A Theoretical Framework for Stigmergetic Reconstruction of Ancient Text

Abstract

Cuneiform script, an intellectual breakthrough 5,000 years ago, made recording information possible. Cuneiform is mankind’s first ever script, recorded and communicated using clay tablets for thousands of years across the entirety of the Ancient Near East. Remnants of the medium are now stored worldwide in many of collections and time required for the joining of the fragments using traditional methodologies means that the information recorded within these fragments will not be known in our lifetime. The research narrated in this chapter opens up a novel method for reconstructing the fragments, using nature-inspired approaches and new mobile digitising technology. It covers groundwork done to date for supporting a full-scale stigmergy reconstruction of cuneiform tablets and provides hypothetical scenarios within a theoretical framework for testing ‘in the wild’.