Papers by Alessandro Di Ludovico
Archeologia e Calcolatori 31.1, 2020
The use of Textual Correspondence Analysis to investigate a corpus of iconographic compositions c... more The use of Textual Correspondence Analysis to investigate a corpus of iconographic compositions carved on Mesopotamian cylinder seals proved to be very useful to understand the peculiarities of the specimens from the points of view of geographic origin, typology and inner chronology. The presence of a relatively high number of rare forms in the data set – besides the hapax – led to think, however, that the extraction of the factors – so the outcomes of the analyses – could have been influenced heavily by them. For this reason, looking for an optimal composition and for the most effective encoding of the data set, a reduction of its rarest forms was performed to find the threshold which could allow to reconcile the need for keeping the useful encoded information with the best possible reduction of elements producing high inertia. Adopting the methodology known as Procrustes, the data table was thus progressively reduced, and each time investigated: the results so obtained were then used to reach a global assessment about how much each reduced data set could correspond to the optimized one.
Archeologia e Calcolatori 31.2, 2020
In ancient Western Asiatic studies glyptic has been historically the preferred subject for quanti... more In ancient Western Asiatic studies glyptic has been historically the preferred subject for quantitative experiments and investigations. In most cases this led to stimulating and complex challenges which deserve to be critically discussed and analysed in order to find a proper use in the field of recently developed technologies and models. Cylinder seals in particular compel the scholars to face the close connection between the development of an optimal representation of the artefacts in primary publications and the building of strategies for their quantitative investigation. A synthesis of past experiences and present issues is presented here.
http://www.archcalc.cnr.it/journal/idyear.php?IDyear=20202-01-01
The many complex processes that characterised the Urban Revolution have been variously outlined, ... more The many complex processes that characterised the Urban Revolution have been variously outlined, but the mental and cultural steps that were combined with the relevant phenomena are rarely discussed, and above all elusive is their connection with the archaeological evidence. On the other hand, some types of wall decoration techniques that are attested in Lower Mesopotamia in the early historic period can play an important role in revealing the occurrence of remarkable cultural transformation processes. Paying a special attention to the logics and technical organization of some findings, like the Uruk wall cone mosaics, features can be located that serve as clues to explain the development of certain types of mental paths which have a quite direct relation with the dawn of the historical ages. The central effort of this contribution is dedicated to accomplish these tasks through methodological tools that are provided not just by neurosciences, but also (and more meaningfully) by old and new reflections in the fields of cultural studies.
Status Quaestionis, 2016
In the field of art history of ancient Western Asia there is quite a long tradition in the use of... more In the field of art history of ancient Western Asia there is quite a long tradition in the use of quantitative and digital methodologies. However, such a tradition is not so rich in experiences, and it is in general very complicated to integrate properly quantitative tools and logics in research approaches to ancient art history, partly because of cultural issues, partly depending on technical or logistical problems. These are probably the main reasons which often made the use of mathematical models in the art history of the pre-classic Western Asia relatively unpopular.
In the past the study of glyptic iconography was among the most favourite fields for the use of quantitative methods, but the efforts of the different scholars are, on the whole, still poorly coordinated, and thus not very consistent with each other. Other interesting experiments show, anyway, that the fields for the application of such tools can be very numerous and large. What is actually of fundamental importance is that the scholars in humanities keep a control and an awareness on the functioning and the features that are typical and essential in the models they use.
It will be presented here a general critical overview of the different concrete uses of quantitative methods in ancient Near Eastern art history. This will serve as a starting point for suggestions and guidelines and for the drawing of new, more general and coordinated approaches in the near future, hoping that more accessible techniques and wider interest and variety of models will facilitate this.
Framing Archaeology in the Near East. The Application of Social Theory to Fieldwork
The writing of Mesopotamian history and the study of specific cultural features of the ancient Ba... more The writing of Mesopotamian history and the study of specific cultural features of the ancient Babylonian region of late third millennium have been grounded, out of necessity, more on the content of the many known written documents than on the products of material culture or other relics. Written sources revealed themselves useful to scholars to outline a number of central social and political features of this period, but many poorly-explored aspects of this cuneiform heritage are probably rich of interesting clues for interpreting Mespotamian history.
Adopting the point of view of cultural history, this contribution presents an effort to contextualize and critically investigate the uses and roles of communication technologies and procedures in Mesopotamia in the end of Early Bronze Age. The basic problem that needs to be faced here has to do with methodology, including logical strategies of investigating the societies under study. Then, the possible connection between social and political phenomena is being considered in a general and cross-disciplinary perspective.
Tracing Technoscapes. The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean, 2018
The excavation of Building FF2 at Ebla provided new important data related to the tradition of wa... more The excavation of Building FF2 at Ebla provided new important data related to the tradition of wall paintings in Early Bronze Age Syria. This tradition still remains quite poorly known and understood, and the way to an interpretation of the relevant features, meanings and developments is thus mostly made of comparisons with findings from other regions and periods. The main difficulties are here represented by the lack of shared approaches in recording and publishing information on this kind of material witness, in particular in relation to technical and technological aspects. This contribution is based on efforts that point at collecting as many evidences as possible to outline a profile of the Early Syrian wall painting techniques. The main aim is here to find enough evidence supporting the placement of the Ebla wall painting findings within the Early Syrian tradition and its chronological developments, as well as in the context of the artistic and artisan cultures of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean regions.
AbstrAct The classification of the figurative and decorative models detected in the Early Bronze ... more AbstrAct The classification of the figurative and decorative models detected in the Early Bronze Age Building FF2 at Ebla, dating to the EB IVA, outlines contextual differences in the aesthetic perception and figurative translation of the human and natural phenomena, while the analysis of some recurrent motifs identifies an ideographic grammar that served as a base model for the technological division of the space. In the repertory of painted motifs one can appreciate the existence of a hidden sign list for the geometric reduction of the human behaviour, as if it was a library where original themes could be selected and repeated in the form of aesthetic systems which survived historical periods.
The use of mathematical models in the art history of the pre-classic Near East is still comparati... more The use of mathematical models in the art history of the pre-classic Near East is still comparatively little popular, partly because of cultural as well as technical and logical problems. In the history of research, such kind of approaches have been especially focussed on glyptic productions, but they mainly lack continuity and diffusion in use. Nor is the use of specific models widely spread through scholars originating from different academic institutions. The authors of this contribution review the different uses of quantitative models in Near Eastern art history and offer a summing up and an overview of the underlying approaches and methods. The deep examination of the models and approaches that have appeared up to now in the scientific literature is a first step toward the outline of possible future research courses that could become part of a wide debate on the topic of art history and mathematical models.
A stratified and complex investigation of the figurative language of a corpus of Mesopotamian gly... more A stratified and complex investigation of the figurative language of a corpus of Mesopotamian glyptic artefacts will be described here. The methodologies adopted and the formal description of the products under investigation are the result of a series of experimental works carried out in the past. Two main problems have been faced in the former experiences: the proper translation into an adequately coded form of what could be observed on the artefacts and the choice and adapting of a specific investigation methodology. The development of these researches has lead to the use of different models, and also to their parallel adoption, and to the comparison of the relevant results and logistic or logical weaknesses and advantages. Here a further research course will be pursued, as a continuation of the former ones. The corpus of Ur III presentation scenes will be explored through an integration of models based on different logics.
a trenta anni dalla sua scomparsa a cura di Rita Dolce FLACCOVIO EDITORE Comitato scientifico: Pa... more a trenta anni dalla sua scomparsa a cura di Rita Dolce FLACCOVIO EDITORE Comitato scientifico: Paolo Matthiae, Rita Dolce Redazione: Maria Gabriella Micale, Davide Nadali Università degli Studi RomaTre. Dipartimento di Studi Storico-Artistici, Archeologici e sulla Conservazione
This work seeks to illustrate a segment of an in progress research project on the understanding, ... more This work seeks to illustrate a segment of an in progress research project on the understanding, deciphering and codification of the iconic language of late third millennium Mesopotamian glyptic. The relatively homogeneous corpus of "presentation scenes" involves a number of questions about the logics underlying the structure of each scene and the consequences of changes in the scenes' iconography, with the different relevant meanings. The use of a Self-Organizing Maps-based algorithm in the classification of "presentation scenes" carved on Ur III cylinder seals requires both proper segmenting and codifying systems, and functional methods to interpret the results. This work deals with the problem of obtaining a sound synthetic description of medium-size or large-size SOMs related to a system of relationships between the "presentation scenes" of the examined corpus. The scenes will be reconstructed by an automatic system of interpretation and graphic-textual representation of the SOM codebooks. Such a system appears to be a good means to a quick analysis and a synthetic evaluation of the SOM processing results. Here we will explain the "meta-process" of this Matlab-based program (called SEME) in describing SOM codebooks pertaining to the iconographic classification of the examined Ur III "presentation scenes."
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Papers by Alessandro Di Ludovico
http://www.archcalc.cnr.it/journal/idyear.php?IDyear=20202-01-01
In the past the study of glyptic iconography was among the most favourite fields for the use of quantitative methods, but the efforts of the different scholars are, on the whole, still poorly coordinated, and thus not very consistent with each other. Other interesting experiments show, anyway, that the fields for the application of such tools can be very numerous and large. What is actually of fundamental importance is that the scholars in humanities keep a control and an awareness on the functioning and the features that are typical and essential in the models they use.
It will be presented here a general critical overview of the different concrete uses of quantitative methods in ancient Near Eastern art history. This will serve as a starting point for suggestions and guidelines and for the drawing of new, more general and coordinated approaches in the near future, hoping that more accessible techniques and wider interest and variety of models will facilitate this.
Adopting the point of view of cultural history, this contribution presents an effort to contextualize and critically investigate the uses and roles of communication technologies and procedures in Mesopotamia in the end of Early Bronze Age. The basic problem that needs to be faced here has to do with methodology, including logical strategies of investigating the societies under study. Then, the possible connection between social and political phenomena is being considered in a general and cross-disciplinary perspective.
http://www.archcalc.cnr.it/journal/idyear.php?IDyear=20202-01-01
In the past the study of glyptic iconography was among the most favourite fields for the use of quantitative methods, but the efforts of the different scholars are, on the whole, still poorly coordinated, and thus not very consistent with each other. Other interesting experiments show, anyway, that the fields for the application of such tools can be very numerous and large. What is actually of fundamental importance is that the scholars in humanities keep a control and an awareness on the functioning and the features that are typical and essential in the models they use.
It will be presented here a general critical overview of the different concrete uses of quantitative methods in ancient Near Eastern art history. This will serve as a starting point for suggestions and guidelines and for the drawing of new, more general and coordinated approaches in the near future, hoping that more accessible techniques and wider interest and variety of models will facilitate this.
Adopting the point of view of cultural history, this contribution presents an effort to contextualize and critically investigate the uses and roles of communication technologies and procedures in Mesopotamia in the end of Early Bronze Age. The basic problem that needs to be faced here has to do with methodology, including logical strategies of investigating the societies under study. Then, the possible connection between social and political phenomena is being considered in a general and cross-disciplinary perspective.
http://2018.caaconference.org/sessions/#_Toc494453197
Abstract should not be longer than 250 words excluding title, affiliations and 3 – 5 keywords, and must be submitted electronically by October 29th: http://2018.caaconference.org/2017/09/29/call-papers-posters-open/
Conference Website: http://2018.caaconference.org/
At the moment we still accept contributions themed around Biblical Studies, Levant, Egypt, and more broadly Mediterranean world from the Iron Age until Late Antiquity.
Please send your proposals (maximum 500 words) to one of the co-editors by May 1, 2020.
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/9789004375086
Readership
This volume will interest scholars and students of the ancient Near East as well as digital humanities researchers across disciplines.