Abstracts

Morning Session #1: “Interdisciplinary Digital Methodologies”

“Digital Epigraphy for the Blind” (Aaron Hershkowitz, The Institute for Advanced Study)

• Most efforts at improving the accessibility of epigraphy revolve around making two-dimensional images of inscriptions or squeezes openly available online. This approach has its advantages in keeping file size moderate and digitization time and costs under control, but it also excludes blind scholars from an area in which they might otherwise thrive. Were it possible, perhaps through a computer peripheral, to allow a scholar to feel the 3D surface of a squeeze, that additional level of accessibility might be a compelling argument in favor of capturing the 3D geometries of these squeezes instead of simply 2D images. This talk presents some initial results of experimentation by digital epigraphy professionals and blind scholars to determine the utility of squeezes and 3D reproductions thereof for epigraphic scholarship.
  

“The Virtual Garden: Didactic Reconstruction and Extended Experientiality in the Villa of Livia Frescoes” (Nicholas Plank, Indiana University; David Massey, Indiana University; Matthew Brennan, Indiana University)

• Despite the increasing implementation of virtual reality (VR) in the field of archaeology, there is a continued focus on preservation and 3D reconstruction rather than more in-depth applications afforded by VR. We propose an extended methodology for presenting archaeological, art historical, and didactic information in VR—focusing on experientiality and presence for use in access, research, education, and outreach. First, we present a simple 3D scene containing a state model of the so-called Garden Room from the Villa of Livia. In this virtual environment, we apply a framework that allows disparate primary and secondary written, visual, and audio sources to be referenced while a user is immersed in the scene. Second, we utilize the unique power of real-time visualization engines and vegetation modeling software to construct a 3D version of the 2D parietal garden. This approach represents a departure from traditional reconstruction in that it is the creation of an entirely fictional space derived from Roman iconographic tradition—one which could never exist in the real world. We argue that the ability to move between these two scenes (augmented reconstruction and iconographic creation) presents a marked improvement on traditional methods of viewing this architectural space.
  

“Digital Survey and Mapping with Google Earth: Land Transport of Quarried Stone for Temple Construction at Selinunte, Sicily in the Archaic and Classical Periods” (Andrea Samz-Pustol, Bryn Mawr College)

• This study uses Google Earth to map and examine roads used for the transport of quarried stone for Greek temples in Selinunte, Sicily in the Archaic and Classical periods. Google Earth is a user friendly open source tool that allows users to map quarries and temples, plot roads and study their lengths and gradients in order to better understand transport roads, and conduct digital landscape surveys. Scholarship has focused primarily on quarrying and construction processes, but does not often address the journey between the quarry and completed structure. By studying the transport roads between quarries and temples in Google Earth, scholars can begin to understand the difficulties of stone transport, logistics and costs, timeframe of the journey, and organization of the workforce. Transport greatly impacts the time required to construct a temple and involved a large workforce of humans and animals. This journey could only occur during a short window of time due constraints from weather and the agricultural calendar, thereby making efficiency of the route and speed of transport even more important. Archaeological evidence exists for parts of transport roads, but other parts are hypothetical and determined by the path of least difficulty, which often aligns with modern roads. The transport road from the famed quarry, Cave di Cusa, has the most archaeological evidence for its route. From here it may have taken roughly a day to transport one column drum and required hundreds of oxen, as well as people to drive carts and manage the herd. Therefore the 266 column drums of the outer colonnade of Temple E alone required 266 day-long trips from the quarry to the temple. Studying transport roads in Google Earth, whether hypothetical or not, allows us to conduct a digital experiment to better understand the challenges of stone transport and factor in topographic features that add difficulty to the journey. Conducting a digital landscape survey in Google Earth eliminates time in the field since scholars do not have to search for these sites on foot and enhances our understanding of ancient sites.
  

“Mapping Victory Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean” (Molly Kuchler, Bryn Mawr College)

• This projects’ primary goal is to compile a holistic set of data about Panhellenic victory networks in the Archaic period, and to present this set in a dynamic and interactive manner. Using not only information present in the textual sources such as Pindar and Bacchylides’ epinikian odes, but also the material record of dedications and inscriptions in sanctuaries, this project aims to provide a general tool for understanding the games “circuit” in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE, as well as the ways in which these victories were commemorated and used to build prestige by individuals, families, and communities. The project will consist of georeferenced locations of sanctuaries, monuments, and the metadata pertaining to finds and textual references, as well as images of these finds and locations. This wide-based evidence will support isolated or inclusive inquiries through the use of multivalent filters and will allow scholars, students, and hobbyists of all types to view evidence as the occasion demands, and facilitate new connections and lines of inquiry through the novel presentation of this material. Although the first phase will focus on the four major Panhellenic games in the aforementioned time period, a theoretical second phase could continue to compile information and references to games at small regional sanctuaries throughout the Archaic and Classical Greek world, or extend the temporal window farther into the Classical and Hellenistic periods and beyond.
  

“Shedding Light and Spilling Oil: Forgery, Identification, and Provenance Determination of Ceramic Artifacts through the Case Study of the CLARC Collection Oil Lamps” (Savannah Bishop, Brandeis University)

• This project seeks to examine the way in which traditional typological studies and modern scientific analysis can be combined to provide a better understanding of the chronological and geographical provenance of a collection, as well as to better detect counterfeit ceramics. To achieve this aim, a case study of the 32 ill-provenienced ceramic oil lamps found within the Brandeis University Classical Studies Artifact Research Collection (CLARC) was conducted. Through this study, the provenance of each of the 29 authentic oil lamps was determined and the 3 inauthentic lamps were identified and confirmed. This scientific analysis resulted in the development of a methodology combining traditional typological and research approaches with readily available non-destructive scientific analysis (3D scanning and printing, x-ray fluorescence analysis) to confirm counterfeit work. The nature of such a methodology means that it could be readily applied to a range of similar ceramic artifacts.
  

“Reconstructing Cultural Transmission and Evolution through Genetic Models” (Anne-Catherine Schaaf, College of the Holy Cross; Augusta Holyfield, College of the Holy Cross; Natalie DiMattia, College of the Holy Cross; Luke Giuntoli, College of the Holy Cross; Sophia Sarro, College of the Holy Cross)

• We are examining diverse corpora of manuscripts, with an initial focus on manuscripts of the Iliad and Latin music manuscripts, to understand how their textual and paratextual content have been transmitted and have evolved throughout time. In many fundamental ways, the transmission of cultural information, like historical manuscripts and music notation, is analogous to biological evolution where species and characteristics change through time. Evolutionary biologists have developed probabilistic models of change through time to infer relatedness among species and reconstruct the ancestral condition of characteristics. In this project, we can employ the models used by evolutionary biologists to examine the evolution or change through time of historical manuscripts (species) and their composite parts (characteristics). Utilizing interdisciplinary models from classics and biology, we will integrate computational methods for characterizing digital text corpora in genetic models of evolutionary change. We will additionally compare generic models for assessing similarity of any text to corpus specific models. This transdisciplinary work is similar to research recently published in the article “The Pace of Modern Culture” published in Nature, but extends it by developing and applying richer models, for example text vectors and n-grams, for assessing “similarity” of documents with a final hypothesis as to how these texts may be related. Additionally, two of the presenters will be co-teaching a course in Spring 2021 entitled Change Through Time. Part of the project is to develop materials for the course and their fellow researchers will be potential applicants for teaching assistant positions.
  
  

Morning Session #2: “Pedagogy and Public Digital Scholarship”

“Hands-on Digital Archaeology in the Classroom” (Natalie Susmann, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

• Digital research tools are ubiquitous for archaeologists, philologists, and historians, yet hands-on, introductory courses geared towards teaching undergraduates how to explore the past through these digital methods are rare. This dichotomy — where we as scholars produce mountains of geospatial scholarship, but few digital applications courses — conveys a dangerous message to our undergraduate students: only the most “professional” and “serious” scholars of human history should be thinking about how technology informs our understanding of culture. Unfortunately, this lack of integration between digital technology and teaching in ancient curricula makes sense. Faculty learn digital research methods in many different ways, ranging from formal instruction to self-guided tutorials online, and this will impact their comfort levels in translating these skills into a formal history or archaeology curriculum. Funding for humanities/social sciences programs, as well access to on-campus resources is another huge factor. Handling issues like licensing, data access and backup, as well as student troubleshooting is a task unto itself; instructors are often hesitant to manage these tasks — in addition to actually teaching a full roster — without a teaching assistant or similar support. This lightning talk is not about creating intensive digital research methods courses, nor completely rebuilding existing syllabi – it is about integrating manageable, low-cost digital lessons in our classrooms. By fusing history and digital technology — and providing our students with a learning environment to explore that integration — we can challenge how our students perceive historical and cultural change through time and across space.
  

“From Digging to Digital: Preserving and Displaying the Past” (Ivo van der Graaff, University of New Hampshire; Otto Luna, University of New Hampshire)

• This presentation discusses the use of 3D printing and 3D imaging technologies in an art history course taught at the Department of Art and Art History at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The class takes advantage of the resources available at the Visual Resources Center, an emerging makerspace located within the Department of Art and Art History. The undergraduate honors-level course introduces students to the ways in which 3D technologies can be employed to help preserve, replicate, document, and disseminate knowledge of cultural artifacts and archaeological sites. Working individually or as teams of two, students chose an artifact of inquiry from the UNH Museum of Art for research and documentation. As a final project, students in the class presented their research in the form of a website that included required content areas: an analysis of the formal qualities of the artifact, a discussion of the object’s origin and historical context, an interactive 3D model of the artifact, and photographs of the 3D printed reproduction of the object. Students also described and critically evaluated the technologies and processes employed throughout the semester, namely, photogrammetry and 3D printing.
  

“Printing the Past: A Hands-on Workshop for STEP Students Integrating Classical Studies with 3D-Printing Technology” (Angela Commito, Union College; Sean Tennant, Union College)

• At Ancient MakerSpaces we wish to present the results of a hands-on workshop on the application of 3D printing in classical studies we designed for public school students in grades 7-12 who are enrolled in Union College’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP). The STEP students come from urban communities and economically-disadvantaged households, and many are from groups historically underrepresented in both the STEM fields and in classical studies. Working with a set of 3D-printed facsimiles of ancient Greek ceramic vessels, students determine how the vessels were used in antiquity and how 3D-printed facsimiles add a new dimension to our understanding of ancient artifacts. They learn the ancient Greek terms associated with the various vessel shapes and the sociocultural contexts of the creation and use of these objects in ancient daily life. By integrating classical studies with 3D-printing technology, our goal is to excite and encourage the workshop participants to see the classical world as an area of discovery that can be deeply integrated with technologies normally associated only with STEM fields. The workshop will be designed as a hands-on learning experience in which cutting-edge technology is presented seamlessly with the study of ancient Greek language and sociocultural context. Each student will also select a miniature 3D-printed vessel to bring home, with the aim of integrating 3D-printing technology and classical studies into their own lives in the manner they choose, thereby giving them agency in their interaction with both components of this project: technology and classical studies.
  

“Trapezites: An Ancient Currency Conversion Website” (Giuseppe Carlo Castellano, University of Texas at Austin)

• Trapezites is a standard online currency conversion website designed to convert from one ancient currency to another, accompanied by information about purchasing power in antiquity. Determining historical exchange rates and purchasing power is a notorious problem and requires the careful study of many different types of evidence. Users will be able to rapidly access results that would otherwise require a long slog through the literature. The nature of the evidence – literary, epigraphic, numismatic – will be specified.
  

“ToposText: Assembling a Public Digital Toolkit for Greco-Roman Antiquity” (Brady Kiesling, ToposText)

• ToposText is an indexed collection of ancient texts and mapped places relevant to the history and mythology of the ancient Greeks from the Neolithic period up through the 2nd century CE. It was inspired by two decades of exploring Greece by car, foot, or bicycle, and by clumsy efforts to appreciate επί τόπου the relevant information from Pausanias or other primary sources. The development of mobile electronic devices since 2010 has coincided with an increasingly comprehensive assortment of ancient texts available on the internet. Digital texts collected on an e-reader in 2012 made clear both the pleasure of having a portable Classics library but also the desperate need to organize the information it contained. Discovering the Pleiades Project, with its downloadable database of thousands of ancient place names and coordinates, opened the door to indexing ancient texts geographically using a map of Greece as the basic interface. ToposText was designed as an application for mobile devices. Opening it presents a scrolling alphabetical list of 5000+ Greek cities, colonies, sanctuaries, archaeological sites, museums, and other points of interest, side-by-side with a location-aware map showing the nearby places by name, icon (city, sanctuary, theatre, etc), and the number of ancient references in the TT database. The texts and index and a basic map are stored on the device and requires no internet connection.
  
  

Afternoon Session: “Digital Scholarship and the Ancient World: Current Challenges and Future Questions”

“The Digital Archaeology Toolkit” (Rachel Starry, University of California, Riverside)

• The Digital Archaeology Toolkit is a collaborative project led by three former CLIR (Council on Library and Information Resources) postdoctoral fellows who are engaged with digital archaeology as both practitioners and educators. The project aims to curate a crowd-sourced list of digital resources and tools for archaeological research, teaching, and publishing. Built atop these crowd-sourced resources, the project curates multiple “deployable” digital toolkits to address particular research problems and workflows in archaeology. The toolkits, published openly online, can be customized by users and tailored to specific research or pedagogical needs.
  

“Running Reality” (Garth Henning, Running Reality)

• We are developing a world history model that lets you go any place on any date and explore down to the street-level of history – then edit it. This model will have not just nations and cities like a traditional static historical atlas, but also ships, armies, buildings, and people. Towns grow, buildings are constructed, ships explore new seas, and armies battle. Harbors silt in, rivers change course, and cities are sacked and burned. People are born, get married, and have families; some are even crowned kings, queens, and emperors. Running Reality is this model.
  

“In(ternet) Solidarity: Sportula and the Virtual Classics Community”

• The Sportula is a mutual aid organization, run by grad students, that raises and distributes funds in the form of microgrants to Classics students across the U.S. Though we’re not a traditional digital humanities project, we wouldn’t be able to run our organization–or make the impact we have–without tapping into the online Classics community and utilizing digital tools for communication, fundraising, and microgrant distribution. The digital format has allowed us to broaden participation and access in the field of Classics, and we hope others will be inspired by this model to begin their own projects that make Classics truly a discipline for everyone.