Digital Humanities and Physics Applied to the Study of Cultural Heritage Objects: The Case of Ex-votos

Abstract

Several humanities research increasingly assumed the usage of computational technologies in different stages of their work. In this sense, these types of tools could generate theoretical, methodological and institutional issues that should be discussed. The aim of this paper is to present some initial reflections on the use of computer technologies in research in the field of Philology, more precisely with ex-votos (Latin ex-voto suscepto ‘the vow/promise made’) from the 18th and 19th centuries. Using certain technologies, it is possible to access the deepest layers – those that are not visible to the naked eye – of documentar sources and thus produce a more complete edition that is more faithful to the original. The work of Paixão de Souza [1, 2] is used as a theoretical point of view.