Epigraphic Squeezes: Digitisation, Publication, and Enhancement

Epigraphic squeezes are a key tool to research and teaching. They also have historical and documentary value. They are reliable copies of the inscribed text and they become the only evidence if the inscriptions get lost or destroyed. This paper describes the Venice Squeeze Project for the preservation and enhancement of the epigraphic squeezes based at the Department of Humanities of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. In its first phase, it published Ca’ Foscari University’s collection of epigraphic squeezes in the digital ektypotheke E-stampages. It is now developing a web-application to digitize epigraphic squeezes according to E-stampages metadata architecture. The first part of this paper illustrates the background of the Venice Squeeze Project and the methodological issues, which fostered the partnership with E-stampages. The second part describes the relational database that was set up to digitize Ca’ Foscari collection. The third part introduces the Venice Squeeze Project’s initiatives to promote a network of Italian institutions interested in digitizing their collections of epigraphic squeezes.