Ellen Victoria Swift

Object Biography, Re-use and Recycling in the Late to Post-Roman Transition Period and beyond: Rings Made from Romano-British Bracelets

Documenting a phenomenon that has previously been overlooked, this article examines the later stages of object biography in relation to Romano-British bracelets, namely, their modification and subsequent re-use as smaller rings. Re-use is shown to occur widely and is particularly associated with the late fourth to early fifth centuries a.d. , with cut-down bracelets also found in early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. The making of smaller rings from late Roman bracelets is demonstrated to be part of a wider phenomenon of re-use, repair and recycling at the end of the Roman period in Britain, with attendant implications of cultural and economic change. It is proposed that the transformation of these artefacts was accompanied by changes in meaning which undermine the apparent continuity that is seen in the extended lifespan of the original object. This in turn illuminates the way that wider cultural norms were gradually eroded in the fifth century. Through the study of these artefacts a new perspective is provided on the transition to post-Roman Britain and the relationship between this and the early Anglo-Saxon period.

Identifying Migrant Communities: A Contextual Analysis of Grave Assemblages from Continental Late Roman Cemeteries

Focusing on late Roman bracelets, and also including other relevant material culture types, this paper brings together an examination of spatial distribution, distribution by site-type, and selected specific burial contexts to investigate provincial Roman material of non-local origin. Using this methodology, it is suggested that migrant communities can be identified at Krefeld-Gellep in the Rhineland — thus demonstrating that this type of multi-layered approach can assist in unravelling the complexity of the surviving evidence. The study also shows that a bias towards military sites/large towns is a distribution pattern typical of material originating from a different area of the Roman Empire.

Dress accessories, culture and identity in the late Roman period

Cette communication envisage certaines des facons dont les accessoires du vetement ont pu etre utilises dans l’Antiquite tardive, en tenant compte du fait que les articles de vetement peuvent etre utilises pour construire les identites plutot que pour les refleter et que leur signification peut changer selon le contexte (par exemple, le contexte chronologique). L’utilisation du contexte archeologique quand on examine la facon dont les accessoires du vetement etaient utilises (en ce cas, dans la sepulure) se revele etre essentiel pour toute enquete sur leur signification et leur emploi dans une societe donnee. La frequence d’un article particulier employe d’une maniere specifique, suggere-t-on ici, montre, premierement, que celui-ci avait une fonction ou un emploi symbolique particulier et, deuxiemement, revele l’existence dans une aire donnee d’un decodage culturel permettant d’identifier les personnes originaires d’un meme groupe culturel. Ces principes sont illustres d’abord en examinant le lien etroit ...

Late-Roman bead necklaces and bracelets

Based on a close study of a substantial number of grave contexts, this article makes a significant contribution to the study of Roman jewellery. It highlights the importance of testing assumptions drawn from literary evidence through the examination of archaeological material. It provides significant evidence for the accurate reconstruction of Roman necklaces, and the spread and customisation of Roman cultural trends in the Western Empire. Finally, it puts forward evidence for a significant correlation between some types of beads and the graves of children, and discusses how this can be interpreted. It moves beyond the usual analysis of Roman jewellery as a high-status signifier to examine in a more nuanced way than hitherto the social functions of Roman jewellery.

Design, function and use-wear in spoons: reconstructing everyday Roman social practice

Recent theoretical approaches to artefacts include object biography, post-colonial theory, globalization, and consumption.1 Using approaches such as consumption theory, the social function of artefacts as possessions and commodities, drawing on the appearance and decorative style of artefacts, has been studied within both archaeology and anthropology.2 Yet the current emphasis on meaning through appearance has meant that the non-functional aspects of artefacts — those which can vary without affecting function, and which are important, for instance, in communicating identity — have been privileged above practical features; as noted by E. Shove,3 the acquisition, rather than the utilisation, of artefacts has dominated theoretical studies.

The Analysis of Reused Material Culture for Late Antique Studies

AbstractThis paper surveys reused and recycled material culture from the Roman period, particularly that found in late antique contexts. While there is a focus on Late/Post Roman material from Britain, examples from wider Late Antiquity are also included. Reuse and recycling is clearly part of normal Roman practice, however particular instances must be evaluated within their specific contexts and the varied motives that exist for reuse behaviour need to be considered. Reuse seems to increase significantly in the late 4th c. onwards in Britain, and this well-documented evidence can most readily be explained firstly in relation to the wider problems with production and distribution systems that led to a collapse in the availability of new durable material culture at the end of the 4th c. and secondly with regard to wider cultural change.

MATERIAL SPATIALITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY: SOURCES, APPROACHES AND FIELD METHODS

Whilst architecture is limited in its ability to provide a basis for past spatial functions, it can still have an important role to play. Visual reconstruction is certainly the most obvious goal of material spatiality, but objects themselves are also freshly illuminated though contextual analysis, as is evident from recent work on Roman artefacts. One of the most widely documented transformations of Late Antiquity is the change in use often found in elite domestic space, in both urban and rural contexts. Field archaeology plays an important role in the reconstruction of the spatial configurations of artefacts. In the eastern Mediterranean the focus of research in most urban excavations is directed to the political heart of the town and its major public buildings, the remains of which are frequently still visible on the surface. Keywords: archaeology; architecture; domestic space; eastern Mediterranean; Late Antiquity; material spatiality; Roman; visual reconstruction

Objects in Context, Objects in Use

This collection of papers, arising from the conference series Late Antique Archaeology, examines material spatiality in late antiquity. Synthetic papers drawing on archaeological, art-historical and textual sources, are complemented by case-studies of sites, an introductory essay, and several bibliographic essays.

CONSTRUCTING ROMAN IDENTITIES IN LATE ANTIQUITY? MATERIAL CULTURE ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER

Following recent theoretical redefinitions of concepts such as ethnic identity, this paper explores the possibility of using archaeological evidence to investigate Roman identities in the 4th to 5th c. western frontier provinces. The difficulties of the evidence and the complexities of studying identity through material culture are discussed. Possible approaches to the archaeological material are illustrated through a case study of the Rhine-Danube frontier in the 4th and 5th c. The use of material culture to create military identities at death for Roman soldiers on the frontier line is discussed, together with an analysis of the relationship of this military culture to subsequent weapon burials, and the use, by Germanic societies, of elite Roman and Byzantine objects to create ruling, martial identities in the 5th c.