ERC Stone-Masters Project

18/06/2026

Last week, Julia Borczyńska took part in the conference Circulating Perspectives of the Past: Epigraphic Material in Manuscripts (15th–17th Centuries). Colloquium in memoriam Marco Buonocore, held at Sapienza University of Rome.

In her paper, entitled “Spatial Readings of Rome: Syllogae and the Micro-Topography of Late Antique Christian Inscriptions”, she addressed the use of medieval manuscript transmission for the study of the topography of Christian cult sites in Late Antique Rome. The paper focused on the question of how — and to what extent — inscriptions preserved in syllogae, their sequence within the manuscript, and the brief locative lemmata supplied by compilers can be used to reconstruct the topography of Late Antique places of worship. Particular attention was given to compilations such as the Sylloge Turonensis, the Sylloge Laureshamensis, and the Sylloge Virdunensis. Although the topographical indications they preserve are often laconic, and at times secondary or imprecise, they may nevertheless retain traces of direct observation of monuments in situ.

The paper was structured around four main issues. First, lemmata were considered as a kind of “map” of the compiler’s route, making it possible to reconstruct how he moved through sacred space. Secondly, it was shown that the combination of locative notes with the content of epigrams can assist in reconstructing lost decorative programmes envisaged by the commissioners and stone-carving workshops. Thirdly, the paper addressed the uncertainties of manuscript transmission: the sequence of epigrams and their lemmata does not always reflect the original arrangement of inscriptions and may instead be secondary, misleading, or difficult to reconcile with the reconstructed topography of a monument. Finally, the paper explored the possibility of reconstructing the very act of reading inscriptions, especially in cases where differences between manuscript witnesses reveal how a compiler saw, read, and ordered texts within a specific architectural setting.

03/06/2026

Two weeks ago, on 19 May, Paweł Nowakowski visited Cracow to present the STONE-MASTERS project at the Copernicus Festival and spoke in a session on setting strong research proposals for ERC funding schemes. The panel was hosted by members of the Polish National Contact Point/Krajowy Punkt Kontaktowy Programów Badawczych UE

Photograph from: Krajowy Punkt Kontaktowy Programów Badawczych UE
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1421463940022905&set=pcb.1421464403356192

18/05/2026

📢We are delighted to share an ‼️ exciting discovery ‼️ made on the ERC Stone-Masters Project , which Paweł Nowakowski presented last week at the Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar at the University of Oxford, convened by Phil Booth, Stratis Papaioannou, and Ida Toth. While working on newly found inscriptions from western Anatolia, Pawel and Prof. Mustafa Adak identified inconspicuous fragments as the missing parts of a legal decision by the Praetorian Prefect of the East, Flavius Illus Pusaeus Dionysius, dated 480 CE. This important text deals with financial abuses by tax collectors in the estates of Placidia, the daughter of Emperor Valentinian III and mother of the great Late Roman aristocrat, Anicia Juliana. It provides valuable insight into the management of the imperial family's estates during the turbulent reign of Emperor Zeno.

The document has been known since 1745, when Richard Pococke visited Mylasa and documented it for the first time. We know it thanks to three inscriptions – one from Mylasa, one from Stratonikeia and one from Keramos. The text later attracted the attention of renowned epigraphists such as Louis Robert, Denis Feissel and, most recently, Anna Sitz.

The images attached to this post show the photographs of the old fragments made by Louis Robert in the 1930s and published by Denis Feissel.

The text is also of great interest to the STONE-MASTERS Project because of its unusual layout and faithful engraving of the Latin cursive script in the subscription, as well as the differences between the three copies, which shed light on the production process of such important official inscriptions. We will therefore be planning more events focused on this find.

Pawel and Mustafa are currently preparing the full publication of the new fragments, which should be ready in a few months.

During Pawel's time in Oxford, the STONE-MASTERS Team was also invited to present their current work. On Monday, during the Epigraphy Workshop convened by Marcus Chin, Charles Crowther, and Ariadne Pagoni, Pawel, together with Andrés Rea and Lorena Pérez Yarza, presented their study of serifs from the sanctuary of Hecate at Lagina near Stratonikeia, which they argued were a manifestation of interactions between Roman and Greek carving cultures.

Uniwersytet Warszawski

12/05/2026

We are pleased to share that, on Saturday, the speakers Martyna Świerk, Lorena Pérez Yarza, Marta Fernández Corral, and Marina Bastero Acha participated in the panel Hands at Work in Stone: Identifying Epigraphic Styles, Workshops, and Individual Artisans in Antiquity at the Colloquia Ceranea VIII (University of Lodz).

Organised within the framework of the ERC Stone Masters Project, the panel explored how the material and technical study of inscriptions can help identify epigraphic workshops, carving practices, and even individual artisans across the ancient Mediterranean. Bringing together case studies from Roman and Late Antique contexts, the contributions examined the production processes behind inscriptions and mosaics, highlighting the importance of craft, materiality, and embodied technical knowledge in the making of written monuments.

The papers addressed topics ranging from the self-representation of mosaicists in Late Antiquity, to the technical diversity of Roman epigraphic production, and the identification of workshops and carving hands in the inscriptions of Lara de los Infantes (Burgos, Spain). Collectively, the panel demonstrated the value of practice-oriented approaches to ancient epigraphy and contributed to restoring analytical visibility to the artisans whose work shaped the inscribed landscapes of antiquity.

01/05/2026

As advertised, the Warsaw Epigraphy and Papyrology Seminar hosted Hernán González Bordas (CNRS and Université Bordeaux-Montaigne). He gave a very engaging paper on the palaeography of publications of agrarian laws from Roman North Africa. We also had excellent respondents, including colleagues from the Musti Archaeological Project: Tomasz Waliszewski and Karol Kłodziński. It was a very eventful day which provided us with many new insights!

29/04/2026

ERC Stone-Masters Project visited Tarragona (again)! On 22 and 23 April, Paweł Nowakowski was invited to Tarragona to Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Institut Català d'Arqueologia Clàssica by Professor Diana Gorostidi Pi for the viva of the doctoral thesis by Hugo Feliu Pérez. Hugo prepared a very detailed study of the tripartite pedestal from the "Officina Lapidaria Tarraconensis", a peculiar type of epigraphic monument from Hispania Citerior. The thesis was accepted cm laude 👏 by the tribunal, and the following day, we held the Seminario ArPA&LIRA conference, organised by Diana and Hugo. The visit also provided an opportunity to examine inscriptions scattered across the town, as well as those held in the Biblical Museum of Tarragona and at the cathedral. This collection had previously been the subject of study by Marina Bastero Acha.

23/04/2026

We are pleased to announce that on Monday, 27 April, we will be hosting Hernán González Bordas (Université Bordeaux-Montaigne). During the Warsaw Seminar in Epigraphy and Papyrology, Hernán will give the paper titled: "Land and law in Roman North Africa: why epigraphy and paleography matter." Please, join us in person!

Venue: Wydział Archeologii Uniwersytet Warszawski, University of Warsaw, room 206
Time: 4:45–6:15pm

13/04/2026

We have recently announced that Marina Bastero Acha has been awarded a five-year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Basque Government. Now, we can happily let you know that Martyna's postdoc position will be taken over by Martyna Świerk. Martyna was selected in a competitive call and she will focus on exploring the workshops attested of North Africa in the coming months. Previously Martyna has already had a significant input into our work by performing a prosopographical research on artisans attested in mosaic inscriptions across the Late Antique Mediterranean.

10/04/2026

Maciek Krawczyk , who has programmed our Digital Atlas of Workshops, recently attended the CCA conference in digital humanities in Vienna. He gave there the paper "Natural Schema Evolution vs Machine Learning Readiness: A Case Study from the Stone-Masters Project," where he explored how the experience of programming the Atlas allowed him to get new insights into the problem of evolution of database schemas. As he explains, most databases do not start large and complex.They begin quite simply — with a small set of fields designed to record the most important attributes of the material. But as the project develops, something very natural happens. New research questions appear. Typologies become more detailed. Additional datasets are integrated.And slowly, the schema begins to grow. After several years, the database often looks very different from what was originally designed. At the same time, it becomes harder for algorithms to identify stable and reliable patterns. As a result, analytical stability tends to decrease—not because the data are incorrect or poorly collected, but because they have become more expressive and more detailed. In other words, the dataset becomes increasingly powerful for human interpretation while simultaneously becoming more challenging for computational generalization.

https://2026.caaconference.org/

31/03/2026

We announce a recent paper published by Paweł Nowakowski together with Mariusz Gwiazda:

„Marble Use in the Early Byzantine Southern Levant: Spatial and Social Contexts”, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 119/1 (2026), 83-118

"The paper explores the varied usage of imported marble during the early Byzantine period in the Southern Levant. By employing a diverse array of written sources and archaeological data, this study identified multiple social groups involved in the procurement and use of marble, extending beyond emperors and bishops to clerics and laypeople from various walks of life. This analysis highlights numerous examples of using marble in private and public spaces, with concomitant dominance in religious buildings. Particular emphasis is placed on rural areas where the increased presence of marble indicates a partial blurring of the distinctions between villages and cities."

The paper was published as one of the results of the project "Marmora Bizantina" directed by Mariusz Gwiazda and funded by an OPUS grant from the Polish National Science Centre.

Another result of that project is a database of marble finds and a database of mentions of marble in literary sources in late antique Levant (the latter compiled by Pawel).

Paper: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/bz-2026-0006/html

Database:
https://marmorabizantina.pcma.uw.edu.pl/texts/search

This study explores the varied usage of imported marble during the early Byzantine period in the Southern Levant. While marble symbolised luxury and high status in the Roman period, its use patterns shifted during early Byzantine times. By employing a diverse array of written sources and archaeologi...