Carrie Comer Sep 24, 2010:

It depends if it has to do with bodies or building I know that in this case you're talking about buildings, but just to add to the discussion, if you were talking about bodies it would be "shrouding," to protect a corpse.

I still can't find the appropriate word in English for the conversion of material culture, though!

Noni Gilbert Riley Sep 24, 2010:

Explanation Great excuse to go and have a drink with an archaeologist friend. Unfortunately no nearer to confirming a technical English term, but I understand it now!

The term is often used to mean block up or close in because it occurs in the context of one culture taking over another culture's buildings, or of a building for one specific purpose being converted to another purpose. Thus the value of the building is realized by transferring it to another use rather than just leaving it to fall down. One style of windows, doors and openings would be filled in and others opened, dividing walls would be put up or torn down, etc.

OK, now it's the turn of the English speaking archaeological experts to put their minds to this one!

Diana Badder (asker) Sep 24, 2010:

Yes, it does look like that so that suppression would be an alernative thank you so much, bless you.

Noni Gilbert Riley Sep 24, 2010:

an idea In this document it looks suspiciously as if it means "Block up" - take a look: http://www.ehu.es/arqueologiadelaarquitectura/PDFs/TorreMurg... (Do control f and put in amort to search, so you get all versions of the noun and verb). Would that fit in with your context(s)?

Diana Badder (asker) Sep 24, 2010:

The problem is that the word does not come in full sentences only isolatedly, or as I put it in the phrase. It seems to be a specific word (or, rather, this word has a specific meaning in archaeology which is possibly "suppression"?) am very sorry not to be more explicit

Noni Gilbert Riley Sep 24, 2010:

More? Is more possible? The full sentence, or the previous and following sentences. I'm not being greedy, I'm just trying to get a handle on the context!
Signed, Oliver Twist. ;-)

Diana Badder (asker) Sep 24, 2010:

very sorry if I shouted, I intended exclamation marks to underline my ignorance, the context is an archaeological one and the word appears in a sort of log book on works done on the site: "amortización de casas islámicas"

Richard McDorman Sep 24, 2010:

KudoZ best practices Hi, Diana. In order for us to be able to help you, we must have at a minimum the entire sentence in which the ST (source text, that is, the Spanish one) term appears. It is impossible for anyone to give an answer with just a single isolated word.

philgoddard Sep 24, 2010:

1. Please don't shout.
2. Please provide some context.