Graffiti, Calliglyphs and Markers in the UK

Graffiti is a commonplace in the modern world but it is easy to project the concept of illegal graffiti into the past. Writing on walls in previous historical periods is discussed and as most was not illegal the concept of ‘calliglyphs’ is introduced to allow historic writing or drawings on walls or objects to be studied in context. The article then proposes the word ‘marker’ as a concept to define wider forms of personal expression and the human imprint in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century landscapes. A framework for markers is outlined based upon the concepts of permission and tolerance.