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

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.

In addition to the academic audience (discussed above), the book will be relevant to a popular audience. There is considerable interest in Roman objects, but most catalogues are too detailed and specialised for the general reader. This book provides a more wide ranging discussion of how objects can be used to understand identities.
The results will also be of interests to professionals in the museum sector tasked with explaining and displaying artefacts to the general public. The book should be relevant to finds specialists working in commercial archaeological units and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Research on this project has already highlighted the highly dispersed nature of publications on Roman artefacts, which together with the age profile of small finds specialists in Britain, raises serious problems for current and future generations of Roman artefact specialists. I am currently planning a handbook of Romano-British objects (to be published in 2015) and this and the more contextual volume proposed here should have considerable impact on training professionals working in the field of Roman archaeology.