An ostracon is a piece of pottery usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archeology, ostraca may contain scratched in words or other form of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use. The word is derived from Greek ostrakon meaning a shell or a shard of pottery used as a voting tablet. The plural of ostracon is ostraca.

In Ancient Greece, the voting public would write or scratch the name of a person in the shard of pottery. When the decision at hand was to banish or exile a certain member of society, citizen peers would cast their vote by writing the name of the person on the piece of pottery; the vote was counted and if unfavorable the person was put out of the city, thus giving rise to the term ostracism.

Famous ostraca for Biblical archaeology have been found at:

• Arad
• Lachish
• Samaria

See also

• ostracism