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Lesestein

English translation: collected stones

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Lesesteine
English translation:collected stones
Entered by: Chris Rowson (X)

13:48 Dec 26, 2002
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Archaeology / Archaeology
German term or phrase: Lesestein
"Von dem ehemaligen Holzturm sind keine, von dem Steinturm lediglich geringe Reste als flache Erhöhungen, mit einzelnen Lesesteinen darin auszumachen."

"Das Kastell und das Lagerdorf liegen in Äckern und Wiesen. Lediglich ein kleiner Familienfriedhof befindet sich auf dem Kastellgelände selbst. Eine Linde, umgeben von einem großen Lesesteinhaufen, zwischen Porta praetoria und Principia bildet eine weithin sichtbare Landmarke."

It´s the Roman imperial border, the Upper German-Raetian limes. Anyone know what a Lesestein is, please?
Chris Rowson (X)
Local time: 09:29
composed of individual gathered stones
Explanation:

"Von dem ehemaligen Holzturm sind keine, von dem Steinturm lediglich geringe Reste als flache Erhöhungen, mit einzelnen Lesesteinen darin auszumachen."
Selected response from:

HansBecker
Grading comment
Thanks everyone. I was never really sure about this one. We established that "Lesefunde" is the matching technical term for "stray finds", which are roughly finds which are not archaeologically recorded but just picked up. That didn´t solve this one, though.

Kim´s Lesesteinmauer was interesting, suggesting to me it might mean stones collectd for their suitability for building into a wall, i.e. selected by the Romans, but I actually used "collected stones", thinking that, analagous to the stray finds, they are stones collected by later generations without archaeological control.

It can´t be too bad, the archaeologist sent a message saying he was very happy with the translation :-)))))
1 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +5field clearance stones/clearance cairn
Kim Metzger
3 +3accumulated
Armorel Young
4 +1composed of individual gathered stones
HansBecker
5residual rock (or boulder)
HansBecker
4 -1rune stone
lone (X)


  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
rune stone


Explanation:
This is a guess, but maybe it fits in your text?

Good luck!


    x
lone (X)
Canada
Local time: 03:29
Native speaker of: Danish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Wynona Kaspar: it's to do with "auflesen"
19 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
accumulated


Explanation:
No dictionary to hand at the moment - I'm on holiday! - but isn't this stones that have been "aufgelesen" - picked up and put in a heap in order to clear the ground for other things?

Armorel Young
Local time: 08:29
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  gangels (X)
2 hrs
agree  Nancy Arrowsmith: you are absolutely right, this job is still an important part of agriculture in small plots.
10 hrs
agree  Elisabeth Ghysels
3 days 1 hr
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
field clearance stones/clearance cairn


Explanation:
I think Armorel is on the right track. One translation I found was field clearance stones, i.e. stones which were cleared from a field which was being prepared for cultivation. A lesesteinhaufen could be a field clearance cairn. Another possibility is it's a special archaelogical term for stones which are collected and classified.

Lesesteinmauer?
Erst gab es ungläubiges Staunen und dann Gelächter! Wozu eine Mauer zum Lesen herrichten? Erst als unser Klassenlehrer darüber aufklärte, dass der Begriff „lesen" noch eine andere Bedeutung hat, nämlich den des Sammelns und Ordnens, dämmerte uns schön langsam, was damit gemeint war.



    Reference: http://www.ausgraeberei.de/woerterbuch/index.html
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 01:29
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 42

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Claudia Tomaschek
12 mins
agree  gangels (X): or just 'collected field rocks?'
53 mins
agree  schnuppe: absolutely the right direction -- "lesen" also meaning the "harvesting of grapes for wine/ vintage" so one might think this takes place in vineyards
1 hr
agree  Wynona Kaspar
16 hrs
agree  Elisabeth Ghysels
2 days 23 hrs
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
composed of individual gathered stones


Explanation:

"Von dem ehemaligen Holzturm sind keine, von dem Steinturm lediglich geringe Reste als flache Erhöhungen, mit einzelnen Lesesteinen darin auszumachen."

HansBecker
PRO pts in category: 1
Grading comment
Thanks everyone. I was never really sure about this one. We established that "Lesefunde" is the matching technical term for "stray finds", which are roughly finds which are not archaeologically recorded but just picked up. That didn´t solve this one, though.

Kim´s Lesesteinmauer was interesting, suggesting to me it might mean stones collectd for their suitability for building into a wall, i.e. selected by the Romans, but I actually used "collected stones", thinking that, analagous to the stray finds, they are stones collected by later generations without archaeological control.

It can´t be too bad, the archaeologist sent a message saying he was very happy with the translation :-)))))

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Elisabeth Ghysels
2 days 17 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
residual rock (or boulder)


Explanation:
"geol: residual rock (or boulder)
(from New-Muret-Sanders, 1975)

also:
"swamp ore"
(from Muret-Sanders, 1901)

HansBecker
PRO pts in category: 1
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