Panel 3.13 – The rise of bling: charting the incredible increase in the consumption of decorative metal objects in the Roman Empire


Organiser/Chair:

  • Stefanie Hoss (Universität zu Köln)

Panel abstract

The mass production and consumption of metal objects - and especially of metal objects that were decorative but not essential, such as statuettes, furniture fittings, tableware and decorative parts of dress as well as jewellery – is one of the major differences between the Roman Empire and the periods preceding and following it.
The reason for this is a fairly straightforward one, namely the increase in availability of the raw materials, in part due to new mining techniques, but also due to the increased access to mines that was the result of the spread of Roman control.
Another characteristic is the extremely wide dissemination of these items both in terms of distance as well as in terms most often described as social class or wealth.
This panel seeks to clarify the systems of production and distribution that enabled this phenomenon in order to better understand the mechanisms of cultural supply and demand that form the basis for this ‘explosion’ of metal production during the Roman period.
For this purpose, we would like to invite papers that chart the production and distribution of specific (groups of) objects within the Roman Empire, for instance a particular type of brooch (fibula), inkwell or knife handle.
Other papers welcome would describe the cultural circumstances through which these things suddenly become ‘necessary’, such as the rise of toilet implements described for Britain by H. Eckhardt and N. Crummy (Styling the Body in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain. A contextual approach to toilet instruments, Montagnac 2008).
While the panel would best slot with session 3 (systems of production), it will also address elements of the sessions 5 on distribution and 6 on consumption.

 

Paper abstracts

1. Mikhail Treister (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut)

The Gold of Phanagoria (Bosporan Kingdom): a complex archaeo-metallurgical study
The paper is devoted to the study of the gold objects from the excavations and chance finds of ancient Phanagoria, the Asian capital of the Bosporan Kingdom. These are ca. 300 individual finds and groups of objects, dating from the late 4th century BC to the 5th century AD (ca. 5% of all burials yielded gold objects), with the peak of the use in the burial rite from the late 2nd century BC to the first half of the 2nd century AD. Examined are various types of funeral (diadems, wreaths, buckles, ghost money) and real jewelry (necklaces, torcs, earrings, bracelets, finger-rings). There were made 284 RFX-analyses of 164 objects, 67 samples were studied optically. The composition of gold was also studied with electron probe microanalyzers. There were also studied the technology of manufacture of the majority of artefacts. There will be discussed in their dynamics: the balance between the “real” and funeral gold objects, the correlation of the types of gold objects and burial constructions, the problem whether (when) gold items were the markers of the elite burials, the questions of imports and local (Bosporan, Phanagorian) manufacture, as well as origin of metal, its composition and technological issues. Such a complex approach enables for the first time reconstructing the history of gold manufacture and consumption of one of the most important centers of the North Pontic area.

"The Gold of Phanagoria (Bosporan Kingdom): A Complex Archaeo-metallurgical Study" (Fulltext)

 

2. Espen B. Andersson

Keeping cash in Roman cities
To accumulate greater amounts of cash money and other valuables, the Romans used, both public and private, a money chest called arca, or arca ferrata. These strongboxes had lock systems of high technical standard, and displayed outstanding artistic quality in decoration. To anybody passing by them, alone their visual appearance signalized capital resources in abundance.
A cassaforte was not a part of every Roman house. This is reflected in the archaeological material where only approx. ten cassaforte are known to date. On the other hand, bronze appliqués found at different sites may indicate that this number will increase.
In Italy, the largest group of cassaforte comes from Campania, above all from Pompeii. These examples are important because they are found in situ. The panic through the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, lead to that most of the cassaforte was left empty. It is possible though, based on what some volcano victims were carrying, to suggest the average sums of sestertii that supposedly were kept in the cassaforte.
That the cassaforte remained where they stood, gives an opportunity to understand more in detail the possible roles of this cash keeping in the city.
The interesting question is what the cassaforte may tell us from the distribution of them; - these monuments not seen in isolation - but viewed in a broad urban perspective.

"The Economic Centre of Pompeii Revealed by Roman Cash Keeping" (Fulltext)

 

3. Courtney Ward

Bling It On: Metal Jewellery and Identity on Display in Roman Campania
Jewellery and personal adornment were integral to the creation of identity in the Roman world. Men and women of all social and economic classes wore these objects on a daily basis and as such they formed a fundamental part of Roman life. Literary and epigraphic evidence shows the social importance of jewellery and personal adornment in the Roman Empire. Often these sources associate jewellery with wealth and social rank; however, the archaeological evidence underscores a much broader picture of jewellery use in the Roman world. This paper will examine jewellery finds from the Bay of Naples in order to discuss what the differences in materials, composition and jewellery types can tell us about the sex, age and socio-economic status of its wearer, and how jewellery was used by its ancient owners in the creation of diverse gender identities. Jewellery was produced in the same form or style for different budgets, with items constructed of solid and intricately decorated gold for the wealthy, while a similar form was constructed with little to no detail in less expensive gold foil for those less affluent. This paper will illustrate how jewellery, a necessity for the creation and display of diverse gender identities, was employed by men and women from varying economic and social backgrounds in the first century AD.

 

4. Josy Luginbühl (Universität Bern)

Young ladies with their writing equipment. Indications of literacy in Roman Tombs
The Romans introduced reading and writing on a larger scale to their provinces, which is recognizable by the increasing numbers of mostly Latin monumental inscriptions, graffiti and legal documents. As the writing equipment is essential to writing, it was distributed similarly to these testimonies. Hence including stili, inkpots and wax-spatulas, which were widely spread throughout the Roman Empire.
As grave goods they were found in the sepulchre of children, men in military service or more interestingly of young women who died before marriage. To all of them writing seemed to be important, as they all ran through the Roman system of education.
Fortunately this writing gear can be linked through their position in a tomb to a specific person and we are able to draw conclusions about the abilities of the person in question and the spread of literacy throughout the empire and the social hierarchy.
Furthermore these writing utensils are an evidence of trade. Especially inkwells in their varied forms and diverse materials can be assigned to a precise place of production and from there retrace their steps to the places they were excavated in the first place.
In this paper the beneficiaries of the Roman education system will be traced by a study of the distribution of the utensils in question.

"Young Ladies with Their Writing Equipment Indications of Literacy in Roman Tombs" (Fulltext)

 

5. Boris Alexander Nikolaus Burandt (Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität)

Transformationsprozesse von Tausch- und Gebrauchswerten römischer Fanartikel im Kontext der Gladiatur und Wagenrennen
Rom brachte die erste eigentliche Unterhaltungsindustrie der Geschichte hervor. Rund um die munera etablierte sich ein Wirtschaftszweig, der mit Memorabilia Umsätze schuf. Gladiatoren und Wagenlenker wurden auf Öllampen und Trinkbechern, Messergriffen oder als Tonstatuetten verewigt und in hoher Stückzahl unter das Volk gebracht. Den Funden obliegt im 1. Jh. noch ein erkennbarer Gebrauchswert, der sich durch den praktischen Nutzen definiert. So dient etwa ein Messer in erster Linie dazu, Dinge zu zerteilen, oder ein Becher dazu Flüssigkeiten aufzunehmen, ebenso wie die Lampe den Raum erhellen soll. Die figürliche Gestaltung ist sekundär. Das gewählte Fertigungsmaterial ist stets preiswert. Es erscheint logisch, dass sich der Tauschwert primär durch den Gebrauchswert ergibt. Mit dem 2. Jh. treten neben diese Objekte auch Fanartikel deutlich höherer Qualität, wie z. B. individualisierte figurative Darstellungen in Elfenbein, Bernstein und Buntmetall. Vielen dieser Stücke ruht kein praktischer Gebrauchswert inne, es handelt sich um Nippes, der keine weitere Funktion erfüllt, denn als dekoratives Element Räume zu verschönern. Es kommt also parallel zu einer Veränderung des Gebrauchs- sowie des Tauschwertes. Mit dem Wechsel von billigen Materialien wie Ton und Blei hin zu Stoffen mit einem implizit hohen Tauschwert, wie Edelmetall, ist ein Wandel des Tauschwertes klar vollzogen. Doch ändert sich hierdurch auch der Gebrauchswert? Reicht es ab dem 2. Jh. aus, schlicht Ding zu sein?