Project description
Recycling writing: clay tablets, wax tablets, and the role of rewritability in manuscript cultures
Recycling written surfaces has played a crucial role in many fields, including education, note-taking, literary creation and bookkeeping. Inventions such as clay and wax tablets allowed inkless writing and easy erasability, enabling unlimited revisions as far back as the third millennium BCE. The ERC-funded TabulaRasa project will study the pivotal role of erasable writing technologies, specifically clay and wax tablets, from the Ancient Near East to Early Modern Europe by integrating codicology, palaeography, material analysis and experimentation. The project will explore their impact on the palaeographic development of cuneiform and Latin scripts, on memory and on data management, drawing parallels to modern challenges like information overload and sustainability, and ultimately providing a new understanding of rewritability’s enduring significance throughout history.
Objective
TabulaRasa takes the use of clay and wax tablets in the Ancient Near East, the Classical world, and Medieval to Early Modern Europe as the centerpiece of a comprehensive exploration of the role of rewritability in manuscript cultures. Across diverse societies, the recycling of written surfaces proves not only desirable but essential in contexts such as education, note-taking, literary creation, economy and administration. Its profound implications range from palaeographic developments to the acquisition of writing, memorization and composition practices, and aspects of data storage, information overload and resource recycling that persist to this day. Throughout history, the challenge of devising techniques for effortless reuse has sparked a wealth of clever solutions. Among these, clay and wax tablets can be considered paradigmatic: they played a key role in the history of writing from the third millennium BCE up to modern times, enabling effortless, unlimited rewriting without the need to add or subtract material. TabulaRasa takes them as a benchmark for an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural exploration of rewritability. It integrates codicology, palaeography and the study of manuscript cultures into a holistic historical framework, combining study of original artifacts, material analysis and experimentation. The primary objectives encompass a codicological understanding of clay and wax tablets as material objects, deciphering the biomechanics of inkless writing on clay and wax and its implications for palaeographic developments in cuneiform and Latin script, and comprehending the role of erasable media in key historical contexts. Complementing these integrated lines of inquiry, TabulaRasa will broaden its gaze to include a comparative analysis of re-writing practices, adding historical depth to ongoing research on e-ink and environmental sustainability, and providing a breakthrough in the understanding of a fundamental aspect of writing practices past and present.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences biological sciences biophysics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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80121 Naples
Italy
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