P ALLADINO (C.), B ODARD ( G . ) (edd.) Can’t Touch This. Digital Approaches to Materiality in Cultural Heritage. Pp. xvi 244, colour ills. London: Ubiquity Press, 2023. Paper. ISBN:978-1-914481-32-1.Open access

For scholars of the ancient world, which has been dissected for centuries, the presence of the digital in this field is yet a short, albeit well-explored, incursion. Studies involving the digital therefore must adopt a conceptual framework that looks beyond the simple claims to innovation that use of new and not so new technologies have been able to ride for decades. The editors of this volume have taken this challenge seriously. They explain that the work’s overall premise is the relationship between the material and the immaterial aspects of heritage; and it is through this dialogue that the collected chapters consider the impact of the digital on how cultural heritage is disseminated and interpreted.

Numerous projects and publications have previously addressed examples of digital approaches in cultural heritage settings. Digital projects on the Greek and Roman worlds have a decades-long history, with examples such as Rome Reborn first launching in 1996. The digitisation of ancient Greek and Latin texts through initiatives such as the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and the work of the Packard Humanities Institute are even older. In addition, sets of guidelines about cultural heritage and the digital more broadly have been created by different stakeholders over the years, including the London Charter for the Computer-based Visualisation of Cultural Heritage, the Principles of Seville on virtual archaeology and the ReACH declaration on reproduction. These speak to some of the concerns raised by heritage professionals and others, some of which are represented in this volume through discussions on ideas of authenticity, community engagement and accessibility.