Off the Beaten Track. Epigraphy at the Borders: an Introduction

The paper has the aim to explain the "raison d'être" of the 6th Congress of the Europeana network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy). The event was intended to address the issues which arise in digitizing inscriptions characterised by ‘unusual’ features in comparison with the epigraphic norm. Here are presented the issues from several ongoing digital projects raising questions and proposing solutions regarding encoding inscriptions – from the Archaic period to the Middle Ages and beyond, even in languages other than Greek and Latin – which do not fall within those labelled as standard. In the paper the focus mainly on the class of the 'graffiti', particularly representative of these issues, because they are problematic in their definition, function, use and writing/drawing.