A Corpus of Writing-Tablets from Roman Britain (A British Academy Research Project)

"Of the former provinces of the Roman empire, Britain is perhaps the most prolific in producing new Latin documents. These comprise two main types. The first, well known from excavations at Vindolanda, close to Hadrian''s Wall, includes wooden ink and stylus tablets, the second texts inscribed on thin sheets of metal, usually lead, commonly referred to as ''curse tablets''. Wooden tablets tend to survive only in waterlogged archaeological contexts, but lead tablets are less dependent on these particular preservation conditions and have been recovered both during archaeological excavation and as surface finds, especially in recent years through the use of metal detectors. A project based at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents (CSAD) at Oxford University aims to publish a corpus of these lead and wooden tablets. It will compile and sometimes re-edit known texts as well as publish recent discoveries. Preparation of the corpus will include the application of new techniques of digital image enhancement to these artefacts. These techniques are being developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering Science at Oxford and will allow significantly improved readings of texts, indeed sometimes the first readings of texts previously considered illegible."