Applying digital methods to ancient history

May 28, 2024

In spring 2024, Visual Resources's Digital Project Specialist Leigh Lieberman co-taught a course with Professor Caroline Cheung (Department of Classics) called "The Science of Roman History" (CLA 247). 

Roman history courses often cover the grand narratives based on more traditional literary evidence, tending not to leave room for discussions of how knowledge is created and the new and different methods for studying ancient history. By contrast, this course engaged scholars from various fields, prompting students to explore STEM and digital humanities methods while considering historical questions. Through case studies and hands-on activities, students learned how scientific, technological, and computational methods enact a multi-disciplinary approach to learning about the ancient past.

In a wood-paneled room, students surround a wooden table listeining to a presenter

Kate Tardio presents zooarchaeology to the class (Photo/Luke Soucy)

Among guest lecturers was Professor of Archaeology Darío Bernal-Casasola (Universidad de Cádiz), who presented research on the ancient Roman fermented fish sauce known as garum and fish salting industries in Pompeii and Baelo Claudia. With the help of chemical analyses to understand garum production, Bernal-Casasola reconstructed a garum recipe—which he offered for sampling.

Professor Katie Tardio (Bucknell University) showed the class a horse skull and bags of smaller bones to introduce methods of zooarchaeology, which can shed light on aspects of a region’s ancient culture, from diet to entertainment, trade, disease, and siege-craft.

A screenshot showing thumbnails of student projects

The StoryMaps Collection from "The Science of Roman History" course

“I thought it was really cool to be able to see an expert at work in my classroom,” said Mary McCoy ’26. “Being able to ask on-the-fly questions helped the zooarchaeological process come to life....It extended the classroom outside of just theories and readings and into the practical,” she said.

Throughout the semester, students focused their efforts on an object from the Princeton University Art Museum or Firestone Special Collections. Their final projects outlined various scientific analyses that facilitate learning more about an object (i.e.: XRF, isotope analysis, statistical study, spatial study, etc.). These final projects were transformed, using ESRI’s ArcGIS StoryMaps, into a collaborative, multi-modal publication.