This volume is the fruit of considerable research by E., Associate Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Reading. It is, as one might expect, a steadfastly archaeological volume that blends archaeological theory, science and the study of material culture in an exemplary fashion. This reviewer is, however, an archaeologist and feels obliged to sound a note of caution: it is not a volume for those uninitiated in the mysteries of archaeology.
Eight well-illustrated chapters explore a variety of different themes. The first two chapters are very much scene setting. Chapter 1 contains a succinct introduction to material culture studies as applied to Roman provincial archaeology and discusses some of the methodological challenges inherent in such analyses. Chapter 2 goes on to consider ethnic identity and the part material culture and scientific evidence (stable isotopes) might play in unravelling this Gordian knot. Chapters 3–7 each examine a different theme in some detail. We are presented with an interesting discussion of Africans in Roman Britain, which draws liberally on the results of E.'s AHRC funded ‘Roman Diasporas’ project. This is followed by a discussion of exotic materials – amber, jet and ivory – and their social significance. Chapter 5 invites us to consider localised consumption through the lens of brooches and so-called ‘perforated spoons’ (argued by E. to be textile working equipment). Chapter 6 looks at the significance of the right hand and its depiction in small objects and Chapter 7 discusses the artefactual evidence (writing tablets, styli and inkwells) for literacy. Chapter 8 ends the volume with a short concluding essay on provincial material culture and local, regional and inter-provincial identities.
This is an enjoyable and well-written book that looks at eclectic groups of objects and a diverse range of approaches. The sub-title is a little misleading as much of the book deals directly with Roman Britain rather than the North-Western provinces per se – the reader interested in how individuals in southern Gaul and northern Gaul defined themselves may be disappointed.
Much of the discussion is in the vein of Deetz's Small Things Forgotten and amongst these are some truly intriguing objects. This reviewer cannot, for instance, claim to be familiar with the iron bucket pendants from the cemetery at Brougham and still less their distribution in Central Europe and southern Scandinavia (pp. 35–45). Indeed, this is a recurring theme: the study of small groups of unusual but distinctive objects.
As the reader progresses through the volume some issues emerge. The iron bucket pendants, for instance, are fascinating but their rarity makes one wonder how many people in the past would have understood their significance(s). They might, of course, be just one element of a wider package of dress, language, accents and dietary preferences that indicated that the wearer was somehow different but reconstructing this archaeologically presents a challenge. Similarly, the Wirral brooches and ‘bone spoons’ discussed in Chapter 5 have such a restricted distribution (Figs 5.2 and 5.8) that one might wonder whether they have anything to do with identity at all. Perhaps the brooches were the product of a single workshop operating for a few weeks, months or years. Two wearers of this type of brooch who bumped into each other on Hadrian's Wall might have congratulated each other on owning the same kind of brooch and perhaps coming from the same area. That, however, is not the same as suggesting that the brooches were acquired with the intention to signify coded meanings about identity. It should also be noted that the very restricted distribution of the Wirral brooch presented in Fig 5.2 has been radically altered by the recent publication of Portable Antiquities Scheme finds (F. McIntosh, ‘The Wirral Brooch’, ArchJ 171 [2014], 111–50, illus. 7).
Chapter 3's discussion of Africans in Roman Britain is another fascinating account and it, along with the diasporas project, represents a useful antidote to any claims that the population of provincial Roman Britain was homogenous. One might wonder why Africans were chosen for discussion, rather than Spaniards, Greeks or Syrians. Of course, none of those groups were presented in the stylised and sometimes stereotypical fashion that Africans were. We might also acknowledge, as E. does, our own post-colonial concerns and their impact on what we research and how we emphasise it.
The challenges presented by this book are not born of any weaknesses in E.'s study, but rather the way in which identity is studied in archaeology. Identities are and were fluid, contingent, nested and in many cases immensely difficult to reconstruct. A personal example might serve to illustrate this. The reviewer has spent most of his adult life in northern Britain. He was, however, born in south-western England and feels a real sense of identity with that region. The isotopes in his bones might show that he grew up in the south west but would not reveal that he still, many years later, felt that connection. He almost never wears or uses something that would indicate he was born in Somerset. Yet when he dropped his daughter off at school in Northumberland recently he referred to her plimsolls as ‘daps’. No one outside of the West Country would use this term, but he did not even realise that it was a dialect term, until it was pointed out to him that in Northumberland plimsolls are ‘sand shoes’, not ‘daps’. How much of this could be recovered archaeologically? Very little. Indeed, we might interpret plimsolls as pretty homogenous footwear worn by all primary age school children and having very little to do with their geographical identity.
None of this should take away from the fact that E.'s book is an excellent and thought-provoking study. It displays a keen eye for detail and rigorous analysis and should be commended. Identity and the movement of people will certainly remain an important topic, given contemporary concerns and academia's need to be ‘relevant’ and have ‘impact’. How we sort out the myriad identities that a person or community may have held in the past remains a challenge of the first order. E. has shown how some minority groups could be identified in Roman Britain and thus blazed a trail. There will undoubtedly be followers in her footsteps.
