Panel 3.8 – Women and men at work! Entrepreneurs, ateliers and craftsmen in the construction and destruction of Roman tombs

Organiser/Chair:

• Marianna Castiglione (Università di Pisa)
• Myriam Pilutti Namer (Scuola Normale Superiore)

Speakers:

• Marianna Castiglione (University of Pisa)
  Working in/for Pompeian funerary contexts: business, craftsmanship and customers
• Fanny Opdenhoff (Universität Hamburg)
  Sculpting his own Grave? Artefice and craftsmanship in Tombstones from Bordeaux
• Anna Bartol (University of Warsaw)
  Funerary gardens in Roman province of Lycia et Pamphilia – the process of setting and the utilitarian aspect
• Myriam Pilutti Namer (Scuola Normale Superiore)
  The afterlife of stones after the disruption of Roman tombs in late Antiquity and Middle Ages

Funerary Archeology is a widely discussed topic that includes the analysis of archaeological and anthropological data and the exam of literary and epigraphic sources. Scholars have mainly studied the connections between the tomb and its evidences and artifacts, to obtain quantitative and qualitative information. Very few attempts have been done to analyze the system of production at the base of the ‘death market’, excepting some epigraphic studies, because of the difficulty to well identify the ateliers in archaeological contexts.

The “archaeology of technology” related to the tombs was strictly linked with the Roman economic history: despite the lack of data, many workers were involved in the ‘funerary economics’ and in all the activities connected to the tombs’ construction and destruction. If we use a “micro-economic approach” and consider only the craftsmen participating in the execution and lying of stone materials, we should mention marble workers, stonemasons, manual laborers, polishers, experts in writing and sculptors. Particular attention should also be given to the people responsible for the ideation and realization of funerary paintings. Furthermore, there were the entrepreneurs, both men and women, sometimes mentioned in ancient sources but usually neglected by modern literature, and finally the commissioners, the most studied component of this flourishing economy – at least until the 3rd century AD. From this period the market decreased, because of the competition with Christian inhumation practices.

Because of this progressive fall of interest and request of “built” tombs, many laws appeared, in order to impede the spoliation of funerary monuments to obtain lime or building materials for reuse. So, the wealthy ‘market of death’ lives a new life and transforms itself in a new successful one, thanks to the reuse of ancient parts from monumental tombs in the building industry, for structural reasons or for symbolic values.

Thus, the panel aims to create a debate on these two phenomena: the production system connected to the tombs’ creation and construction, considering all the people involved and including the female contribution at the question, as well as the reuse of previous funerary materials in the late antique building industry. Selected case studies could allow both the investigation on the specialization and diffusion of technical and artistic knowledge, and the understanding of social, economic and juridical history of the sites.

1. Marianna Castiglione (University of Pisa)

Working in/for Pompeian funerary contexts: business, craftsmanship and customers
Even if in studies on Roman economy, the contribution of funerary contexts is often neglected, due to the lacking of archaeological and literarily documentation, tombs and the economy related to their ideation, construction and transformation had certainly a noticeable importance, because of the many activities and people involved. For a better understanding of this topic, this paper will focus on some examples from the large-scale necropolises on the outskirts of Pompeii. They will be carefully analysed with all their features: the exam of the structures and the building materials allow to establish the geological nature and their geographical origin, showing commercial and economic networks; the signs of working tools indicate the technical abilities of craftsmen and stonemasons; paintings, stucco, capitals and statues’ realisation give us an insight into the artistic and artisanal world as well as into styles, models and local fashion; inscriptions shed light both on skills of writers and on customers and entrepreneurs, sometimes mentioned as females; stratigraphical and chronological data inform about construction, destruction and transformation of funerary monuments, gardens and burial areas.
This paper aims to investigate in depth all these questions, also connecting the funerary evidences with the whole ancient city and some other Campanian centres, in order to enlarge the point of view and find the connection between Pompeii and its hinterland.

2. Fanny Opdenhoff (Universität Hamburg)

Sculpting his own Grave? Artefice and craftsmanship in Tombstones from Bordeaux
The tombstones from Roman Bordeaux present a spectrum that could be found at many sites in Roman Gaul. The range of sizes, subjects, motives and qualities in execution ranges from very simple and modest compositions to ambitious and over life-size monuments scultped mostly from rather soft and coarse local stones. Overall, they provide interesting impressions of local tastes and conceptions of identities, as well as of craftsmanship, styles and work routines of stonemasons, sculptors and writers.
One example from Bordeaux, which seems to be average in many respects, excels with regard to the directness by which it refers to these crafts: It shows a sculptor manufacturing his own tombstone. The man, sitting inside a niche, is literally just finishing the work on his own image. The inscription further tells us that his brother was involved in the process too. Therefore, this monument gives us unique insights not only into the "styled self" of an individual and the very special subject/object-relation between himself and his workpiece. It also allows for a reconstruction of the role and understanding of a scupltor's family in their local context.
In this paper I will examine both, the traces of craftsmanship and workflows in the local monuments as a group, and the sculptor's tombstone as a case study on the roles played by an individual in the design and manufacturing of the monument.

3. Anna Bartol (University of Warsaw)

Funerary gardens in Roman province of Lycia et Pamphilia – the process of setting and the utilitarian aspect
This paper examines the process of setting and the utilitarian quality of the funerary gardens in Roman province of Lycia et Pamphilia. Their presence around tombs offered a pleasant site for the commemorators and was certainly significant for the tomb owners. However, more importantly they provided a productive garden to help pay for its upkeep. These gardens were often termed “κῆπος” (kepos – garden, orchard), “κηπίον” (kepijon - parterre) or “κηπόταφος” (kepotaphos – tomb garden) in epitaphs, implying economic character of the cultivated land. This paper aims to illuminate the function of these areas lying near the sepulcher on the basis of archaeological and epigraphic data. The findings from the research illustrate the existence of warehouses (aedificia, horrea) in the area of the burial. In my paper, I would also like to give special attention to the mentioned in an inscription - πωμαρίτης (pomarites) and πωμαριτίσσα (pomaritissa) - respectively male and female gardener - and the garden guards residing in the area of the burial.

4. Myriam Pilutti Namer (Scuola Normale Superiore)

The afterlife of stones after the disruption of Roman tombs in late Antiquity and Middle Ages
In my speech I will address the issue of the disruption of Roman tombs during the late Antiquity and the high Middle Ages. I won't consider the cultural phenomenon, very well studied. Instead, I will focus on technical aspects like the possible identification of ateliers at work in the territories of the Roman Empire between the 5th and the 11th centuries. Starting from the case study of Campetti (Veio), where archaeologists have recently found a big deposit of piled fragments of marble dated to the 7th century, I will explore the ‘market of marbles’ considering juridical aspects and the hypothetical profiles of professionals involved. Major interest will be dedicated to the area of the Venetia et Histria, where most of monumental tombs settled in the streets of Roman cities have been looted to build the foundation of different kind of architectures. An overview of well known local case studies of stones which pertained to some funerary monuments (from Venice, Trieste and Verona) will help the discussion to be addressed properly.