Object, Artefact and Script: digital approaches to inscribed objects

October 8-9, 2009, e-Science Institute, 15 South College Street, Edinburgh

Organisers: Gabriel Bodard and Stuart Dunn

Programme:  http://wiki.esi.ac.uk/Object_Artefact_Script

The text upon an object is both evidence for and part of its form and therefore its function; just as the construction and purpose of an object gives context to and aids in the interpretation of text. Indeed, the form of an object effects the placement and design of text and decoration upon it. Non-verbal decorations drawn or painted on an object fall somewhere between (2-D) text and (3-D) physical object: like the text they are added by the scribe or artist, they have semantic (if not verbal) connotation, and are often taken out of the material context of the object; like the object, however, they are considered as artistic and visual content, and are hard to digitize meaningfully. Nevertheless they sometimes come closest to crossing the artificial boundary and may be studied by both philologists and archaeologists. Text may also be constrained by the placement of decoration on a surface, or vice versa.

This conference will bring together scholars from a variety of fields who study objects and texts side by side to discuss the ways in which advanced computer science methods can enhance both their own work and the nature of their collaborations with other researchers working on the same objects.

Methods to be considered will include (but need not be restricted to):

• Linking/connecting text and images of objects within digital editions/projects, or making object description an intrinsic part of a text edition;
• Advanced imaging (3D surface scanning, multi-spectral imaging, non-invasive volumetric scanning, stereographic/photogrammetric imaging) to bring lost or damaged text/engraving out of objects;
• Automated text/character analysis; identification of text fields/columns/lines;
• Reconstruction and visualization of damaged, unclear or complex text-bearing objects;
• Digital placing of objects in historical and archaeological contexts to highlight textual/non-textual features.