A graffito (plural "graffiti"), in an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

context, is a deliberate mark made by scratching or engraving on a large surface such as a wall. The marks may form an image or writing. The term is not usually used for the engraved decoration on small objects such as bones, which make up a large part of the

art of the Upper Paleolithic The art of the Upper Paleolithic represents the oldest form of prehistoric art. Figurative art is present in prehistoric Europe, Europe and Prehistoric Indonesia, Southeast Asia, beginning around 50,000 years ago. Non-figurative cave paintings, c ...

, but might be used for the engraved images, usually of animals, that are commonly found in caves, though much less well known than the cave paintings of the same period; often the two are found in the same caves. In archaeology, the term may or may not include the more common modern sense of an "unauthorized" addition to a building or monument. Sgraffito, a decorative technique of partially scratching off a top layer of plaster or some other material to reveal a differently colored material beneath, is also sometimes known as "graffito".

Ancient Egyptian

Modern knowledge of the history of

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

was originally derived from inscriptions, literature, ( Books of the Dead), pharaonic historical records, and

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s, from temple statements, and numerous individual objects whether pharaonic or for the Egyptian citizenry. Twentieth-century developments led to finding less common sources of information indicating the intricacies of the interrelationships of the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

, his appointees, and the citizenry. Three minor sources have helped link the major pieces of interrelationships in Ancient Egypt:

ostraca An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...

, scarab artifacts, and numerous temple, quarry, etc. sources have helped fill in minor pieces of the complex dealings in Ancient Egypt. The reliefs, and writings with the reliefs, are often supplemented with a ''graffito'', often in hieratic and discovered in locations not commonly seen, like a door jamb, hallway, entranceway, or the side or reverse of an object.

Late (Roman) Demotic

Very late Egyptian Demotic was used only for

, mummy labels, subscriptions to Greek texts, and graffiti. The last dated example of Egyptian Demotic is from the Temple of

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

at Philae, dated 11 December 452 CE. See Demotic "Egyptian".

Roman

The

Sator square The Sator Square (or Rotas-Sator Square or Templar Magic Square) is a two-dimensional acrostic class of word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome. The earliest squares were found at Roman-era sites, all in ROTAS-form (where the top l ...

(originally the "Rotas-Sator square") is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

graffito found at numerous sites throughout the Roman Empire (e.g.

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, Dura-Europos), and elsewhere (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) with the earliest versions dated to pre-A.D. 62 in

. The square became a powerful religious, and magical symbol, throughout medieval Europe.

Deir el-Bahri

Pilgrims to religious sites left numerous graffiti at the Egyptian site of Deir el-Bahri. File:Porta Pediculosa (particolare pidocchio).jpg , A louse graffito at a

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

gate File:Mnajdra graffito temple.jpg,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

temple graffito: Mnajdra File:Kartu Chufu01.JPG,

Khufu Khufu or Cheops (died 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his ...

's pyramid graffito, with his cartouche name

Ancient Athens

Large quantities of graffiti have been found in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

during excavations by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; nearly 850 were catalogued by Mabel Lang in 1976. These include a variety of different types of graffiti, such as abecedaria, kalos inscriptions, insults, marks of ownership, commercial notations, dedications, Christian inscriptions, messages, lists and pictures. They date from the eighth century BC through to the late Roman period.

Medieval Britain

There are several types of graffiti found in British buildings dating from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. There is a wide range of graffiti to be found on medieval buildings and especially in churches. These are some of the most common types:Norfolk medieval graffiti survey
/ref> *Architectural Drawings *Compass Drawings *Crosses *Early text *Figures *Heraldry * Mason's Marks * Merchant's Marks * Pentangles *Ship Graffiti * Solomon's knot *VV Symbols Medieval graffiti is a relatively new area of study with the first full-length work being produced in 1967 by Violet Pritchard. The

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Medieval Graffiti Survey was established in 2010 with the aim of undertaking the first large-scale survey of medieval graffiti in the UK. The survey primarily looks at graffiti dating from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Since 2010 a number of other

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

based surveys have been set up. These include

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. The examples below are from

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of Blakeney.Norfolk medieval graffiti survey
File:Blakeneyship3.png, A ship graffito File:Manuscript-capital.gif, Graffito with a decorated capital letter File:Blakeneymasons-mark1.gif, A mason's mark The images above were enhanced by using multiple light sources when photographing, but more recent examples in Malta used eye-tracking devices and generative algorithms to create a database that enabled the creation of 3-D images and video in addition to the standard perspective.

References

External links

* *
Sator Square, inscribed
the article uses: "Rotas square" {{DEFAULTSORT:Graffito (Archaeology) Inscriptions Graffiti and unauthorised signage

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