This study uses artefact distribution analyses to investigate the activities that took place inside early Roman imperial military bases. Focusing especially on non-combat activities, it explores the lives of families and other support personnel who are widely assumed to have inhabited civilian settlements outside the fortification walls. Spatial analyses, in GIS-type environments, are used to develop fresh perspectives on the range of people who lived within the walls of these military establishments, the various industrial, commercial, domestic and leisure activities in which they and combat personnel were involved, and the socio-spatial organisation of these activities and these establishments. The book includes examples of both legionary fortresses and auxiliary forts from the German provinces to demonstrate that more material-cultural approaches to the artefact assemblages from these sites give greater insights into how these military communities operated and demonstrate the problems of ascribing functions to buildings without investigating the full material record.
Author(s): Penelope M. Allison
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: XX+488
List of figures [page vii]
List of tables [xvii]
Preface [xix]
1 Introduction [1]
2 Approaching Roman military communities [12]
3 Studying Roman artefacts and social practice [33]
4 Site selection and data processing [50]
5 Categorising Roman artefacts [65]
6 Vetera I [109]
Introduction [109]
Activity and identity categories for specific artefacts [115]
Analyses of artefact distribution [121]
7 Rottweil (Ara Flaviae) – Forts I and II [152]
Introduction to Rottweil [152]
Introduction to Forts I and II [154]
Activity and identity categories for specific artefacts [164]
Analyses of artefact distribution [166]
8 The fort at Oberstimm [179]
Introduction [179]
Activity and identity categories for specific artefacts [188]
Analyses of artefact distribution [191]
9 The fort at Hesselbach [222]
Introduction [222]
Activity and identity categories for specific artefacts [228]
Analyses of artefact distribution [229]
10 The fort at Ellingen [232]
Introduction [232]
Activity and identity categories for specific artefacts [241]
Analyses of artefact distribution [245]
11 Inter-site spatial distribution of activities and use of space [281]
12 Status and gender identity – the roles and impact of women and children [319]
13 Concluding comments [344]
Appendices
A Accessing and using the data and the distribution maps [359]
B Vetera I: preparation and assessment of the data [361]
C Rottweil Forts I and II: preparation and assessment of the data [383]
D Oberstimm: preparation and assessment of the data [399]
E Hesselbach: preparation and assessment of the data [415]
F Ellingen: preparation and assessment of the data [421]
G Drawings of artefacts [437]
Bibliography [453]
Index [481]
