Overview

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.

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9780198785262

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Reviews

the book excellently demonstrates how small finds can be brought together to offer bigger insights into Roman society. Current Archaeology

[Roman Artefacts and Society] is an excellent and innovative piece of work, highlighting how a new emphasis on function and design can offer profound insights into ancient practices and behaviours. S. offers a nuanced discussion of continuity and change, elite and non-elite experiences and both the success and failure of cultural transmission. * Hella Eckardt, Britannia * This thought-provoking book ... is better suited to advanced students and researchers with some experience in material studies ... Swift's study allows us to draw wider conclusions about the society of the northwestern Roman provinces in general, for instance by charting how artefacts can cement societal prejudice and power-relations or facilitate the performance of new behaviours, document social change, and record differences in the experience of life for people of different ages, genders and classes. As to the affordances of the book itself, the appendices are clearly set out; many artefacts are pictured, while many others (or similar representatives) can be easily found on the site of the Portable Antiquities Scheme; and I could not fault the editing. * Stefanie Hoss, Bryn Mawr Classical Review * The book is closely argued and highly technical. All items (well-illustrated in the book) have been subjected to an intense and detailed scrutiny, often involving the examination and measurement of features never previously taken into account e.g. the wear on the inside of a finger-ring. Practising craftsmen have also been consulted. * Peter Jones, Classics for All * the book excellently demonstrates how small finds can be brought together to offer bigger insights into Roman society. * Current Archaeology * Offering a fresh approach to Roman material culture studies. The book explores the unexpected, social inspired twists and turns in the life of Roman objects. It leaves the reader with a good introduction to what is a detail-orientated topic. It will be of value to anyone who enjoys closely examining Roman artefacts. * Matthew Fittock, Current World Archaeology *

Author Information

Ellen Swift is Reader in Archaeology at the University of Kent. She studied archaeology at University College London where she took her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. She has published widely on Roman artefacts, Roman and late antique art, and the late to post-Roman transition period in the West, contributing innovative approaches. She held a Leverhulme Research Fellowship in 2014-15 and is currently co-director of the University of Kent's Centre for Late Antique Archaeology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and Secretary to the Roman Research Trust. Her major publications include Style and Function in Roman Decoration: Living with Objects and Interiors (2009, Ashgate).

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