This paper introduces a novel methodology for the classification of ancient Greek inscriptions according to the writer who carved them. Inscription writer identification is crucial for dating the written content, which in turn is of fundamental importance in the sciences of history and archaeology. To achieve this, we first compute an ideal or "platonic" prototype for the letters of each inscription separately. Next, statistical criteria are introduced to reject the hypothesis that two inscriptions are carved by the same writer. In this way, we can determine the number of distinct writers who carved a given ensemble of inscriptions. Next, maximum likelihood considerations are employed to attribute all inscriptions in the collection to the respective writers. The method has been applied to 24 Ancient Athenian inscriptions and attributed these inscriptions to six different identified hands in full accordance with expert epigraphists' opinions.

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Abstract-In this paper, a methodology of general applicability is presented for answering the question if an artist used a number of archetypes to draw a painting or if he drew it freehand. In fact, the contour line parts of the drawn objects that potentially correspond to archetypes are initially spotted. Subsequently, the exact form of these archetypes and their appearance throughout the painting is determined. The method has been applied to celebrated Thera Late Bronze Age wall paintings with full success. It has been demonstrated that the artist or group of artists has used seven geometrical archetypes and seven corresponding well-constructed stencils (four hyperbolae, two ellipses, and one Archimedes' spiral) to draw the wall painting "Gathering of Crocus" in 1650 B.C. This method of drawing seems to be unique in the history of arts and of great importance for archaeology, and the history of mathematics and sciences, as well.Index Terms-Image line pattern analysis, archaeological image edge analysis, archaeological object reconstruction, curve fitting, statistical pattern matching.

This paper, introduces a new approach for the automated reconstructionreassembly of fragmented objects having one surface near to plane, on the basis of the 3D representation of their constituent fragments. The whole process starts by 3D scanning of the available fragments. The obtained representations are properly processed so that they can be tested for possible matches. Next, four novel criteria are introduced, that lead to the determination of pairs of matching fragments. These criteria have been chosen so as the whole process imitates the instinctive reassembling method dedicated scholars apply. The first criterion exploits the volume of the gap between two properly placed fragments. The second one considers the fragments" overlapping in each possible matching position. Criteria 3, 4 employ principles from calculus of variations to obtain bounds for the area and the mean curvature of the contact surfaces and the length of contact curves, which must hold if the two fragments match. The method has been applied, with great success, both in the reconstruction of objects artificially broken by the authors and, most important, in the 2 virtual reassembling of parts of wall-paintings belonging to the Mycenaic civilization (c.1300 BC.), excavated highly fragmented in Tyrins, Greece.

In this paper, a novel approach is introduced for classifying curves into proper families, according to their similarity. First, a mathematical quantity we call plane curvature is introduced and a number of propositions are stated and proved. Proper similarity measures of two curves are introduced and a subsequent statistical analysis is applied. First, the efficiency of the curve fitting process has been tested on 2 shapes datasets of reference. Next, the methodology has been applied to the very important problem of classifying 23 Byzantine codices and 46 Ancient inscriptions to their writers, thus achieving correct dating of their content. The inscriptions have been attributed to ten individual hands and the Byzantine codices to four writers.

In this paper, a novel methodology is introduced for the identification of the workmen (hands) that carved ancient inscriptions. This methodology employs specific geometric characteristics of each letter and computes the mean value and variance of these characteristics for each one of the available inscriptions separately. Subsequently, we define original decision thresholds that make use of the statistical distribution of the difference of these values in order to attribute an inscription to a given hand. The inscriptions of the hands under consideration have been properly processed and all information extracted, both visual and statistical, is stored in a suitable database. Application of this methodology to nine Athenian inscriptions, some of which contain very similar letters, offered correct, clear-cut hand identification.

A research team at Akrotiri, Thera, here examine the Bronze Age frescoes and show that the artists were making use of templates of well known geometric curves. Some of the spirals, hyperbolae and ellipses which all feature in the repertoire do not occur in nature and must have their origin in some still unknown human science or aesthetic.

In this article, an integrated conjecture about the method of drawing of monumental prehistoric wall-paintings is presented and supported. Specifically, the article deals with paintings that initially decorated the internal walls of the highest floor of a building, called "Xeste 3", at Akrotiri of the Greek island of Thera circa. 1650 B.C. It is argued that these wall-paintings could had been drawn while the brush was guided by an apparatus, which corresponds to advanced for the era of geometric prototypes with impressive precision. A set of assumptions concerning the actions the artists might have taken in order to create the spiral themes is stated and supported. These assumptions refer to the existence of a draft plan, the sequence of brush strokes, the placement of the brush on the wall, as well as the possible form of the apparatus. These conjectures are evaluated and tested by means of curve fitting and image analysis methods developed by the authors. The results indicate that all drawn contour parts optimally fit along a single prototype linear spiral with fitting error of less than 0.4mm, supporting existence of a very advanced culture for the era of geometric guide. It is statistically rejected that this guide could have the form of a stamp. Moreover, there is strong evidence that the painter might have used a draft plan of the spiral themes to prepare the final drawing and that the linear spiral guide has been used by alternating its placements in order to form the internal and external spiral contour.General Terms: Algorithms Additional Key Words and Phrases: Finding the method of drawing of paintings, prototypes determination in paintings, prehistoric paintings and geometry, curve fitting ACM Reference Format: Roussopoulos, P., Papaodysseus, C., Arabadjis, D., Exarhos, M., and Panagopoulos, M. 2010. Image and pattern analysis for the determination of the method of drawing celebrated Thera wall-paintings circa 1650 B.C. ACM J.