Ars Inquirendi 2026 · your paper

The Prevalence of Medieval Capital Goods from Manuscript Illustrations, 800–1600

Eltjo Buringh, with Auke Rijpma (Utrecht University)

Your slot

Strand

Machine-Scale History

Day

Day 2 · Saturday 21 November 2026

Part

Afternoon — exact times to follow

Role

Talk

Participation

In person

Keynote of the strand

Peter Turchin

Abstract

A database of some 75,000 picture descriptions from nearly 11,000 European manuscripts (800–1600), used to estimate the prevalence of medieval capital goods. Deliberately non-LLM, manual-extraction work — the baseline the machine-assisted programmes must beat.

Subjects

Quantitative history & economicsMaps, images & material

What we need from you

Your pre-recorded talk (25 to 60 minutes) by 13 November 2026
Your presence at the live discussion of your strand (date below)

How the conference works

All talks except the live keynotes are pre-recorded and released a week ahead of the conference, by 13 November 2026.

The live sessions are discussions of the pre-recorded talks, held in the room at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and online.

Speakers do not register or pay.

Invitation or visa letters, and accommodation questions: write to arsinquirendi@gmail.com.