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Keywords: Games, digital games, learning, epigraphy, NTIC.

This proposal deals on using interactive games to reinforce knowledge of Epigraphy; more precisely, to reinforce knowledge of epigraphical abbreviations, helped by the New Technologies of Information and Communication (NTIC).

Epigraphy is a scientific discipline of Humanities focused on studying old exposed written inscriptions (or epigraphs). The inscriptions have frequently abbreviations, which must be expanded to understand the written message, task which use to be complicated for university students. This difficulty is understandable, particularly when they are only a few Epigraphy lessons at University each year.

There are some systems for learning how to expand abbreviations. The best and most natural way to learn it is to read a large number of epigraphs with abbreviated formulae, but this is difficult to reach during a short academic year. Another system to know how to expand abbreviations is to learn by heart, memorizing them in an old-fashioned study style… where information use to be early forgotten. A third system to reinforce learning abbreviations is proposed here: playing games.

Games are great to acquire knowledge. Virtues of Games had been remarked by many famous thinkers such as Schiller, Spencer, Wundt, Huizinga, and of course by some pedagogues as Piaget, Thorndike, Vigotsky, Elkonin, Skynner or Brunner. But, as far as I know, games are not very well received at the university study programmes.

Play games can be very useful to learn serious matters. Games help to accelerate maturation of aptitudes, especially with a digital appearance that provides of a relaxing framework that reduce academic stress.

In the field of Epigraphy, play games can be very productive to consolidate knowledge of expanding Latin abbreviations, due to the fact that they are repeated frequently in many different epochs in History. Sometimes the same abbreviations have been used from the times of Roman Empire to Early Modern Age. For example, in funeral contexts as tombstones, some abbreviations were typically repeated, such as:

- HI: H(ic) I(acet), that means too “here lies”.

-STTL: S(it) T(ibi) T(erra) L(evis), meaning “may the earth rest lightly on you”.

- HSE: H(ic) S(itus) E(st) if male, H(ic) S(ita) E(st) if female, that means “here lies”.

- RIP: R(Requiescat for singular, Requiescant for plural, Requievit for third. person past singular) I(n) P(ace), which means “may he or she rest in peace”.

Games and didactic activities use to attract attention of students, and even more if they have a digital format. On that respect, Digital Humanities have achieved wonderful success creating interactive online exercises about old writings. They present a playful appearance, even when they are not games. But, as far as I know, almost all that exercises are related with Palaeography, not with Epigraphy. Only the Medieval Handwritting web (http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/writing.htm) has a few didactic activities about one epigraph, a Latin inscription on a 15^th century brass funerary memorial from Harpam (Yorkshire). Is the last exercise (going to the left column on “Palaeography exercises”). It has some options quoted bellow (from left to right) with some interactive exercises (in italics): “overview”, “text”, “alphabet”, “abbreviations”, “date”, “exercises”, “transcript” and “translation”.

As may be seen, interactive exercises with a playful appearance are quite few on the epigraphic panorama, and even more compared with the existence of hundreds of palaeographical didactic activities.

To fill this gap minimally I have made some epigraphical games or joyful activities helped by NTIC. I have used Educaplay, a platform that allows to create free games or learning exercises, which I have hosted in a WordPress blog called Epiteca, a virtual playroom of Epigraphy (https://epiteca.wordpress.com/). It is possible to play crosswords, interactive puzzles and alphabet soups. It has the aim of reinforce knowledge of epigraphical abbreviations. The same blog provides some theory about epigraphy and abbreviations, in case anyone has curiosity and wants to read about it.

When can teachers, students, amateurs or curious people play that games? In several occasions. I strongly recommend the lasts moments before finishing a class, when pupils are tired. A changing activity will be received as a kind of rest. In addition, students can play at home, in the spare time.

 

To conclude let me say “game” should not be a forgotten word at the University. Games can be used to im