The Places of the Inscriptions: from Epigraphy to Digital Epigraphy

Abstract

In the study and edition of ancient inscriptions, a non-secondary part is dedicated to the analysis and record of spatial, topographical, and geographic information relating to the places of discovery, original location, conservation of the inscribed artefacts, or the references to ancient places or communities occurring in the epigraphic texts. Attention toward the places of inscriptions has grown significantly as a result of the “digital turn” that has affected Ancient Geography and Topography, and it is in fact a very important component in Digital Epigraphy projects. The article reflects on these aspects by examining a series of concrete examples in the current DH landscape. Through the analysis of these cases, it is highlighted how the epigraphic databases adopt different models and tools for the digital representation of the places of the inscriptions, on the base of the different contexts or categories of inscriptions, or of specific research perspectives. In particular, tendency towards the adoption of a “GIS model” or, differently, of a “LOD gazetteer model” for the representation of places in epigraphic digital projects once again proposes the time-honoured theme of the study of inscriptions in their double nature as monuments and documents, as archaeological object and texts.