangular shaped unengraved section at top, where usually triangular
• Inverted 'Triangle' Section – an inverted triangle (apex facing toward top) shaped unengraved section at top, where usually triangular with apex facing toward bottom
• Misperforation – perforation from obverse and reverse do not meet perfectly, or evidence or aborted attempt at perforation
• Perforation/s over Design – perforation has destroyed portion of design, evidence of chaîne opératoire
• Asymmetrical Straps – straps are asymmetrical along vertical axis
• Wobbly Register Lines – register lines are irregular, not entirely straight
• Uneven Register Spacing – spaces between horizontal register lines are uneven
• Uneven Vertical Guiding Lines – spaces between vertical lines are uneven
• Lack of Vertical Guiding Lines – no vertical guiding lines, where generally there are (in checkerboard motif)
• Corrected Design Element/s – evidence of corrected design element
• Irregular Design Element/s – irregular design element/s
• Right-leaning Elements – design elements lean toward right
• Left-leaning Elements – design elements lean toward left
• Drunken Triangles – triangle design elements lean to both right and left
• Framed-Left – base has filled engraving along left side
• Framed-Right – base has filled engraving along right side
• Framed-Left and Right – base has filled engraving along both right and left side
• Element Corner Guidance – in triangular motifs, apex from one register meets left and right corner of base of register above
• Single Hatchure – design motifs filled with single parallel rows of hatchure (vs perpendicular, double hatchure)
• Ambiguous Field/Ground – difficult to tell whether engraved motifs or unengraved fields prioritized, when counting iterations, it appears that attempt made to make complete unengraved motifs, rather than engraved motifs
• Discontinuous Top-Base Line – line separating top and base done in two strokes, thus discontinuous

General Markers

• Chaîne Opératoire-Misc. – miscellaneous evidence for chaîne opératoire, includes misperforations, sketch of design on reverse, correction
• Chaîne Opératoire-Too Much Space – presence of 1 register, usually at base, that is particularly ‘tall’
• Chaîne Opératoire-Too Little Space – presence of 1 register, usually at base, that is particularly ‘short’
• Mnemonic – evidence in the chaîne opératoire or in a design irregularity that plaque may have functioned as mnemonic
• High Quality – plaque shows skill in evenness of register lines, design elements, or hatchure; plaque can also show evidence of particularly difficult technique handled skillfully
• Poor Quality – based on the presence of numerous Specific Markers above, such as irregular design elements or uneven register spacing,  
• Idiosyncratic Design – unusual design motif
• Idiosyncratic Style – unusual style (manner in which a design motif executed)
• Asymmetrical – evidence of asymmetry
• Same Engraver as – plaque appears to have been engraved by same individual as another plaque or plaques
• Perforation with Wear – perforation shows sign of wear (whereas most don’t)
• Exceptionally Large (20+cm) – unusually large plaque
• Exceptionally Small (14-cm) – unusually small plaque