The International Etruscan Sigla Project (IESP) Florida State University Department of Classics and Department of Computer Science

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The International Etruscan Sigla Project (IESP)
Florida State UniversityDepartment of Classics
and Department of Computer Science

• Presented by Dr. David A. Gaitros
• Some images in this presentation are taken from
  the exhibition catalog, Cetamura Antica,
  Traditions of Chianti, ed. Nancy T. de Grummond,
  2000.

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The IESP FSU Team

• Dr. Nancy T. de Grummond
• Head P.I. for the research project
• M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics
• Research and teaching specialties
• Etruscan and Roman archaeology
• Etruscan and Roman Myth, Religion and Magic
• Art and Archaeology of the Hellenistic World
• Ancient Carved Gems
• Research Projects in Progress
• Ritual Sacrifice in Etruscan Religion
• Prophets and Divination as represented in ancient
  art (Greek, Etruscan and Roman)
• Etruscan Systems of Writing

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The IESP FSU Team (cont)

• Dr. David A. Gaitros
• Co-P.I.
• Research Associate, Department of Computer
  Science
• Student Research Associates
• Aaron Brown, Junior in the Honors Program
• Jane Gagne, Junior in the Honors Program
• Megan Murphy, Senior, Classical Archaeology Major
• Alex Segers, Senior in the Honors Program
• Robin Watson, Junior in the Honors Program
• Cassidy Phelps, Junior Greek and Latin major

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Other Participants

• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Anthony Tuck
• Rex Wallace
• University of Milan
• Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni
• Stefano Valtelino
• Alessandra Gobbi
• Nicola Scoccimarro

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Research Abstract

• The International Etruscan Sigla Project (IESP)
  aims to assemble documentation on the thousands
  of examples of Etruscan nonverbal writing
  (sigla) of one or more letters, numbers or
  symbols, dating from around 700 BCE to the first
  century BCE, which were incised, painted or
  stamped on objects of many different types made
  of clay, metal, bone, ivory and stone. These
  markings, discovered on numerous Etruscan
  archaeological sites, are normally relegated to
  the background in Etruscan studies in favor of
  letters that form words and can therefore be
  studied from a linguistic perspective. In order
  to investigate the potential of communication in
  these markings, IESP will create a data base of
  sigla that aims to recognize and group similar
  items by means of matching scanned images and
  other factors such as date, provenance, context,
  artifact type, artifact function, and location of
  the mark on the artifact. An international team
  from the US and Italy archaeologists and
  computer scientists, professors and studentswill
  meet and share research and will experiment to
  develop terminology, methodology and software in
  multiple languages for the new systematic tool.

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What is an Etruscan ?

• An Etruscan is a person who belonged to a group
  of people who lived in Etruria (modern Tuscany),
  a part of the Italian Peninsula prior to the
  establishment of the Roman Empire (1100 500
  B.C).
• The World Book Encyclopedia, 1966, Field
  Enterprise Educational Corporation , Chicago

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Map taken from commons.wikimedia.org
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• What is a Sigla ?
• Sigla From the Oxford English Dictionary,
  Editorial designations of versions of an early
  literary text, esp. those used in the preparation
  of an edition. Also sing. siglum.
• In this project, Sigla references the non-verbal
  graffiti which are letters, numbers, or symbols
  found on Etruscan artifacts and structures.
• Its also a town in Poland.....

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The Goal of the Research Group

• Find and catalog as many of the existing Etruscan
  Sigla as possible.
• To attempt to find the meaning(s) of these
  Sigla and how they were used to communicate in
  Etruscan Society.
• To create a dictionary of these Sigla for use
  by other scholars in discovering more details of
  the Etruscan society and culture.

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• Image how scholars would react in 2000 years if
  they were to excavate the subways of New York
  City and attempt to decipher the hundreds of
  examples of graffiti on the walls?
• How would they go about determining the meaning?
• How do we determine the meaning of modern day
  graffiti?

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The Challenges of the Research Project

• Etruscan Sigla represents an informal language or
  form of communication.
• Sigla have the potential for ambiguous/multiple
  meanings.
• The symbols were hand-scribed onto artifacts and
  structures
• Handwriting variations
• Deciphering different scribing techniques could
  hamper symbol identification
• Even determining if the orientation of the symbol

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• The meanings of the Sigla could change over the
  course of decades or centuries.
• The following are additional challenges
• Estimated date that the symbol was scribed is
  important
• Town or region where the symbol was found is
  important.
• Town or region where the symbol was created is
  important
• Context of where the symbol was used/found is
  important
• Wall, pottery in a kitchen, lavatory wall, market
  square, walk way, etc
• Was the symbol placed on the object during
  construction or after?

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Sigla Examples
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Cat. No. 86. Handle of a pitcher, unpainted, with
a siglum of a cross mark and two lines, probably
a numeral (either 8 or 12). Found at Cetamura
in the cistern Structure B. 3rd-2nd century BCE.
Length 6.8 cm.
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Cat. No. 101. Fragment of a black-gloss vessel
with the siglum of a five-pointed star. Found at
Cetamura in the Artisans Quarter near the kiln
Structure K. 3rd-2nd cent. BCE.3.9 x 2.7. Cat.
No. 102. Base of an unpainted vessel with
the siglum of a five-pointed star. Found at
Cetamura in the Artisans Quarter near the kiln
Structure K. 3rd-2nd cent. BCE.Diam. of base 4.8
cm.
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Cat. No. 103. Fragment of a pan with the siglum
of a tree. Found at Cetamura near Structure D.
Date unknown. Diam. of rim ca. 18 cm.
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Etruscan Numerals
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Etruscan Alphabet
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Research Activities

• Research Group establish and holding regular
  meetings (Friday, 1130)
• Establish collaboration with U of Mass. Amherst
  and U of Milan
• Submitted an NEH grant proposal
• Developing a CRC grant proposal
• Working with CEN4010 students and Dr. Ted Baker
  on Requirements Document
• Establishing web site for dissemination of
  information on research objectives and status.

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Long Term Activities

• Develop initial set of requirements
• Get the international community to agree on
  requirements and establish data standards
• Hold workshops to team-build and get consensus on
  the project
• Produce scholarly work to get feedback from a
  larger audience
• Develop software specifications and design
• Investigate the use of current technologies and
  methods to help catalog, retrieve, and analyze
  the information.

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Research Obstacles

• Very long term project, will take years to
  produce results.
• No existing accepted data standards.
• Current databases are archaic and too simplistic
  for complex analysis
• Current databases are not maintained in a
  production environment

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• Analysis of the Sigla is still very much an art.
• Must produce heuristics based upon practices
  within the Classics and Archaeological Community
  to analyze data.
• Use technology and science analyze data that
  would have taken years to accomplish manually.
• Pattern matching
• Data mining
• Fuzzy logic
• Must find a flexible method to store, retrieve,
  find, and compare the different symbols.

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• Plan on using the technology developed by
  MorphBank
• Storing an cataloging images, fonts, and symbols
• Vectorize symbols for pattern matching
• Security to allow scholars to develop their
  research before publication
• Advanced search and query techiques
• Unlimited annotations
• Creation of individual and public collections
• Support virtual museums
• Provide an atmosphere of collaboration and
  exchange of information

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• Largest obstacle
• A fully functional commercial quality Sigla
  image/symbol database must be established before
  the significant research can begin

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• Domande?