Roman Artefacts Research Articles

Roman White Marbles in Northern Marche Region (Italy): An Archaeometric Provenance Study

Archaeometric investigations were conducted on Roman marble statues, engraved slabs, and memorial bases discovered in various archaeological sites located in the present Marche Region (Italy), including Fanum Fortunae, Pisaurum, and Potentia. These artefacts are currently housed in the Archaeologic Museum of Fano, the Archaeologic Museum of Pesaro, and the Archaeologic Museum of Porto Recanati (Macerata). Spanning from the Republican age to the Severan dynasty and up until the middle of the fourth century AD, these archaeological artefacts attest to the existence of numerous urbanized Roman colonies adorned with monuments and marble decorations. Mineralogical and petrographic examinations, along with C-O stable isotopic and chemical analyses (MgO and Sr), were carried out to both characterize the marble features and determine their provenance. This research aimed to delineate the specific use and distribution of these marbles across different chronological periods. The results indicated that Proconnesian marble was mainly used in the engraved slabs from Fanum Fortunae, with one exception in which Pentelic marble was identified. The sculptures from Fanum Fortunae and Potentia were carved from white marbles, including Lunense and Parian marbles (Parian-1 and Parian-2 types), with limited use of Pentelic and Thasian marbles, notably the Thasian-3 variety. Memorial bases from Pisaurum were identified to be made from Parian, Proconnesian, and Thasianmarbles. The archaeometric provenance of the different marbles was correlated with the archaeological dating of the artefacts to establish a chronological framework describing their use over time. This work provides an opportunity to appreciate Roman artifacts crafted from precious white marbles, which are housed in various museums throughout the Marche Region. The archaeometric investigation offers a significant contribution to the dissemination of knowledge and serves as a valuable tool for the enhancement of this archaeological and cultural heritage, potentially informing policies aimed at promoting geotourism.

'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums

This article evaluates how nationalist narratives affect the display of Roman artefacts in national museums. The unique nature of national museums as 'cultural constitutions' and arbiters of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' is discussed. This article builds upon previous work by demonstrating how nationalist influence affects the display of Roman artefacts, specifically through the use of two case studies: the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Museum displays are assessed for indications of nationalist influence through consideration of the use of space and collection composition as well as textual analysis of gallery signage and artefact descriptions. The two museums' divergent approaches to national narrative are then compared.

The origin of lead artifacts from Novae: applications of Pb isotopes in identifying the provenance of Roman artifacts from N. Bulgaria

AbstractThis study identifies the lead ores used to produce lead artifacts used by the Romans between the first and eighth centuries AD during the construction of the fort and then the town of Novae (N. Bulgaria). For this purpose, lead samples were taken from pipes, joints of columns and pedestals, and from a lead ingot. The samples were analyzed for lead isotopes and the results were compared to literature data for Roman mines from what is now Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Germany, and Romania. Pb isotope results indicate that during the earlier stages of Novae's establishment, lead was most likely supplied from several different mines located in the Balkan area. Several samples also show Pb isotopes indicating mixing of lead from mines in the Balkan area. Then in the fourth—fifth century AD lead began to be supplied mainly from mines located in NW Bulgaria, with one sample possibly from deposits in German. This is evidenced by the matching of the results obtained for the ores to the data for deposits from these regions. Two possibly recycled samples were also identified. Deposits from other European regions did not match samples from Novae, indicating that majority of the lead was sourced from mines in the Balkan region.

The composition of roman metals from Moinho do Castelinho and Quinta da Bolacha (Portugal)

The work involved the elemental characterisation by micro energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of copper-based objects recovered during archaeological works at the neighbouring roman sites of Moinho do Castelinho and Quinta da Bolacha (Lusitania province). The set of 9 artefacts comprised ornaments, tools and implements of different type (fibula, shroud pin, punches, spatula, hook and nail), in addition to small fragments of unknown functionality (a fragmented handle and a small bar). Micro-EDXRF point analyses identified a diversified metallurgy including copper, bronze and leaded bronze, in addition to iron, nickel, arsenic and antimony as minor elements. Furthermore, micro-EDXRF elemental mappings identified the presence of Pb-rich inclusions in the bronze alloys with higher lead content. The composition of these roman artefacts suggests a selection of alloys according to the functionality of the artefact, as evidenced by a nail composed of copper, a handle with a more complex shape made with leaded bronze and a bronze fibula with a higher amount of tin. Finally, the choice of distinct alloys for everyday objects was viewed in the light of technological, symbolic and economic concerns, and compared with the use pattern of roman sites in the western end of the Iberian Peninsula.

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present

To write a history “from antiquity to the present” of classical art or literature (or, worst of all, classicism) is the ultimate nightmare aspiration for a scholar whose colleagues are attentive methodologists. The product, when there is one (which I add because the aspiration can yield paralysis), is always in part an apologetic treatise on historical method. Professor Vout—of Christ's College, Cambridge—apologizes with the first word of her subtitle, A, which stresses that many differing histories may be as valid as her own. The next two words, Life History, imply that her study is unauthorized, conjectural, a bit personal or informal, and reliant to an extent on unconfirmable stories. Her book, she tells readers, is of necessity an arrangement of “fragments” and “a mapping not of facts, but of ways in which Greek and Roman artifacts experience history.” She sets down, moreover, as a rule that “classical” is not “a self-standing category: it is always relational” (which historians of the novel have been telling us for many decades about “realism”).We might expect the result of Vout's axioms to be evenhanded diffidence when treating definitions of the classical, and indeed she entertains even the idea of Jeff Koons—maker of Balloon Venus (Orange) and Gazing Ball (Barberini Faun)—as a classical sculptor. There is, however, one approach that she dismisses out of hand: the obsession of classical humanism with authenticity and its renascence. She objects especially to research into the original conditions of objects and to the application of increasingly intrusive methods of restoring them. As she writes, “ ‘Real knowledge’ comes not from antiquities that have been ripped from their original context, cleaned and reconstituted for display in galleries and glass cabinets. ‘Real knowledge’ comes from antiquities that carry their dirt with them.”What Vout, as a critic of humanism, means by dirt is patina—the residue, interesting and sometimes beautiful in itself, of the use and misuse of objects. Dirt is a word that would occur to a humanist art historian when examining the patina of a Greek or Roman object. Vout's use of the word is a parodic expression of reverse snobbery. When studying changes, whether mistakes or enhancements, in a Greek or Roman document, a humanist literary historian would speak of corruption and edit the corrupt text by means of processes that humanist editors invented and perfected. Despite the humanists’ devotion to the recovery of classical learning, however, once a Renaissance edition of a manuscript was in print, the original, however rare, was often destroyed or lost. In effect, the work was reborn, better than new. Rebirth is not the same as preservation: though both are perhaps conservative (or better, in Ulysses's words, “rere regardant”), a renascence or a resurrection is cataclysmic.The humanist approach to the past can appear unlovable and is certainly arrogant, but it can also inspire awe and gratitude. The work of Michelangelo depended on it, and so (more to the point) did Martin Luther's. Vout's attitude toward dirt (patina, corruption, misprision, insertions, recontextualizations, bowdlerizations, misappropriations, translocations) resembles that of Catholic theologians to the depositum fidei. Restoring the original conditions of the Christian church involved methods of research learned from Renaissance humanists and the removal, often destructive, of the “deposit” or residue or patina that adhered to, distorted, discolored, and obscured the conditions of the “primitive church.” A Roman Catholic may well dislike the processes that Luther set in motion, but imagine a scholarly history of Christianity that mentioned Protestantism only to regret its existence.Still, Vout's reasoning, it seems to me, is more sophisticated in its defense of dirt and in its criticism of restoration than any offered against the Protestants’ reasoning during the Counter-Reformation. Consider, for instance, this inspiring passage: “When the curators at the Munich Glyptothek removed Thorwaldsen's restorations from the Aegina pediments, they did not so much take them back to a pristine state as out of the feedback loop, rendering them damaged goods. It was not a restriction of avenues or a change of direction that was being enacted here, but a refusal to speak the language, or rather an insistence that the only language worth speaking was an academic [humanist, restorationist] one. . . . In 2011, the Glyptothek marked the two hundredth year of the pediments’ discovery by putting new versions of Thorvaldsen's restored figures on display. They had relearned the lingo. For art to be ‘classical,’ it has to know its place in the discourse.” May lingo and feedback loop have successful careers in the lexicon of classical scholarship. “Far from producing a nostalgic narrative,” as Vout informs us, “the lessons learned from looking back ensure that we keep traveling.”

Roman engraved gems from Southeast Asia

In recent years our understanding of ancient maritime networks has evolved significantly. Extensive international joint excavations and a heightened interest in collecting ancient objects among local people have altogether yielded a significant number of Roman artefacts both from Mainland and Island Southeast Asia. Regarding the types of these Roman objects, a quantity of engraved gems bearing western characteristics emerges from the collected materials thereby suggesting recognition and possibly even some degree of appreciation by the local cultures. This paper examines the categories and distribution of Roman engraved gems discovered in Southeast Asia, and aims to show possible imprints on forming evaluation/acceptance of these non-local goods by the receiving cultures.

Archaeometric perspective on the emergence of brass north of the Alps around the turn of the Era

Ancient brass (aurichalcum) was a valued commodity in the Antiquity, notably because of its gold-like appearance. After mastering brass fabrication using the cementation procedure in the first century BC in the Mediterranean, this material became widely used by the Romans for coins, jewellery and other artefacts. Because of its visual qualities, it is believed that since this period, brass played an important role in diplomatic and economic contacts with indigenous communities, notably Celtic and Germanic tribes north of Danube and west of Rhine. To test this hypothesis, we performed for the first time the advanced statistical multivariate analysis based on chemical composition and lead isotope systematics, coupled with informed typo-chronological categorisation, of a suite of late Iron Age and Early Roman period (first century BC – first century AD) brass and other copper-alloy artefacts from the territory of Bohemia. In order to to discuss their provenance, the results were compared to known contemporary sources of material. The new results for brass artefacts from this early phase of the massive occurrence of Roman aurichalcum in the Barbarian territories point to the ore deposits in the western Mediterranean or the Massif Central area in Gaul, consistent with historical events. These new findings underscore the great economic and political importance of the new and rich mineral resources in the Transalpine Gaul acquired due to Caesar's military campaigns.

An innovative approach for provenancing ancient white marbles: the contribution of x-ray diffraction to disentangling the origins of G\xf6ktepe and Carrara marbles

The paper presents a very efficient, quick, low-cost and minimally micro-destructive approach to discriminating between Roman artefacts sculpted with Göktepe (Aphrodisia, Turkey) or Carrara (Apuan Alps, Italy) white marbles by using a standard X-Ray Powder Diffractometer (XRPD) and a refinement of the unit cell parameters and volume of calcite. At present, the routine way of differentiating between these two almost indistinguishable by-eye marbles is based on the typically higher strontium content of calcite in the Microasiatic lithotype, a unique geochemical-crystallographic feature with respect to all other non-Göktepe fine-grained white marbles used in classical times. The XRPD approach has been verified by testing eighteen samples of known composition, nine from Carrara and nine from Göktepe quarries, which had already been analysed with other laboratory techniques. The applicability of the method to archaeological artefacts was confirmed by an archaeometric study performed on some famous Roman sculptures of the National Archaeological Museum of Venice and from Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli. The results show that Göktepe/Carrara discrimination is always possible and that this XRPD approach can potentially become a useful and low-cost routine procedure to solve provenance issues.

An inscribed Roman sarcophagus from Elazığ (eastern Turkey) with an appendix on a Latin military inscription

We present a previously-unknown sarcophagus of the Roman period with a fragmentary and hard-to-decipher inscription in Greek, today exhibited in the grounds of the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Elazığ in eastern Turkey. A personal name can still be deciphered on the front face of the sarcophagus: Menethymes. Elazığ Museum possesses a large collection of archaeological artefacts, especially from the rescue excavations at the höyük (tell or mound) sites in the area of the Keban dam construction in the 1960s and 1970s. The number of Roman artefacts in this museum is c. 100, excluding numismatic finds. This brief paper makes a contribution to the scanty knowledge of Roman-era funerary monuments in eastern Turkey. In the appendix, we also give the text of one of the most important finds at the same museum, a Latin military inscription from AD 64/65 on Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo and the Parthian war.

The Clayton Collection: An Archaeological Appraisal of a 19th Century Collection of Roman Artefacts from Hadrian's Wall. By F.C. McIntosh. British Archaeological Reports British Series 646; Archaeology of Roman Britain 1. Archaeopress, Oxford, 2019. Pp. xiv + 192, illus. Price £38. isbn 9781407321479.

The Clayton Collection: An Archaeological Appraisal of a 19th Century Collection of Roman Artefacts from Hadrian's Wall. By F.C. McIntosh. British Archaeological Reports British Series 646; Archaeology of Roman Britain 1. Archaeopress, Oxford, 2019. Pp. xiv + 192, illus. Price £38. isbn 9781407321479. - Volume 52

The First Cataract Surgeons in the British Isles

To describe the entry of cataract surgery into the British Isles. Handbills, books, and other historical sources were reviewed to determine when cataract surgery was first performed in the region. Roman artifacts suggest that couching was performed in the British Isles in antiquity. Seemingly miraculous cures of blindness during the early Middle Ages might be consistent with couching. However, there is no strong evidence of medieval cataract surgery in the region. Cataract couching probably arrived in England by the 1560s, in Scotland by 1595, in Ireland by 1684, and in Anglo-America by 1751. Before the 18th century, cataract surgery was taught within families, apprenticeships, and mountebank troupes. Beginning in the 17th century, congenital cataract surgery permitted surgeons to tout their skills and to explore visual perception. However, in some cases, such as the couching of the 13-year-old Daniel Dolins by surgeon William Cheselden in 1727, whether the cataracts were truly congenital, and whether vision improved in any way, remain in doubt. Beginning in the 1720s, cataract surgery began to be performed by traditional surgeons in hospitals. However, for most of the century, the highest-volume cataract surgeons continued to be itinerant oculists, including those who performed cataract extraction in the latter half of the century. Cataract surgery might have been performed in Roman Britain. Specific evidence of cataract surgery emerges in the region in the Elizabethan era. Cataract extraction was performed in the British Isles by 1753, but couching remained popular throughout the 18th century. NOTE: Publication of this article is sponsored by the American Ophthalmological Society.

The Presence of Rome in Medieval and Early Modern Britain: Texts, Artefacts and Beliefs. Andrew Wallace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. xviii+248.

<i>The Presence of Rome in Medieval and Early Modern Britain: Texts, Artefacts and Beliefs</i>. Andrew Wallace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. xviii+248.

Borges' Classics: Global Encounters with the Graeco-Roman Past

Borges' Classics: Global Encounters with the Graeco-Roman Past

Writing and Power in the Roman World: Literacies and Material Culture

Writing and Power in the Roman World: Literacies and Material Culture

Római pénzek Jáváról

Studying extra regional trade networks in Antiquity can be considered a relatively popular field of research, but the intensity and patterns of such a complex system still leaves lot of questions unanswered, particularly in the case of Rome’s Far Eastern contacts. Due to the meticulous work of international joint research projects working in East and Southeast Asia followed by a raised interest in collecting ancient objects among local people, an increasing number of Roman artefacts have been discovered in the region. At the same time, one must keep in mind that Roman objects discovered in East and Southeast Asia have different backgrounds, and most cases – due to extensive looting – are lacking an archaeologically secure context. Moreover, it is still less recognized that many of these Roman items can only be considered as quite recent, even modern arrivals thus lacking any connection to ancient networks and interactions. Taking the above considerations into account, the paper not only aims to introduce fourteen Indonesia-discovered Roman and Byzantine coins, but also intends to provide possible explanation(s) on how they ended up in East Java, a region that is terra incognita in regards of Roman studies.

Vitalie Bârca, Notes on the origin and dating of the bone pyxides from the Sarmatian environment between the Don and the Prut

The object of this article is to discuss the bone pyxides discovered in the Sar¬matian graves from the north and north-west of the Black Sea. The study, with¬out being exhaustive, attempts a presentation of the graves where bone pyxides were identified, but also of the cultural environments where similar toiletry piec¬es were used. The conclusion is that bone pyxides in Sarmatian graves from the north and north-west Pontic territory are mainly Roman products. Nonetheless, it is not excluded that some pyxides are copies of the first, made in local work¬shops (north-Pontic). The author notes that all Sarmatian graves containing bone pyxides date, on the basis of grave goods, to the second half of the 1st – early/first decades of the 2nd c. AD. Furthermore, it is noted they are usually part of the grave group belonging to the new wave of Sarmatians arriving to the north-Pontic area starting with mid 1st c. AD from east of the Don and that in the second half of the 1st – first decades of the 2nd c. AD they form a well marked local cultur¬al-chronological horizon. Last but not least, the author notes that pyxides are part of funerary features dating to the period of major inflow of Roman artifacts to the Sarmatian environment set between AD 60/70 – 120/130.

The Clayton Collection: An archaeological appraisal of a 19th century collection of Roman artefacts from Hadrian’s Wall

This interesting volume, the first of a new series published by British Archaeological Reports dedicated to the archaeology of Roman Britain, aspires to record the collecting activities of John Clayton (1792–1890), a leading citizen of Newcastle and for many years its town clerk. His country mansion of Chesters contained the remains of the Hadrian’s Wall fort of Cilurnum in its front garden, and he excavated this over his very long life. In the process, he amassed quantities of sculptures, inscriptions and small finds, and he installed these in a purpose-built museum, which has largely survived intact to our day. Moreover, he also acquired vast stretches of Hadrian’s Wall, with turrets and milecastles, as well as three other forts on the Wall – Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Carvoran – as well as Vindolanda on the Stanegate, south of the wall. Apart from Cilurnum, Clayton’s most notable archaeological foray was the excavation of the well-shrine of the goddess–nymph Coventina at Carrawburgh, a full account of which has previously been published by Lindsay Allason-Jones and Bruce McKay (Coventina’s Well: A shrine on Hadrian’s Wall, Hexham: Chesters Museum, 1985). Clayton’s collection thus, exceptionally, embraced not only objects, but entire Roman forts, and much of the best section of the Roman wall itself, protecting it from quarrying and stone robbing.

Enhancing heritage fruition through 3D virtual models and augmented reality: an application to Roman artefacts

&lt;p&gt;The spatial characteristics of museum exhibitions may limit visitors’ experience of the artefacts on display. In the case of large artefacts, limited space may affect their whole visualization, or inhibit the visualization of the details farthest from the observer. In other cases, the storage of artefacts in distant sites (museums or archaeological areas) may influence their knowledge process or the possibility for comparative analysis. Moreover, the precarious state of preservation of some artefacts, with damaged or missing parts, makes it difficult to perceive their original appearance. To overcome these limitations, we propose an integrated approach based on 3D virtual models and Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance the fruition of artefacts, improving their visualization, analysis and personal/shared knowledge, also by overcoming space and time constraints. The final AR application is an easily accessible tool for most users from a mobile device, used both inside and outside museums, opening new perspectives for fruition. The framework encourages the use of free and open source software and standard devices, to maximize their dissemination and exploit the potential of such technologies, which is far greater than current use in the cultural heritage field. Selected case studies to test and validate the integrated framework are proposed, dealing with some Roman artefacts found in the area of Modena (Italy). The first is a Roman floor mosaic, found in Savignano sul Panaro (near Modena) in 2011, of which less than half of its original 4.5 x 6.9 m surface is preserved. The others are two Roman funerary lion sculptures: the first is one of two lions flanking the main door of Modena Cathedral, and the second, well-preserved but damaged, is housed in the Museo Lapidario Estense of Modena. Finally, the application was tested by museum experts and visitors both inside and outside the museum, and positively assessed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Highlights:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Digital practice is not understood as a prerogative of a small number of people, but as a tool to guarantee and expand artefact fruition, using standard devices and free and open source software.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Experimentation of new settings to re-contextualize artefacts and establish possible links among them, offering engaging and customized experiences to improve their accessibility and enjoyment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Promotion of artefact fruition not only in but also outside museums, such as in a classroom or an open and shared space, opening to new approaches in the fruition of cultural heritage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;

‘All that glitters is not Roman’ - Roman coins discovered in East Java, Indonesia

Studying extra regional trade networks in Antiquity can be considered a relatively popular field of research, but the intensity and patterns of such complex system still leave lot of questions, particularly in the case of Rome’s Far Eastern trade. There is still a trend to visualize a kind of globalized commercial activity between the Imperium and communities on the eastern edge of the Silk Road(s). However, the facts provide us a more comprehensive picture. Due to the meticulous work of international joint research projects working in East and Southeast Asia followed by a raised interest in collecting ancient objects among local people, an increasing number of Roman objects have been discovered in the region. These finds prove the significance of mediator cultures in transferring Roman artifacts beyond India – with their own imprints on forming evaluation/acceptance of these non-local goods by the receiving culture.