In this book, Ellen Swift uses design theory, previously neglected
in Roman archaeology, to investigate Roman artefacts in a new way,
making a significant contribution to both Roman social history, and
our understanding of the relationships that exist between artefacts
and people. Based on extensive data collection and the close study
of artefacts from museum collections and archives, the book
examines the relationship between artefacts, everyday behaviour,
and experience. The concept of 'affordances'-features of an
artefact that make possible, and incline users towards, particular
uses for functional artefacts-is an important one for the approach
taken. This concept is carefully evaluated by considering
affordances in relation to other sources of evidence, such as
use-wear, archaeological context, the end-products resulting from
artefact use, and experimental reconstruction. Artefact types
explored in the case studies include locks and keys, pens, shears,
glass vessels, dice, boxes, and finger-rings, using material mainly
drawn from the north-western Roman provinces, with some material
also from Roman Egypt. The book then considers how we can use
artefacts to understand particular aspects of Roman behaviour and
experience, including discrepant experiences according to factors
such as age, social position, and left- or right-handedness, which
are fostered through artefact design. The relationship between
production and users of artefacts is also explored, investigating
what particular production methods make possible in terms of user
experience, and also examining production constraints that have
unintended consequences for users. The book examines topics such as
the perceived agency of objects, differences in social practice
across the provinces, cultural change and development in daily
practice, and the persistence of tradition and social convention.
It shows that design intentions, everyday habits of use, and the
constraints of production processes each contribute to the
reproduction and transformation of material culture.
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