I will describe the elements of a shape language for 2D and 3D objects, and illustrate its potential in particular in the field of archaeology. This early version of a shape language builds on the work and collaboration from the fields of Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computational Geometry, Visual Perception, Arts and the Humanities. It is based on a representation for shapes taking the form of graphs, called "shock graphs" in 2D and "shock scaffolds" in 3D. These incorporate ideas from well-known concepts such as the "medial axis" of H. Blum (pattern recognition), Voronoi diagrams and recent results from Singularity theory. I will illustrate the use of theses graphs in various applications, with a focus on the field of archaeology, which is supported by an on-going collaboration with Brown University's Archaeology group and their internationally re-known work at the site of the Great Temple of Petra, Jordan.

Useful Links:

http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/morpholingua/
http://www.lems.brown.edu/shape/
http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~ffl/

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