Roman Small Finds

Focusing on perishable materials is one of the reasons why our recent knowledge of ancient Roman furniture is limited. Besides figurative (wall paintings, reliefs) and literary sources, or splendid luxury furniture made of marble or bronze, there are further small finds which can give us information. They are often less observed at sites like Pompeii, because the excavations have not traditionally focused on these kinds of materials, with more spectacular finds receiving greater attention.
The Insula of the Menander (I, 10) at Pompeii, however, represents an exception to this rule. Compared to other insulae, the small finds are well documented. Here it is possible to gather different types of small finds and fragments together, for example fulcra, table-legs and stool attachments and from them gain a better understanding of ancient interior fittings. In addition to linking the small finds to particular pieces of furniture, this contribution will deal with the question of aesthetic and semantic interconnections between these objects and their function or use.

The article is devoted to the publication of details of Roman military equipment from Chersonesos (Crimea, Ukraine) excavation. This city is the most eastern point on the territory of Europe, where a garrison of Roman Army had been staying for several centuries. Forces to protect a town allied to the Empire were detached from the army in the province of Lower Moesia. The history of a Roman garrison is sufficiently well- known owing to the monuments of Latin epigraphy but up to nowadays material evidences of the Romans' presence in the city have not been examined. 135 details of Roman military equipment are collected in this publication. The overwhelming majority of things occurs from excavation of the end of 19 - the beginning of 20 centuries. The information on circumstances of detection of these things is now lost. A lot of finds come from the excavations of the city necropolis. A significant part of things are included in the list of four burials. Another part represents separate finds. Military belts constitute absolute majority of the details of Roman ammunition from Chersonesos. It can be explained by the fact that often belts, in particular, were a part of Roman burial equipment in Chersonesos. Against a background of predominance of details of military costume, fragments of armament are few in number.
Chronological distribution of the details cover the period of the 1st — the beginning of the 5th centuries. Overwhelming majority of things date back to the second half of the 2nd - the first half of the 3rd centuries. Just in this period Roman military presence in Chersonesos reached its maximum. Small quantity of details dated back to the period up to the mid-2nd and after the mid-3rd centuries demonstrates that Romans' presence was not a large scaled one. Epigraphic data testify to this fact.
Chersonesos collection demonstrates close links between military ammunition of this remote garrison and materials from military camps on the territory of the Roman Empire. Roman military ammunition from Chersonesos show the best correlation to the traditions of appearance spread in the Roman army. Many details from Chersonesos extend the geography of finds known on the territory of the Empire being the most eastern ones. Chersonesos materials are of undoubted interest from the point of view of comparing Roman military ammunition on different territories. To a certain extent they fill up the gap in research of Roman military artifacts in the eastern part if the Roman Empire.

Ploughzone or ploughsoil archaeology is not a new concept in the discipline however traditionally it has concentrated on fieldwalking for its main source of information. The large body of data created by metal detector users and recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme provides the opportunity to address the concept of ploughzone archaeology through non-surface yet out-of-context artefact type and distribution analysis. Two large metal detecting rallies in the Vale of the White Horse district, Oxfordshire UK, afforded the opportunity to evaluate the development of a small study area by plotting the distribution of finds chronologically, using a landscape-based approach but on a localised scale. The study highlighted the potential of such data by taking a broad-brush approach to artefact distribution through all metal-producing periods, focussing on the Roman period more than others. When collected systematically and recorded accurately, metal detecting data can highlight varying levels of activity in a landscape. In this study artefact concentrations have revealed new areas of archaeological interest while artefact dispersal appears indicative of farming strategies.
Poster presented at LAC2014 in Rome.

Acoustic and visual signaling is one of the vital elements for the functioning of an army. This volume presents  the first approach of this subject for the Roman army since the works of A. von Domaszewski (from the end of the 19th century). The geographic (the provinces of the former Roman Empire, from Italy to Britannia and from Spain to Egypt) and the chronological frames (1st century BC to 4th century AD) as well as the holistic investigation of the ancient sources regarding the categories of underofficers in the Roman army called generically musicians and standard bearers are the main coordinates of the book.
The three constitutive parts are: studies on terminology, function and rank in the Roman army and the iconography of the two categories of soldiers, the catalogues of the investigated sources (inscriptions, representations, finds of musical instruments and standards) and the illustrative part.
The novelty is given both by the synthesis of the existing information on the Roman military musicians and standard bearers and by the study of their depictions and of the archaeological finds of musical instruments and
standards, many of them yet unpublished.

Dit artikel is tot stand gekomen als een samenvatting van mijn master thesis. Het bevat een overzicht van de fibulae die gevonden zijn in de zuidwest hoek van het castellum van Oudenburg (opgraving Oudenburg-Spegelaere). Deze vondsten worden in een breder kader geplaatst door een vergelijkende studie. Bovendien wordt er specifiek ingegaan op de kruisboogfibulae (drieknoppen) aangetroffen in zowel het fort als het grafveld (opgravingen Mertens).

This notice is devoted to the study of Roman archaeological material (coins, harness applique, bust of silene, key) discovered during prospecting carried out on a field in Tertre (Belgium, Hainaut). In addition, there is a remarkable purse holder and a rare post-medieval nail cleaner.

Higelin 2015 : HIGELIN (M.). — Des objets racontent la vie quotidienne à Brumath à l’époque romaine. In : SCHNITZLER (B.) dir. — Brumath-Brocomagus. Capitale de la cité des Triboques, Éditions des Musées de Strasbourg (Fouilles récentes en Alsace, tome 9), Strasbourg, 2015, p. 154-163.

Ce mémo décrit une technique (aussi simple que possible) pour photographier des objets archéologiques. Nous indiquerons pour commencer le matériel nécessaire, puis les questions d’installation et d’éclairage, de documentation, d’orientation, de calage, avant de vous envoyer au mémo suivant sur le Traitement d’image.

This is a synthetic chapter which introduced all of the small finds reports written for the various excavations at Catterick between 1958 and 1997. It attempts to bring them together to cast light on the lives of the people who lived there during the Roman period when at various times it was occupied as a fort, a vicus and a small town. It is the article which sets out why one individual found buried at the Bainesse site might have been a gallus, a transvestite priest of the goddess Cybele.

When the book was published this last section attracted a considerable amount of attention in the media and a certain amount of somewhat hostile comment from the scholarly community.  If you are interested in my reaction to that see Cool, H. 2002 ‘The Catterick Gallus’ Lucerna no. 24, 18-21.

Cool, H.E.M. 2002. ‘An overview of the small finds from Catterick’, in Wilson, P.R. 2002. Cataractonium Roman Catterick and its Hinterland.  Excavations and Research, 1958-1997. Part II. (CBARR 129, York), 24-43.

In this contribution is examined the archaeological evidence provided by finds of militaria (soldiers' personal equipment and related materials) to indicate the presence of the Late Roman military in the Verona territory; these evidences are linked to the historical, epigraphical and numismatical sources.

Zusammenfassung: Der Artikel fasst die Entwicklungen in der Auswertung der Kleinfunde aus römischen Thermen und Bädern der römischen Nordwestprovinzen kurz zusammen und erläutert die Schwierigkeiten, die sich aus der oft komplizierten Stratigraphie und dem Aufbau der Kontexte ergeben.
L'article résume brièvement l'évolution de la recherche concernant le mobilier découvert dans les thermes des provinces nord occidentales de l'empire romain et explique les difficultés qui résultent de stratigraphies et taphonomies souvent complexes.
Schlüsselwörter: Römische Periode, Thermen und Bäder, Kleinfunde, soziale Bedeutung, Stratigraphie, Taphonomie, medizinische Instrumente.

In Haltern am See, an Augustan necropolis, which is without precedent regarding its dating and architectural unity, had been discovered during the years 1982 to 2008. For historical reasons, the construction of the tombs could only have taken place in the short period from approximately 7 to 5 BC until no later than 16 AD. Up to the present day, no other such chronologically defined Augustan cemeteries have become known from the territory of the Empire. The systematic recording of the finds and data, carried out by the department of Classical Archaeology at the University of Trier in cooperation with the LWL-Archaology for Westphalia and supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation), provided results which were not expected when submitting the project proposal. The most important discoveries shall be presented here. The burials and tombs of Haltern follow the tradition of the graves and tombs known from Italic roads of tombs. The Roman tombs in Haltern are part of a characteristic Italic burial culture in the midst of a completely foreign cultural region. A maximum of only 23 years had been dedicated to the construction of the necropolis and the space for the individual tombs was not limited. Nevertheless, it must be stated that we can distinguish between at least three, if not four, different time periods for the construction of the individual graves. The intentional destruction of tombs and superstructures of individual tomb installations is an indication for this. It will probably only be possible to attribute these findings to historical reasons which are related to the Augustan German Wars. Numerous finds of used weapons and weapon parts which had been found in the excavation area and which did not originate from the tombs seem to prove it. The examination of all the cremation remains shows that this necropolis was indeed not exclusively a military cemetery, but women and children, i.e. civilian individuals, had also been buried here. The burial objects of the individual funerals are not as significant as to be able to suggest the gender of the entombed corpse. However, it seems to be the case that remains of Roman dining sofas (klinai) are only found in masculine tombs. In total, approximately 30 different types of couches can be identified from the find material, out of which about 15 sofas can be assigned to individual burials. These dining sofas are pieces of the everyday used furniture on which the dead were burned. This custom could be observed above all in central Italy and in the southern Gaul during the Augustan time. The space that was needed for such a piece of furniture was so large that this exceeded the possibilities of a " simple " legionary by far. Thus, it is likely that the owners might have belonged to the better-off category of Romans in Haltern. These results require further considerations about the real role and meaning of the Roman sites in Haltern in conjunction with Augustus' German Wars. The relicts of the aforementioned couches are bone carvings with burn marks of a greater or lesser degree. Mostly, only a few pieces of these could be rescued from the burials. Yet, from one of the graves much more than 60 % of the bone carvings were retrieved. In order to obtain a clear impression of the furniture item of Haltern, the LWL-Archeology for Westphalia in cooperation with the University of Trier, department of Classical Archaeology, decided to

Recent finds from Grad near Šmihel pod Nanosom, have shed a new light on an assemblage of Roman republican weapons excavated at this site as early as ca. 1890. In the Notranjska region, Roman weapons and parts of military equipment are known from several fortified settlements / hillforts. Nadleški hrib in the valley of Loška dolina harbours the remains of a Roman camp. This paper examines the materials from these sites and identifies Roman military presence through several periods, from 2nd century BC until the Late Roman period.

L’une des principales difficultés pour naviguer dans une base de données est d’arriver sur la bonne page : sur Artefacts, cela consiste à trouver l’ensemble de pages, puis la page que l’on recherche précisément. Ce mémo indique les différentes méthodes disponibles pour un utilisateur débutant, ou avancé, pour trouver le plus rapidement possible la page souhaitée.

This monograph is the first in-depth examination of articulated Roman plate armour since H. Russell Robinson published his ground-breaking reconstructions of lorica segmentata in The Armour of Imperial Rome. With detailed discussion of all the significant evidence (including previously unpublished material), the book looks at each of the principal types, using photographs and scale drawings of original finds, alongside full-sized physical and specially-prepared computer-generated reconstructions. It examines the origins of this form of armour, its strengths and weaknesses, a wide range of technical details, together with practical aspects relating to its reproduction.

TD du module «Archéologie de l'Objet, du Geste et de la Matière» (AOGM) Depuis les origines les plus anciennes, la fabrication des objets est le critère déterminant de la conscience humaine : certains animaux peuvent utiliser des outils, mais seul l'homme utilise et perfectionne des techniques pour produire des outils de plus en plus sophisti-qués. La maîtrise de ces techniques (technologie) se confond donc avec l'histoire humaine. Chaque culture produit, à l'aide des techniques adaptées auxquelles elle a accès, les objets répondant à une fonction donnée (culture matérielle), fonction qui peut être utilitaire et/ou symbolique. Les archéologues considèrent la culture matérielle comme une source historique significative, compémentaire des sources traditionnelles (littérature, épigraphie...) La technologie permet en théorie de fixer une séquence chronologique (une technique ne peut pas être utilisée avant d'être connue), mais en pratique il peut s'écouler un laps de temps important entre la découverte d'une technique et son application massive. La forme de chaque objet répond théoriquement à une fonction précise (inversement, une même forme ne peut pas être adaptée à des fonctions différentes). Cette adaptation des formes aux fonctions et aux cultures forme la base théorique de l'étude des objets archéologiques. Pour l'archéologue, les objets constituent un lien direct avec les cultures du passé. L'interaction de l'homme avec son environnement se traduit dans des domaines qui s'apparentent à des cercles concentriques : les soins du corps (vêtement, parure...); l'habitat et ses aménagements; l'environnement extérieur et les activités qui s'y déroulent. Bien sûr, certaines activités ont lieu dans le cadre domestique, et les différents domaines n'ont rien d'étanche. Mais on peut poser comme postulat de départ que chaque activité humaine dans ces trois domaines va laisser des traces différentes, susciter la production et l'utilisation d'objets spécifiques. Cette organisation des domaines anthropologiques forme la base théorique du classement des objets archéologiques.

The subject of the present paper is the technical and contextual analysis of nine fibulae from the fortified
site of Ibida (Slava Rusă, Tulcea County), which are arrayed chronologically from the 2nd to the 4th century AD.
These finds, together with other artifacts of the Late Roman fortification, contribute to the uncovering of some
important aspects of daily life in Ibida, in a period about which we know almost nothing.
Typology-wise, the group of finds consist of three strongly profiled fibulae, one Knee fibula, four fibulae
with returned foot, and one Scheibenfibel, in cross. Most of these finds originate from well-defined archaeological
levels, which dating is corroborated by other artifacts. The archaeological materials in question support the presence,
in this area of Moesia Inferior province, of a civilian and/or military settlement during the classical Roman period.
The other brooches are random finds, although one can safely assume that these originate in the same area of the
fortified site of Ibida

In Grabher, G., and Schierl, T. (eds). 2013.  'Relations Abroad'. Innsbruck University.
A type of Romano-British brooch, known as the Wirral brooch, has been identified as forming a specific type with a clearly defined distribution area (the Wirral peninsula in the North-West of England). It is a bow brooch with a panel of chequerboard enamel on the upper section, a headloop and a plain foot. The Portable Antiquities Scheme  has been invaluable in adding to the numbers of brooches of this type known about as it is found mainly in rural areas. The rural distribution highlights the nature of this brooch as a local/native type. The enamelled section stands out as different to the plainer dolphin and Polden Hill types which are most common in this area.

I hope to bring together the various strands of my research to highlight the use of brooches to inform us on some of the links between the different communities and regions within Britain. As well as the core group my study defined two distinct sub-groups, one in Scotland and one within an area termed the ‘Northern Military Zone’. This latter sub-group consists of brooches found on military sites and so stands out from the expected distribution in the rural North West. There were strong trade links between the North West and the military area, as the army required both raw materials and finished products, such as the lead produced in North East Wales and the mortaria made in Wilderspool. The mechanism through which the brooches were distributed to the Northern Military Zone is another aspect I will discuss in this paper. This paper will look at what the Wirral brooch as a regional type can tell us about fashion, brooch manufacture and identity in the rural North West of Britain and how brooches can be a window in many aspects of life in the provinces.

Recent examination of the penannular brooches found in the northern granary at the fort of Birdoswald on Hadrian’s Wall has prompted reclassification of the some of these brooches. The new classifications. are significant, providing further important contextual dating information for the brooch type, which is considered in light of other discoveries of the same brooch type elsewhere in the northern frontier region, notably at South Shields. The contextual evidence suggests that Fowler type E and D7  variant penannular brooches, at least in the northern frontier, can be dated to the last third of the fourth century, making these brooch types key artefacts in identifying strata dating to the final
decades of Roman rule of Britain.

The study of Roman lamps has been undertaken in great length by both D.M. Bailey and Siegfried Loeschcke.  Bailey focuses on Roman lamps that are part of the British Museum’s collection, made both in Italy and the provinces that were part of the Roman Empire (Bailey 1980).  Loeschcke’s examination centers around lamps found at the site of Vindonissa, a Roman legionary camp, located in modern day Switzerland (Loeschcke 1919).  Loeschcke’s respected typology relies primarily on the form of the lamp’s nozzle, discus, and shoulder to provide a date range.  This formal typology is directed towards those in academia, who study Roman lamps and are acquainted with the variety of existing typologies.  Bailey’s organization of lamps is based on decorative scenes, and thus directed towards non-experts, who can easily distinguish different decorative elements from one another.  One surprisingly large category of decoration is erotic scenes.
      This paper examines the genre of erotic decoration that adorned Roman lamps through an examination of both Italian-made and Roman provincial lamps, with an emphasis on the work of Bailey and Loeschcke.  I will address the wide variety of erotic decoration, the relative frequency of various erotic designs, compare their recurrence to non-erotic decorations, what is considered to be erotic adornment, the inspiration for such designs, and what the decoration might suggest about both the owner and the craftsman who made it.
      While Roman lamps vary greatly in decorative motifs, specifically on the discus, Loeschecke’s typology does not rely on the scenes to provide a date range.  With this in mind, this paper will lastly test whether correlations exist between Loeschcke’s typology and subsequent date range with erotic scenes, in hopes to see when erotic lamps flourished during the Roman Empire.

Villa und burgus von Obermendig »Im Winkel« (Lkr. Mayen-Koblenz) im Kontext der römischen Besiedlung des Segbachtals
Im Bereich des Hauptgebäudes der villa »Im Winkel« konnten mehrere Besiedlungsphasen von der Mittellatènezeit bis hin zur Spätantike unterschieden werden. Sehr auffällig ist eine Brandschicht der Zeit um 260-270 im Hauptgebäude. Auf eine Mühlsteinproduktion vor Ort verweisen verworfene Halbfabrikate von Mühlsteinen im Keller des Hauptgebäudes und die Verbreitung von Steinbearbeitungsabfall bis dicht an den Siedlungsplatz. In der Spätantike wurde »Im Winkel« ein burgus als Getreidespeicher errichtet und sein Vorfeld für eine Nutzung als Umschlagplatz mit Drainagen trockengelegt.

Villa et burgus d’Obermendig »Im Winkel« (Lkr. Mayen-Koblenz) dans le contexte de la colonisation de la vallée de Segbach à l’époque romaine
La partie centrale de la villa »Im Winkel« a révélé plusieurs phases d’occupation depuis La Tène moyenne jusqu’à l’Antiquité tardive. Elle présente également une couche d’incendie très marquée, datée de 260/270. Des demi-produits de meules abandonnés dans la cave du bâtiment principal ainsi que des déchets de taille éparpillés jusqu’au bord de l’habitat signalent une production de meules sur place. Dans l’Antiquité tardive, un burgus fut construit à cet endroit en guise de grenier et son glacis fut asséché pour y établir un point d’échanges. (Traduction: Y. Gautier).

With no surprise, this first attempt to produce a survey of Roman Republican military equipment in Gaul reflects the major events which affected Gaul between the late IInd and the mid Ist c. BC. Besides the well-known military campaigns of C. Sextius Calvinus in the Lower Rhône valley in -124/-122 and the Caesar's movements of -58/-52, several other events can have brought some weapons to be buried into the ground during the Late Republic. Must most of the available finds can be associated with well-known events, such as the fights against Massalia supporters (oppidum de La Cloche, 49BC) and of course the Alesia siege-works. With several finds of swords, sling-shots (sometimes inscribed), helmets and cuirass fragments, Gaul remains of of our major sources of information on Roman Late-Republican equipment and weaponry.