From past to future: digital methods towards artefact analysis

Abstract

Over the past two decades, Digital Humanities has transformed the landscape of humanities and social sciences, enabling advanced computational analysis and interpretation of extensive datasets. Notably, recent initiatives in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, focus on categorizing and archiving historical data such as artwork, literature and, most notably archaeological artefacts. This study illustrates the profound potential of Digital Humanities through the application of statistical methods on two distinct artefact datasets. Specifically, we present the results of an automated minting study of mid-first millennium CE struck and cast ‘Rising Sun’ coinage from mainland Southeast Asia, while subsequently utilizing unsupervised statistical methods on 2D images of 13th–14th-century earthenware ceramics excavated from the precolonial St. Andrew’s Cathedral site in central Singapore. This research offers a comparative assessment showcasing the transformative impact of statistics-based approaches on the interpretation and analysis of diverse archaeological materials and within Digital Humanities overall.