In a Squeeze: Using epigraphic squeezes and laboratory analyses of pigment to study ancient polychromy
- Date: 22 April 2024, 14:15–17:00
- Location: Observatory Park, Old Observatory, Kyrkogårdsgatan 8A
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: PhD Annie Burman, affiliated researcher at the Dept of Linguistics and Philology, and PhD Sara Norrehed from the Cultural Heritage Laboratory
- Organiser: Uppsala Technical Humanities Network and Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS)
- Contact person: Ingrid Berg
In recent decades, interest in ancient polychromy has increased. It is now well-known that ancient Mediterranean sculpture and architecture were decorated with paint. Reconstructions are displayed in museums, and in-depth research projects are conducted. However, the role of polychromy within epigraphy is far less well-studied.
One reason is that pigment on inscriptions is generally poorly preserved, often due to the practice of squeezing. Squeezing is a method of creating a copy of a carving on paper, which can be studied later but strips the inscription of any pigment. In some cases, this pigment was imbedded in the squeeze. In this seminar, we will present the results of laboratory tests conducted on five squeezes of Etruscan funerary inscriptions created in 1885 by Swedish Etruscologist Olof August Danielsson. We will explore the methods used, particularly XRF and FORS, the challenges of working with epigraphic squeezes, and the broader implications of the analyses.
The presenters are PhD Annie Burman, affiliated researcher at the Dept of Linguistics and Philology, and PhD Sara Norrehed from the Cultural Heritage Laboratory,
Annie Burman received her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2018 for her thesis De Lingua Sabina: A Reappraisal of the Sabine Glosses. In 2021, the Royal Academy of Letters awarded her a Bernadotte scholarship. She also received funding for her CESU (Corpus of Etruscan Squeezes at Uppsala) project from the Iris Jonzén-Sandblom and Greta Jonzén Foundation. The project aims to catalogue and digitise Professor Olof August Danielsson's Etruscan squeeze collection. Her research interests include the pre-Roman languages of Italy, ancient bilingualism, the linguistic classification of fragmentary languages, Roman antiquarianism during the Republic and Early Empire, and ethnic identities in ancient Italy. She is also interested in Classical reception, early modern European study of language and Swedish Gothicism.
Sara Norrehed received her PhD in Organic Chemistry at Uppsala University in 2013 and has worked as an Advisor and Heritage Scientist at the Swedish National Heritage Board in Visby and its Cultural Heritage Laboratory since 2014. The CHL uses experimental and analytical techniques to examine, document, identify materials, and study their ageing and working properties. The CHL offers students and PhD students the opportunity to examine cultural heritage objects free of charge and also runs a guest colleague program to which cultural heritage scholars may apply. For more information visit their website: https://www.raa.se/in-english/cultural-heritage/heritage-laboratory/