Objects and identities in Roman Britain and the north-western provinces

这项研究是关于人工制品在罗马世界的意义，以及人工制品与文化身份表达之间的关系。罗马帝国为这类工作提供了一个极好的但不发达的舞台，因为这是一个考古时期，有非常丰富和出版的人工制品记录。然而，许多关于人工制品的出版工作都是高度描述性的，并且仍然有相当大的不愿意参与理论问题。相反，许多理论文献都是令人沮丧的抽象，与实际的考古数据相去甚远（例如Meskell 2005）。这本书始于2009年，源于我对罗马物质文化的教学，以及通过特定群体探索身份（种族、地域性、性别、宗教）的“大想法”。这本书旨在通过他们使用和留下的人工制品与罗马不列颠人的生活经历进行接触。它将表明，物体对我们理解过去至关重要，可以用来探索身份的相互联系方面。第2章回顾了种族的理论模型，然后探讨了可能表明英国移民和海外英国人存在的人工制品群体的背景和意义。探讨了桶坠等物品的背景、性别和宗教联系，说明了文化认同的其他方面如何与民族认同的表达相互作用。第三章关注的是对异国情调的象征性消费，考察了描绘来自罗马不列颠的非洲人的手工艺品的背景和分布。本章还提供了一个机会来讨论最近关于古代种族主义的工作，并将考古鉴定的起源与最近根据氧和锶同位素确定生物起源的科学工作进行对比。第四章继续了异国情调的消费主题，但重点放在异国情调的材料上，将北方的琥珀和南方的象牙与非常英国的页岩和喷气材料进行对比，这些材料用于生产类似的人工制品。详细的分析实际上表明，这两种外来材料都是通过北意大利的生产和贸易中心进行调解的，但它们在使用方面有所不同。象牙是一种精英材料，没有什么宗教意义。琥珀，很像英国的喷气式飞机，具有特殊的物理（静电）特性，用于制作护身符和珠子。尽管罗马帝国具有统一的特点，但区域传统仍然存在，可能是当地身份的表达，也可能是生产中心和销售区域的反映。第5章使用与身体呈现相关的物品（发夹、胸针、腰带配件和厕所器具）来探索区域分布的意义。最后，第六章问是否存在等同于高水平“罗马化”的对象？例如，写作的人工证据有多普遍？有些物品（如十字弓胸针）长期以来被认为反映了特定的身份（男性，精英，军队和城市，官方管理），实际上具有非常广泛的分布和复杂的生活史，而其他物品（如灯）来自更有限的背景。本章提出了一种新的方法来绘制人工制品的社会分布，以解决它们的文化意义。总的来说，在这本书中，我的目标是结合理论意识和参与社会和文化认同问题的意愿，以及对罗马北部省份出版良好但未充分利用的物质文化的彻底参与。这是一种创新的方法，应该对学科内外产生重大的国内和国际影响。

This research is about the meaning of artefacts in the Roman world and about the relationship between artefacts and the expression of cultural identities. The Roman Empire offers an excellent but underdeveloped arena for such work, as this is an archaeological period that has a very rich and well-published artefact record. However, much of the published work on artefacts is highly descriptive, and there is still considerable reluctance to engage with theoretical issues. Conversely, much of the theoretical literature is frustratingly abstract and far removed from actual archaeological data (e.g. Meskell 2005). This book, begun in 2009, grew out of my teaching on Roman Material Culture, and a desire to explore 'big ideas' about identity (ethnicity, regionality, gender, religion) through specific groups of objects.This book aims to engage with the lived experiences of people in Roman Britain through the artefacts they used and left behind. It will show that objects are crucial to our understanding of the past, and can be used to explore interlinking aspects of identity. Chapter 2 reviews theoretical models of ethnicity before exploring the context and meaning of groups of artefacts that may indicate the presence of incomers in Britain, and of Britons abroad. The contexts, gender and religious associations of objects such as bucket pendants are explored, illustrating how other aspects of cultural identity may interact with expressions of ethnic identity. Chapter 3 is concerned with the symbolic consumption of the exotic, examining the context and distribution of artefacts depicting Africans from Roman Britain. The chapter also offers an opportunity to discuss recent work on racism in antiquity and contrasts archaeological identifications of origin with recent scientific work defining biological origin on the basis of oxygen and strontium isotopes. Chapter 4 continues the theme of the consumption of the exotic, but focuses on exotic materials, contrasting amber from the north and ivory from the south with the very British materials of shale and jet, which are used for the production of similar artefacts. Detailed analysis actually demonstrates that both exotic materials are mediated through North Italian production and trade centres, but that they vary in terms of their use. Ivory is an elite material with little religious significance. Amber, much like the British jet, has special physical (electrostatic) properties and is used for amulets and beads.Despite the unifying aspects of the Roman Empire, regional traditions persisted, be that as an expression of local identities or reflecting production centres and marketing zones. Chapter 5 uses objects associated with bodily presentation (hairpins, brooches, belt fittings and toilet instruments) to explore the meaning of regional distributions.Finally, Chapter 6 asks whether there are objects that equate to high levels of 'Romanisation'? How widespread is artefactual evidence for writing, for example? Some objects (such as cross-bow brooches) long thought to reflect specific identities (male, elite, military and urban, official administration) in fact have a very wide distribution and complicated life histories, while others (such as lamps) come from much more restricted contexts. The chapter proposes a new methodology for mapping the social distributions of artefacts to address their cultural significance. Overall, in this book I aim to combine theoretical awareness and a willingness to engage with questions of social and cultural identity with a thorough engagement with the well-published but underused material culture of Rome's northern provinces. This in an innovative approach, and should have significant national and international impact on the discipline and beyond.