The use of relational databases in epigraphy: a case study

The study of an abundant number of inscriptions leads to the conception of schemas and forms that can be organized into databases. This procedure allows us to arrange information with precision and to draw data and create connections between them in short time. For this reason, the relational database model has proved to be a valid support, as it makes possible to arrange data and information logically according to pre-established constraints and relationships, reducing errors and repetitions. The aim of this paper is to present an example of the use of a relational database created to catalogue inscriptions and point out positive aspects and difficulties found out during the process. The complexity of this method is mostly related to making choices about entities and identifying relationships between them; another obstacle is connected to the complexity of inscriptions as group of words and formulae. Nevertheless, the relational database allows the researcher to mix up data and information and create new relations between them using SQL operators. The software used for the case study that will be present in this paper is an open source administration and platform pgAdmin (for PostgreSQL).