Tables and Tabular Organization

The “tables” of this chapter are matrices whose rows and columns are used systematically to arrange and locate bits of data with respect to two parameters. An extensive survey of documents that might have been expected to take tabular form (mathematical and grammatical reference tools) or even appear to be tables (calendars, accounting records) shows that most of them are in fact one-dimensional lists. Modern research has documented the value of tables as a device to think with, but also has shown that their use is less intuitive than might be imagined in a culture (like ours) which is saturated with them. In the Roman world, by contrast, restriction of certain contexts creates a vicious circle, discouraging further use. The contexts in which tables do appear, like those of the related nested list, involve multiple types of cognitive “scaffolding,” particularly the ongoing use and editing of single documents by one or more users over time.