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

这项研究是关于文物在罗马世界中的意义，以及文物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但不发达的场所，因为这是一个考古时期，有非常丰富的和出版良好的人工制品记录。然而，许多已发表的关于文物的工作都是高度描述性的，仍然有相当大的不情愿参与到理论问题中。相反，许多理论文献抽象得令人沮丧，与实际考古数据相去甚远(例如，Meskell 2005)。这本书始于2009年，源于我对罗马物质文化的教学，以及通过特定对象组探索身份认同(种族、地域性、性别、宗教)的愿望。这本书旨在通过罗马不列颠人使用和留下的手工艺品来了解他们的生活经历。它将表明，物体对于我们对过去的理解至关重要，可以用来探索身份的相互关联的方面。第二章回顾了民族性的理论模型，然后探索了可能表明移民在英国和英国人在国外存在的文物群体的背景和意义。探讨了诸如桶吊坠等物品的背景、性别和宗教联系，说明了文化认同的其他方面可能如何与种族认同的表达相互作用。第三章是关于异国情调的象征性消费，考察了来自罗马英国的描绘非洲人的文物的背景和分布。本章还提供了一个机会，讨论最近关于古代种族主义的工作，并将考古来源鉴定与最近根据氧和锶同位素确定生物来源的科学工作进行对比。第四章继续讨论对异国情调的消费，但重点是异国情调的材料，将来自北方的琥珀和来自南方的象牙与用于生产类似文物的非常英国的页岩和翡翠材料进行对比。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节的，但它们的使用情况有所不同。象牙是一种精英材料，几乎没有宗教意义。琥珀与英国喷气式飞机非常相似，具有特殊的物理(静电)特性，用于制作护身符和珠子。尽管罗马帝国有统一的方面，但地区传统仍然存在，无论是作为一种地方身份的表达，还是反映生产中心和销售区。第五章使用与身体表现相关的物品(发夹、胸针、腰带配件和厕所用具)来探索地区分布的意义。最后，第六章询问是否存在等同于高度罗马化的物品？例如，书写的人工事实证据有多普遍？有些物品(如十字弓胸针)长期以来被认为反映特定身份(男性、精英、军事和城市、官方管理)，事实上，它们的分布非常广泛，有着复杂的生活史，而其他物品(如灯)则来自更有限的背景。本章提出了一种新的方法来绘制文物的社会分布图，以解决它们的文化意义。总体而言，在这本书中，我的目标是将理论意识和参与社会和文化认同问题的意愿与全面参与罗马北部省份出版良好但未得到充分利用的物质文化结合起来。这是一种创新的方法，应该对该学科及其以外的学科产生重大的国家和国际影响。

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.