Cities, information, and the epigraphic habit: re-evaluating the links between the numbers of inscriptions and the sizes of sites

Hanson, J. W. (2021) Cities, information, and the epigraphic habit: re-evaluating the links between the numbers of inscriptions and the sizes of sites. Journal of Urban Archaeology, 4. pp. 137-152. ISSN 2736-2434 doi: 10.1484/J.JUA.5.126597

Abstract/Summary

Among classical scholars there is a widespread assumption that there is no relationship between the sizes of communities and their epigraphic output. In this article, I offer a new model, which suggests two hypotheses for how inscriptions increase with population, depending on whether they can be regarded as a form of infrastructure or a measure of wealth or disposable income. I show that, despite the variation between sites, there is nonetheless a consistent relationship between the numbers of inscriptions and the estimated populations of sites. The numbers of inscriptions increase slower than the estimated populations of sites, however, suggesting that they acted as a form of information infrastructure. This has important implications for our understanding of the mechanisms for transmitting information in ancient contexts, suggesting several avenues for future research.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/100838
Identification Number/DOI	10.1484/J.JUA.5.126597
Refereed	No
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Humanities > Classics
Publisher	Brepolis
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