Font Metrology of the Wedge Three-dimensional Analysis of Wedges and Manuscripts

Cuneiform script is normally studied by means of two dimensional images, whether hand copies or photographs. The paper aims at exploring the potential of modern 3D data processing and analysis technologies to enhance the analysis of cuneiform script, focusing on its basic element, the wedge. In order to establish a consistent terminological framework for the description of its components, the wedge is considered primarily in its idealized geometrical form, the tetrahedron. The factors that contribute to determine the actual shape of wedge impressions are subsequently singled out and discussed in detail. Finally, the results of an experimental analysis conducted on the wedges' inner angles of six Hittite tablets are presented, being only the 'thin edge of the wedge', in order to illustrate the potential of 3D techniques for script analysis and handwriting identification within cuneiform studies.