The main goal of our mobility grant was to digitize drawings and images of artifacts (stelae and urns) using methods we have developed for the ASOR Punic Project publications. Traditional 2D images of ceramics follow set conventions, drawn and inked at full scale (1:1) in preparation for publication at reduced scale (1:5). We have converted our scanned inkings (raster) to digital, scalable line drawings (vector). In this latter effort, Sophie Davidson (St. Andrews) made drawings in anticipation of creating scalable vector images for comparison (e.g. G1951/2.1-/2.10).
Our current initiative also builds upon fabric analysis of ceramics from the Stager excavations undertaken by Dennis Braekmans (ULeiden). For that purpose we had taken some eighty samples for destructive analysis, both for thin section microscopy and for spectroscopy (ICP-OES), as well as for non-destructive X-ray fluorescence (XRF). We are at present analyzing Punic ceramics in the RMO storerooms in order to assess the utility and reliability of XRF analysis alone (non-destructive with portable equipment) as a means for distinguishing characteristics of the varied indigenous North African clay sources as well as exogenous sources of imports.
Our primary purpose in creating 3D digital images involves preparations for a
2025-2028 ehibition dedicated to the 100ᵗʰ anniversary (
UMichigan-Kelsey) and 50ᵗʰ anniversary (
UChicago-Stager) of American excavations in the precinct of Tinnit and Ba‘l. Eventually artifacts will be repatriated to Tunisia to be installed at the Musée national de Carthage. After scanning stelae extracted from the sector (now in Tunisian storage magasins), we can use site plans, field notes, and annotated photgraphs from the Kelsey archives to reinstall them with precision into an accurate 3D printed scale model.
The appropriation of stone stela for display and study in European museums was augmented with plaster casts and squeezes shared between them. The production of 3D replicas continues this tradition and will foster the study of Phoencian-Punic inscriptions. In these efforts we have had the support of Imed ben Jerbania and A. Ferjaoui (
INP-Tunisie), who must authorize any digital reproduction. These anniversaries have inspired our proof-of-concept 3D scanning program, which will produce models for display and for academic study, avoiding the costs of transport and insurance of the artifacts themselves. This new sort of collection exchange may ideally open up the study of Phoenician inscriptions (in collaboration with the
CIP) and may introduce these artifacts to a broader audience.
In 1817, J. E. Humbert initiated the collection of Punic inscriptions by European diplomats when he donated certain stelae dedicated to Tinnit and Ba‘l to the RMO in Leiden (
H.1-H-4bis), where they formed the kernel of the museum's collection of antiquities (
Halbertsma 1995). Around 1832, another inscription made its way to Copenhagen (
CF*6), through the initiative of C. T. Falbe; another was found in the Piraeus (
CF*8); and a related Latin inscription was taken to the Kunstsammlungen Dresden (
KD, image at left). Unfortunately, these early collectors paid little heed to stratigraphic context; fortunately, they called attention to Phoenician language and culture. Although such antiquarian pursuit of artifacts led to rivalry on the ground in Tunisia, it also fostered institituional collaboration through an early type of “collection exchange” of plaster casts (
CF*4-CF*7, and
KD, see
Halbertsma 2003). This exchange offered institutions a common yet varied repertoire of genres, letter forms and iconography across a broad chronological range. Such casts and squeezes allowed for hands-on study at 1:1 scale for the artifacts themselves and at a global scale, increasing access for institutions across Europe and the US.
Our project brings such modeling of artifacts full circle—only recently did we discover that an early kernel of the HMANEcollection itself was a set of
plaster casts of Punic stelae acquired from the RMO in 1891. In the last century, the study of shared casts and squeezes fell out of favor, due less to the detrimental effects delicate surfaces when
making molds for casting replicas or
brushing squeezes into inscriptions, more to the valorization of studying authentic, original artifacts. Our 3-D scanning, undertaken by Monica Huisman (
ULeiden) in consultation with Loes Opgenhaffen and Maarten Sepers (
Saxion), has required no contact with the artifacts themselves and enables accessible reproduction, both digital (for on-line research) and physical (for in-person study). The faculty at Saxion has been at the forefront of testing new methods, theories, and practices for
modeling sites and artifacts, and the HMANE has been a pioneer in creating digital
models; this project continues their innovations and follows their example, as well as reviving the tradition of academic collection exchange.
