Roman Artefacts And Society

In this book, Ellen Swift uses design theory, previously neglected in Roman archaeology, to investigate Roman artifacts in a new way, making a significant contribution to both Roman social history and our understanding of the relationships that exist between artefacts and people. Based on extensive data collection and the close study of artefacts from museum collections and archives, the book examines the relationship between artefacts, everyday behavior, and experience. The concept of "affordances"--features of an artefact that make possible, and incline users towards, particular uses for functional artifacts--is an important one for the approach taken. This concept is carefully evaluated by considering affordances in relation to other sources of evidence, such as use--wear, archaeological context, the end--products resulting from artifact use, and experimental reconstruction. Artifact types explored in the case studies include locks and keys, pens, shears, glass vessels, dice, boxes, and finger-rings, using material mainly drawn from the north-western Roman provinces, with some material also from Roman Egypt. The book then considers how we can use artefacts to understand particular aspects of Roman behavior and experience, including discrepant experiences according to factors such as age, social position, and left- or right-handedness, which are fostered through artifact design. The relationship between production and users of artifacts is also explored, investigating what particular production methods make possible in terms of user experience, and also examining production constraints that have unintended consequences for users. The book examines topics such as the perceived agency of objects, differences in social practice across the provinces, cultural change and development in daily practice, and the persistence of tradition and social convention. It shows that design intentions, everyday habits of use, and the constraints of production processes each contribute to the reproduction and transformation of material culture.

In this book, Ellen Swift uses design theory, previously neglected in Roman archaeology, to investigate Roman artefacts in a new way, making a significant contribution to both Roman social history, and our understanding of the relationships that exist between artefacts and people. Based on extensive data collection and the close study of artefacts from museum collections and archives, the book examines the relationship between artefacts, everyday behaviour, and experience. The concept of 'affordances'-features of an artefact that make possible, and incline users towards, particular uses for functional artefacts-is an important one for the approach taken. This concept is carefully evaluated by considering affordances in relation to other sources of evidence, such as use-wear, archaeological context, the end-products resulting from artefact use, and experimental reconstruction. Artefact types explored in the case studies include locks and keys, pens, shears, glass vessels, dice, boxes, and finger-rings, using material mainly drawn from the north-western Roman provinces, with some material also from Roman Egypt. The book then considers how we can use artefacts to understand particular aspects of Roman behaviour and experience, including discrepant experiences according to factors such as age, social position, and left- or right-handedness, which are fostered through artefact design. The relationship between production and users of artefacts is also explored, investigating what particular production methods make possible in terms of user experience, and also examining production constraints that have unintended consequences for users. The book examines topics such as the perceived agency of objects, differences in social practice across the provinces, cultural change and development in daily practice, and the persistence of tradition and social convention. It shows that design intentions, everyday habits of use, and the constraints of production processes each contribute to the reproduction and transformation of material culture.

When Roman objects and artifacts are properly analyzed, they serve as valuable primary sources for learning about ancient history. This book provides the guidance and relevant historical context students need to see relics as evidence of long-past events and society. Artifacts from Ancient Rome is a unique social history that explores major aspects of daily life in a long-ago era via images of physical objects and historical information about these items. This book also affords "hands-on training" on how to approach primary sources. The author—a historian also trained as an archaeologist—begins by explaining the concept of using artifacts to understand and "see" the past and providing a primer for effectively analyzing artifacts. Entries on the artifacts follow, with each containing an introduction, a description of the artifact, an explanation of its significance, and a list of further sources of information. Readers of the book will not only gain a composite impression of daily life in ancient Rome through the study of artifacts from domestic life, religion, war, transportation, entertainment, and more, but will also learn how to best understand and analyze primary sources for learning.

Delving into the Portable Antiquities Scheme archives to explore 50 finds from Britain's Roman history.

This volume contains a range of papers from a seminar held in Oxford in 2005. What did art in its widest sense mean to them, the Romans, and what might it (or even should it), mean to us? The approach adopted avoids fashionable theory, mainly culled second-hand from the social sciences, and tries to engage directly with material culture.

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Helps the student understand the numerous artefacts from Roman Britain and what they reveal about life in the province.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius" by Samuel Dill. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.