About

The Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology Project is the work of an interdisciplinary group of researchers and domain experts that aims to assist and promote epigraphic and archaeological research and also have a significant impact on Digital Humanities through open-access dissemination of tools and data.

In 2007, when the field of digital epigraphy was still in its infancy, we formed an interdisciplinary group at the University of Florida that consists of computer engineers, epigraphists, and classicists and we developed methods for epigraphic analysis. The group made its first public appearance in the 2007 International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy at the University of Oxford, where our presentation was enthusiastically received by the international community and was considered a breakthrough for that time.

In 2010, our preliminary results were published in the Journal of Machine Vision and Applications, in which we proposed a novel cost-effective method for 3D digitization of epigraphic squeezes based on the shape-from-shading method.

In 2011 the DEA project was awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the implementation of our shape-from-shading method and the development of a graphical interface that includes user-friendly options for 3D visualization of inscriptions, and 3D navigation, among other features. For the dissemination of the toolbox produced from this award we established the website digitalepigraphy.org, which later became a key reference for epigraphists with interest in 3D digitization and dissemination of paper casts of inscriptions.

The Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology project has attracted attention from other institutions that led to collaborative publications and digitization projects with the University of Milan, Cornell University, University of California Berkeley, University of Lyon 2, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Library of Congress, UK National Archives, the British Museum, Tampa Museum of Art, Palazzo Altemps in Rome, and other institutes around the world.

We have presented the results of the aforementioned collaborative digitization projects in nationally- and internationally-acclaimed conferences, such as the 104th American Institute of Archaeology Annual Meeting, the 13th Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy hosted by Oxford University, the 14th Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy hosted by Humboldt University, the Digital Humanities Seminar Series at the University of Leipzig, the 15th Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy hosted by the University of Vienna, the London Digital Classicist Seminar Series, the Berlin Digital Classicist Seminar Series, and the 16th Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy hosted by the Universities in Bordeaux . Our team was also awarded the second place in the international competition for the e-humanities innovation award organized by the University of Leipzig.

The ultimate goal of the Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology group is to set advanced technologies to the service and promotion of the Humanities and bridge gaps in collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

Project Administration

Angelos Barmpoutis, Ph.D.
Director of the Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology project
Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida

Eleni Bozia, Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Digital Epigraphy and Archaeology project
Department of Classics, University of Florida

Key Contributors and Collaborators

Miriam Amin
The Digital Rosetta Stone project at the University of Leipzig and co-author

Claudia Antonetti, Ph.D.
The Venice Squeeze project

Monica Berti, Ph.D.
The Digital Rosetta Stone project at the University of Leipzig and co-author

Michèle Brunet, Ph.D.
The E-STAMPAGES digitization project at the Université Lumière Lyon 2

Bruno Dede Jr. (Class of 2024)
Image registration tool for Shape-from-Shading and SVG JavaScript library.

Dinah Eastop, Ph.D.
UK National Archives digitization project and co-author

Rachel Farmer, Ph.D.
UK National Archives digitization project and co-author

Danielle Fortuna, Ph.D.
The Altemps Museum in Rome digitization project and co-author

Rhea Garen
The Monumentum Ancyranum digitization project at Cornell University

Josephine Hensel
The Digital Rosetta Stone project at the University of Leipzig and co-author

Adeline Levivier, Ph.D.
The E-STAMPAGES digitization project at the Université Lumière Lyon 2

Franziska Naether, Ph.D.
The Digital Rosetta Stone project at the University of Leipzig and co-author

Seth Pevnick, Ph.D.
The Sphageion digitization project at the Tampa Museum of Art

Eric Rebillard, Ph.D.
The Monumentum Ancyranum digitization project at Cornell University

Jacob R. Roberts (Class of 2026)
The Shape-from-Shading digitization tool and co-author

Giovanna Rocca, Ph.D.
Collaborator and co-author

Giulia Sarullo, Ph.D.
Collaborator and co-author

Robert S. Wagman, Ph.D.
Co-founder and co-author

Funding

Our team would like to thank the public and private foundations, organizations, and institutes that have supported the aforementioned collaborative digitization projects.

2017-2019, The Venice Squeeze Project, University Ca’Foscari, Venice, Italy, €70,000.

2015-2016, BSN5 Grant for E-STAMPAGES project, French Ministry of Higher Education, €53,500.

2014, Research completion award, UF College of the Arts, $2,000.

2014, Grant Award for Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences, Cornell University.

2013, Center for the Humanities and Public Sphere, University of Florida, Award for digitization: $3,000.

2011-2012, National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Digital Humanities, Award: HD-51214-11, $48,534.

2011, Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida, Grant for the purchase of a 3D scanner, $18,000.

2010-present, Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida, Technology support.

2008, Gerondelis Foundation, Award: $10,000.

2008-present, Center for Greek Studies, University of Florida, Travel funding support.

2007, University of Oxford, CIEGL travel bursary

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