Form, Content, and Space: Methodological Challenges in the Study of Medieval and Early Modern European Graffiti

Scholars of variousdisciplines have focused their attention on European Medieval and Early Modern graffitiduring the last decade, thus confirming and reinforcing the value of thispeculiar written evidence. Their contributions demonstrate that graffiti canoffer valuable information to different fields of study (e.g. shipbuilding,palaeography, history, social culture, and visual culture) through a glimpseinto past daily life. Due to their nature, graffiti present a completely freegraphic expression, which may appear in either textual or pictorial forms, orboth. This characteristic makes their study rather challenging due to the twodifferent mechanisms of communication they employ. In the case of textualgraffiti, the content is transmitted through linguistic codification, whilepictorial graffiti require a decoding process that is more complex andarticulated. The first challenge, though, is to find a way to record andcompare both evidence on the same graphic and verbal levels.  Furthermore, as for any other epigraphicevidence, the graffiti analysis must take into account the writing surfaces andthe context, two elements that are fundamental for the final interpretation ofthis source. This paper will address these methodological issues concerning thepreliminary phase of graffiti documentation and classification/cataloguing. Thestarting point has been the recent debate and application of FAIR dataprinciples in the field of Humanities, which aim to create quality data, easilyexchanged in a digital environment, fostering knowledge in the field. Sincethis approach has not yet been applied to graffiti studies, the paper aims tostimulate a dialogue on innovative and objective methodological approacheswithin the researchers’ community.

Writing amidst the Scribbles: The Role and Place of Writing in Ancient Maya Graffiti

The significantcorpus of ancient Maya graffiti (c. 200 BC-AD 950) attests to the widespreadpractice of secondarily altering architectural surfaces during the course oftheir use.  For the most part this corpusis highly figurative and includes a series of schematic elements that attest totheir production by the hands of a variety of agents. As one of the largestcorpora of graffiti from any early civilization, the figural representationsinclude a wide array of themes.  Somegraffiti feature complex, narrative scenes that document important moments ofritual life of the ancient Maya. Almost paradoxically, amid the intricate andhighly figurative scenes are hieroglyphic graffiti. What do these writtengraffiti record, and what is the degree of literacy that these attest to? Thisraises a series of interesting questions including whether written and figuralgraffiti were etched onto walls by the same individuals, or whether theserepresent different social segments each leaving their mark. From theseobservations follow a series of important ramifications as to authorship, theuse of the built environment as well as the motivations behind the graffitiitself.

Feet of Lead; Ships of Lead

The commonest images were the outlines ofshoes, hands and sailing ships. A seemingly odd combination of imagery but onethat, when looked at in detail, throws significant light on to the life andtimes in the 18th and 19th centuries in a Yorkshire coastal town. This paperwill examine in more detail some of the information that can be obtained from alarge collection of post-medieval graffiti of shoe and ship outlines that canbe related to a specific time and place. Although the tower of St Oswald's contained examples of awide range of graffiti including hands, fish, peel notations, love hearts andeven a possible 'plague doctor' the focus of this paper is primarily on theshoe outlines and ship images as there would simply not be space to discuss allthe examples in detail.

Between Mariners, Pirates and Priests: An Introduction to The World of Ship Graffiti In Medieval Mediterranean

Ship graffiti are one of the most common illustrations or vandalismsfound on the walls of medieval and post-medieval monuments in Mediterraneancountries. A multitude of vessels of various types and sizes have been carvedor drawn by the people of the Middle Ages on monuments, such as the Parthenonand the cathedral of Majorca, and humble buildings, such as cisterns and baths. Who made these graffiti? And why? Their occurrence in places of worship(churches, mosques) indicates that they were tokens of suppliance and votives,but equally common is their appearance in secular buildings, often related withwater (baths, fountains, etc.). Moreover, their quality ranges from simplistic‘banana boats’ to highly accurate representations of ship hulls and theirrigging.  This paper will examine certain case studies of medieval Mediterraneangraffiti and propose different scenarios for the nature of their engravers orpainters and the circumstances which led to their creation. Its aim is toexplore the complicated relationship between the creation of ship graffiti andthe contemporary world.

Play and Purpose: The Relationship Between Patolli and Graffiti at Xunantunich, Belize

Patolli is a “dice game” found in Classic andPostclassic period (CE 250-900/1000, CE 900/1000-1492) contexts throughoutMesoamerica. This paper provides an overview of ethnohistoric sources andprevious archaeological research on patolli to contextualize recent discoveriesof boards and other graffiti at the Classic Maya centre of Xunantunich, Belize.We examine the placement of patolli boards relative to graffiti figureswithin two galleries in the site’s north palace complex to understand theirrelationship with each other and their possible significance within the centreitself. Finally, we present possible interpretations for patolli andgraffiti from the Terminal Classic Maya centre of Xunantunich, Belize rangingfrom commemoration, competition, and divination or ritually related activities.