Workshop: Filling the Time Gaps

Filling the Time Gaps: Traditional and Current Methods for Dating the Manuscripts of Highland and Southeast Asia

Dates and chronologies are the backbone of both history, archeology, and manuscript studies. Without a time frame delineating the context for every material heritage object, no material culture can be understood: neither the sequence of events nor the sequence of visual change in written artefacts can be determined. Further, without dates we would not be able to get a clear picture of what happened in the past, nor obtain knowledge about which significant elements of progress appeared first or which technological inventions triggered further inventions and following changes in the visual appearance of the material objects we study. The sequence of events, inventions, visual changes, technology dissemination, use and re-use, and deterioration processes are all crucial to understand manuscript cultures of the Highlands and Southeast Asia. Lastly, target topics of current research such as provenance, technological transfer, and authentication of artefacts cannot expect to make real progress without data sets obtained from heritage objects of known origin and dated precisely so as to be usable as a base for the further development of AI methods (identifying markers, machine learning, etc). Computer-based methods use scanned images of manuscripts and not the original samples taken from them. Thus, they can be more convenient (as entirely non-destructive) processes, faster, and applicable on a larger scale. However, the only way to use them successfully would be to build models for them based on data obtained through traditional methods.

There is a huge number of both digitized and undigitized manuscripts in Highland and Southeast Asia dated from at least the eighth century until today. However, an even larger number of undated manuscripts exist that can only be vaguely traced in time. The dates of production of these manuscripts are of great interest to manuscriptologists, (art) historians, curators, conservators, paleographers, and all other scholars considering manuscripts as part of their studies.

In this workshop, we aim to discuss all the possible methods that could be used for dating manuscripts, as well as all the different kinds of collaborative efforts that may help in understanding the biographies of manuscripts. We will bring together researchers representing both the humanities, computer science and natural sciences working in various fields, such as textual studies, anthropology, (art) history, and material analysis, who engage with the methods and concepts concerned with manuscript studies and the development of methodology.