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Long undervalued as products of lower-class culture, graffiti often reflect literacy and can be associated even with elite groups, including ancient Egyptian priests and European nobles.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/historical-graffiti-the-state-of-the-art/137496/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/historical-graffiti-the-state-of-the-art/137496.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aria","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-08-22",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main purpose of the article on historical graffiti?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It provides an overview of the current state of research on wall graffiti projects and approaches across historical periods.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the article describe the value of graffiti as sources?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It presents graffiti as useful evidence in multiple contexts, such as documenting transactions, guiding pilgrimage trails, supporting building dating, and preserving names tied to historical events.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What patterns in graffiti are emphasized by comparing different time periods?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Most inscriptions are described as name tags combined with specific identity markers that could represent their authors and sustain symbolic presence connected to a place.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},137496,1787411884,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":118,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":104,"preview_page_count":4},2336464648322,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2200025388227c56fec?_k=1778556882303663488","JEMS -Journal of Early Modern Studies  \nFirenze University Press [www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems](www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems)  \nCitation: P. Lohmann (2020)  \nHistorical Graffiti: The State of the Art. Jems 9: pp. 37-56. doi: doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/](http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/)[ ](http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/)JEMS-2279-7149-11189  \nCopyright: © 2020 P. Lohmann. This is an open access, peerreviewed article published by Firenze University Press ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[oajournals.fupress. net/index](oajournals.fupress. net/index) . php/bsfm-jems) and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial - No derivatives 4.0 International License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited as specified by the author or licensor, that is not used for commercial purposes and no modifications or adaptations are made.  \nData Availability Statement:  \nAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.  \nCompeting Interests: The Author(s) declare(s) no conflict of interest.  \nHistorical Graffiti The State ofthe Art  \nPolly Lohmann  \nInstitut für Klassische Archäologie, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (\u003Cpolly.lohmann@uni-heidelberg.de>)  \nAbstract  \nThe article summarises the current situation in relation to projects and approaches to the study of wall graffiti from all periods of history, referring particularly, but not exclusively, to the conference ‘Historical Graffiti as Sources, Munich, 20-22 April 2017’. It argues that graffiti act as valuable sources in a variety of ways and a multitude of contexts – e.g. recording business transactions in the Roman town of Virunum, following the trails of medieval pilgrims, offering a terminus ante quem for the construction of a building, or passing down the names of prisoners killed in the Gestapo prison in Cologne. The comparison of ancient, medieval and modern graffiti shows that the majority of such inscriptions consist of name tags often combined with specific identity markers. They could function as representatives of their authors and guaranteed a longer lasting symbolic presence in, or in connection to a place. Long neglected as supposedly products of the lower classes, graffiti seem rather to have been made by members of society who possessed at least basic literacy; and to have often been left even by the élite of a given society, including ancient Egyptian priests and medieval/early modern European nobles.  \nKeywords: Epigraphy, Graffiti, Materiality, Memory, Pompeii  \n1. Introduction: Leaving Marks on Walls  \nLeaving one’s mark on a wall seems to reflect a desire as old as humankind. Whether names (tags), hand prints, portrait sketches, coats of arms or professional symbols, personal identifiers – though differing in type and technique – have come to us from all periods of time. The earliest such identifiers are negative hand prints made in prehistoric times (figure 1),1 whilst  \n1 García-Diez etal. 2015. I would like to thank Raffaella Sarti for inviting me to take on both the honour and challenge of representing German-speaking graffiti scholars at the conference Pietre, castelli e palazzi da leggere nell’Europa medievale e moderna, 15-17 May 2017 at the Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, and to outline the ‘state ofthe art’ of graffiti scholarship for the present issue of  \nISSN 2279-7149 (online)  \n[http://www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems](http://www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems)[ ](http://www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems)2020 Firenze University Press  \n38 polly lohmann  \nthe earliest examples of what we consider to be actual graffiti date back to Pharaonic Egypt (Old Kingdom).2 Although historical graffiti largely consist of names and the ubiquitous message that ‘so-and-so was here’, they offer posterity much more than just this and preserve personal messages, love letters, reports of business transactions and local events, individual experiences, wordplay, poems, alp","cbCaiuWer6Q48keZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuWer6Q48keZ","pdf",1076637,"English","# Introduction: Leaving Marks on Walls","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the article on historical graffiti?\",\"answer\":\"It provides an overview of the current state of research on wall graffiti projects and approaches across historical periods.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article describe the value of graffiti as sources?\",\"answer\":\"It presents graffiti as useful evidence in multiple contexts, such as documenting transactions, guiding pilgrimage trails, supporting building dating, and preserving names tied to historical events.\"},{\"question\":\"What patterns in graffiti are emphasized by comparing different time periods?\",\"answer\":\"Most inscriptions are described as name tags combined with specific identity markers that could represent their authors and sustain symbolic presence connected to a place.\"}]","Historical Graffiti - The State of the Art | PDF"]