At the Cutting Edge of Identity: Re-Examining the Craft Imagery of Tomb 29 from the Isola Sacra Necropolis, Ostia

Abstract

Since Guido Calza first published the results of his excavations at the Isola Sacra necropolis at Ostia, Tomb 29 has been identified as the tomb of a blacksmith, specifically a ferramentarius who made and sold small tools. Yet the imagery displayed on the tomb presents several key features that suggest this interpretation is inaccurate, despite its continued prevalence. These features, from the contents of the work scenes to the collections of tools that are portrayed alongside them, indicate that this tomb commemorates the identity of a professional sharpener, specifically one that sharpened the tools of other craftsmen working in Ostia and Portus. This reinterpretation reveals a profession that is otherwise absent from the iconography of Roman craftsmen while providing a number of interesting insights into the organization of labour and craft specialization in the Roman world.