Introduction
Graffiti is an important source of material evidence through which archaeologists can learn about cultural identities and ideas. The tradition of graffiti goes back to ancient Greece and Rome, if not earlier (Baird & Taylor 2010). One of the renowned characteristics of Pompeii and Herculaneum is the wealth of political slogans and bawdy statements that are inscribed on the walls of buildings, both inside and outside (Benefiel 2010; UNESCO 2013). In contemporary societies, graffiti is widely perceived as undesirable and labeled as “vandalism” and often connected with feelings of adrenaline (O’Doherty 2012).
Archaeologists investigate the nexus of technique, form, and content of this visual culture to extract uncensored, uninstitutionalized information about attitudes toward social, political, religious, and ideological issues. Graffiti is a continuation of the landscape-marking and mark-making communication practices that have been used by humans for at least 40,000 years....
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Ralph, J. (2014). Graffiti Archaeology. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_551
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