Roman Cyborgs! On Significant Otherness, Material Absence, and Virtual Presence in the Archaeology of Roman Religion

A groundbreaking approach to digital archaeology reveals how post-human philosophies and expanded virtuality concepts can reshape our understanding of Roman religion and heritage. By analyzing the material absence and virtual presence of an absent temple in Rome, this study demonstrates that digital technologies can create non-human experiences, offering new perspectives on human-object-divine relations in Roman cults. This work-in-progress project challenges traditional functionalistic methods, suggesting that digital archaeology can serve as a tool to re-examine and reinvent notions of the human, the past, and the digital within a post-humanist framework.

Mol, E. (2019). Roman Cyborgs! On Significant Otherness, Material Absence, and Virtual Presence in the Archaeology of Roman Religion. European Journal of Archaeology, 23(1), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2019.42