Publishing tends to be a case of “gradually, then suddenly” to appropriate Hemingway memorable line in The Sun Also Rises. This project has been gradually wending its way through production over the last 18 months and is suddenly almost ready for release!

The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota is very happy to provide a preview of our next publication: Visualizing Votive Practice: Exploring Limestone and Terracotta Sculpture from Athienou-Malloura through 3D Models by Derek B. Counts, Erin Walcek Averett, Kevin Garstki, and Michael Toumazou.

As the dramatic cover suggests, this isn’t an ordinary book. The authors combine a thoughtful analysis of votive limestone and terracotta sculpture from the sanctuary of Malloura on Cyprus, a select catalogue of these objects, and integrated 3D images both embedded in the PDF and linked to Open Context, a dynamic (and archival) linked-data digital publishing platform. 

In other words, this book provides a window in the ancient sanctuary, votive practice, and a collection of sculpture documented through structured light scanning and made available as linked-open data. It will be available as a free, open access, peer-reviewed, monograph.

I know this is a mouthful, so perhaps the best way to understand this project is to go and download the introduction and a preview of the catalogue. To make full use of the 3D PDF technology, which allows you to interact with the 3D scan right on the page, you’ll need to download (for free) Adobe Acrobat Reader.