Imaging Roman Stylus Tablets

Funding: EPSRC Research Grant (January 1999-December 2001)
Project Directors: Dr A K Bowman (CSAD) and Professor J M Brady (Department of Engineering Science) Project Staff: Dr Xiaobo Pan (Postdoctoral Researcher)
Ms M Terras (Doctoral Student)

In addition to an exceptional quantity of well-preserved ink writing-tablets, Vindolanda has also produced a large number of stilus tablets; the examples discovered in the 1990s bring the total to around 200, many of which show visible remains of writing. Very few of these, however, can be read directly. The majority of surviving stilus tablets-both from Vindolanda and in museums and collections elsewhere-remain intractable and unread because the wax surface has perished leaving only the traces of incision where the stilus penetrated the wax to the wood beneath. These incisions are often incomplete especially at the ends of strokes; they are often palimpsest; and the visibility of the text is undermined by wood grain, surface discoloration, and casual damage.

Vindolanda Stilus Tablet no. 836

In 1997 a project was initiated by the Centre in collaboration with the University's Department of Engineering Science to develop a new computer-based image-enhancement technique for incised material specifically in response to the challenge of reading the stilus tablets. The project directors are Dr A K Bowman and Professor J M Brady. The work was initially supported by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust which allowed the appointment of a Research Associate in 1997 (Veit Schenk) and is currently funded for 1998-2001 by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The EPSRC grant supports a doctoral student (Melissa Terras) and a postdoctoral researcher (Dr Xiaobo Pan). Work on the project has drawn in the interests and expertise of a wider research team. The classicists and archaeologists involved in the project are: Dr A K Bowman (Christ Church), Dr R S O Tomlin (Wolfson College) Dr C V Crowther (CSAD) Dr R J H Pearce (CSAD). The engineering scientists (all of the Department of Engineering Science) are: Professor J M Brady, Dr A P Zisserman, Dr Xiaobo Pan (EPSRC Postdoctoral researcher), Dr Nicholas Molton, Mr Veit Schenk, Ms Melissa Terras (EPSRC Doctoral Student)

In the early stages of the project a successful application for removing wood-grain was developed. Subsequent research has concentrated on the elaboration of an innovative edge detection technique called Phase Congruency Shadow Stereo which has not only made it possible to separate palimpsest texts in sample tablets but has also found promising applications in medical imaging.

Palimpsest texts on a stilus tablet separated using phase congruency shadow stereo. Yellow: VECTVRAS Red: ET VECTVRAS

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