The age of digital technologies raises the question of paradigm shift in historical disciplines and the adoption of an objectified approach in their methodological tools of analysis and interpretation. The cultural space of ancient Thrace, as an interdisciplinary field combining the scientific results of history, archaeology, numismatics, epigraphy, text criticism, offers a suitable field for debate on how the digital age changes our perception of antiquity and our knowledge, and to what extent.

The aim of the project “Measuring Ancient Thrace” is to start a methodological discussion about the place of the digital technologies and methods of the empirical sciences in the studies of the ancient history of Thrace, on a theoretical and practical level. For its implementation within the project, a web-based database will be developed, which will include data from various sources – ancient narratives, archaeological monuments, epigraphic documents, numismatic data, with a special focus on the results of archaeometric analyses, which are an essential component of the project. Its aim is to build standards in the description of heterogeneous objects, and to provide tools for searching, retrieving and visualizing information. It will be the main analytical tool for an objective approach to the fundamental research performed within the project on several key issues – monuments of cult and religion, experimental numismatic laboratory, metrology, epigraphy, etc. At the same time, its function as an online product will provide wide access and “democratization of the information”, performing two social functions: to promote the building of an international academic network and, on the other hand, to offer the general public an expert scientific view to some debated topics in the field of cultural and historical heritage of ancient Thrace.