ghItlhpu' De'vID, jatlhpu':
> What does *{roSqa'} mean in {roSqa'QeD}, if anything?

jangpu' nIqolay, jatlhpu':
> I've heard that an old archeology trick for telling bone from stone is to lick it,
> since fossil bone is more porous and will stick to your wet tongue a bit.

teH mIwvam. 'e' vIwoqlaH. :P

This is a good thought, though why the -qa' would be there is beyond me.

jangpu' je De'vID, jatlh:
> The out-of-universe origin might be a reference to Marton Roska, a pioneer
> of scientific archeology:
> https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roska_Márton
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ȘanÈ›ul_Mare 
> But maybe that's too obscure?

Let me put it this way: I'm a professional archaeologist and I've never heard of Márton Roska. It's always possible, I suppose, but an archaeologist who (with all respect to Márton Roska) died in 1961 and only has Hungarian and Esperanto Wikipedia pages strikes me as a very long reach. I'm stumped, to be frank. I'll be very interested to hear others' ideas on this one.

I think I do have the pun on jaghIv rhythm, though: read the word forwards, then read it backwards. :)

QeS 'utlh