Latest version: 2.3.1, Oct 2019. See the Change Log for more details.
Archetype (formerly known as 'The DigiPal Framework') is freely-available generalised software for the online presentation of images with structured annotations and data which allows users to search for, view, and organise detailed characteristics of handwriting or other material in both verbal and visual form. Designed primarily for the palaeographical analysis of handwriting, it was first developed for the Digital Resource and Database for Palaeography, Manuscript Studies and Diplomatic (DigiPal) project, funded by the European Research Council, and has since been extended particularly through the Models of Authority and Exon Domesday projects. Examples of its use include the following:
- Writing in Old English from the eleventh century (DigiPal)
- The palaeography and codicology of the Exon Domesday Book (Exon Domesday/The Conqueror's Commissioners)
- Twelfth-century cursive charters from Scotland (Models of Authority)
- Medieval manuscripts from Visigothic Spain (VisigothicPal)
- Fragments of manuscripts from Scandinavia written in the eleventh century (ScandiPal)
- The decoration and script of fifteenth-century manuscripts in Hebrew from the Iberian Peninsula (SephardiPal)
- Inscriptions in Greek, Latin and both from the province of Thracia (InsPal)
- Inscriptions on medieval coins in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (PIM)
The DigiPal Project formally ended on 30 September 2014, but the code is still being updated and extended as part of the follow-on projects listed above.
For further information on using Archetype please see the GitHub Wiki pages.
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) under grant agreement no. 263751, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under Grant Reference nos. AH/L013975/1 and AH/L008041/1.