The palaeographical analysis of inscriptions has often been seen as a tool for dating them, but letterforms can also be used to study language interaction, registers of public and private communication, as well as the circumstances of their production. Historically material supports were often overlooked, even though stones used in Sicily were sourced from many different sites around the Mediterranean. If the emphasis of the archaic material is the simultaneous use of multiple different alphabets, the imperial Roman material reveals the move towards the standardisation of official documents, as well as the extension of trade routes and economic ties.
In June 2024 a workshop was held at the Faculty to form an international working group of leading scholars working in this area in order to find common approaches and standards of interoperability. You can read more about this here.
