Anth.106 Ppt. background lecture (no. 4), on Ancient Roman Empire, accompanying documentary no. 4...

ANT.106: Spring 2021

Introduction to Archaeology.Notes & images compiled by Gregory Mumford (© 2021)

Lecture-: Background to Doc.3

Ancient Rome / Roman Empire

In Search of Ancient Rome, from popularized movies to archaeology

Table of contents: This overview follows the culture study forms.

• Zoom recordings for the online / remote version of this course 4

• Tips regarding avoiding plagiarism: i.e., how to re-word one’s answers 5

• Other clarifications & requirements for the culture study assignments 6

• Instructor tips for optimizing lecture & course material retention 7

• Background to Ancient Roman Empire (Ancient Romans) 8

1. Early Searchers: Re Ancient Romans. 9

2. The Evidence: Re Ancient Romans. 20

3. More recent archaeological investigations: Re Ancient Romans. 51

4. Approaches to dating & chronology: Re Ancient Romans. 42

5. Approaches to categorizing social organization: Re Anc. Romans 64

6. Determining the past environment: Re Ancient Romans. 91

7. Determining the past subsistence pattern: Re Ancient Romans. 109

8. Determining the past technology: Re Ancient Romans. 127

9. Trade and exchange: Re Ancient Romans. 141

10. Cognitive archaeology: Re Ancient Romans. 160

11. Appearance (clothing; health; etc.): Re Ancient Romans. 176

12. Processes of change: Re Ancient Romans. 190

• Sources: 201

For the ONLINE / REMOTE version of this course (NOT in-class):

Power point overview of culture studies:

• A ZOOM recording is available for each culture study power point overview,

being recording during the pre-scheduled week for each culture study,

and being posted in the Zoom video section of the course’s Canvas website.

• Please note: Zoom recordings are available for only 30 days from the day of

recording, and for anyone wishing to view the instructor going over this

power point verbally, this must be done within the 30-day period.

• This power point is available throughout the course, and has sufficient

text/data within it for extracting the required answers for the culture study form,

while the verbal coverage of this ppt. highlights certain points, expands on

some points (beyond the text), and may skip other details in the ppt. text.

Video/documentary options for each culture study:

• The required video has more leeway regarding having a few recommended

options, while one video (documentary) will be selected for Zoom recording,

which stays posted only for 30 days within the Canvas Zoom option.

• Otherwise, all of the suggested video/documentary options will have a web-

link (Youtube) via the Canvas assignment folder for each Culture Study.

Please report any broken Youtube links (only use a recommended video).

Non-recommended videos will not be considered (unless otherwise permitted)

Please note: Important cautions & policies regarding assignment responses …

• When utilizing the culture study overviews (& any other works), please avoid

plagiarism, such as cutting-and-pasting from this ppt, copying and submitting

answers compiled by study groups (i.e., 2+ persons), or any other such text/+

duplications that do not represent your own/sole, individual wording/ideas/etc.

Plagiarism: “The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and

passing them off as one's own.” (Oxford English Dictionary)https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/plagiarism

• If you need to quote someone else’s work/words (albeit acceptable as only

a small % of any assignment: < 5%?), put the information in quotes and add

a full reference to the source. **For this assignment: Use your own words.

Suggestions regarding how to extract information & formulate answers:

• E.g., Ppt. information: “In 1928-1937, anthropologist Li Ji excavated the site

of Anyang (in northern Henan), and found an ancient literate society

toward the end of the Shang dynasty …(Shang Dyn. = 1500–1000 BC)”

• → Re-word the required information, such as in the following way:

E.g., Li Ji investigated Anyang in 1928-1937, in the Henan region, discovering

a culture dating to the late Shang Dynasty (ca. 1500-1000 BCE).

• Please note: The re-wording is substantial, it includes re-structuring, different

words & word order, concision, but retains the core information (avoiding plagiarism)

• Plagiarism penalties: May range from a grade reduction to a zero (“0”) depending upon extent.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/plagiarism

Other clarifications and requirements for the culture study assignments:

• Remember that a documentary/video accompanies this culture study

overview and must be utilized where/when pertinent within the following

12 sections in the response forms.

• The culture study overviews attempt to furnish the primary background

overviews to each past culture, albeit necessarily only in a superficial way:

i.e., a broad, simplified introduction to the diverse aspects of a past culture

following the 12 chapters in the course textbook (by Renfrew & Bahn).

• The documentary/video presentations and options attempt to represent

more recent, reliable (i.e., accurate), educational and pleasing portrayals

of narrower aspects of the same past cultures. Hence, most documentaries

are much more focused in scope, but will contain at least several of the

12 aspects and need to be utilized in each of the pertinent sections.

• The course assignment file has a weblink to one or more recommended

documentaries per culture study, but other viable options might be availableE.g., PBS: Secrets of Stonehenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfBsyuAt_KE

• Penalties for not incorporating documentaries into the assignment:

A deduction of 2% (from the optimum 10%), which may be regained by completing this component

• Remember: Follow all the instructions for and prompts in the culture study

response forms. E.g., 3+ examples, different types of information, details, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfBsyuAt_KE

Instructor tips for lectures, etc.:

(1). Attend class regularly (& listen) …→ Many clarifications, tips, announcements,

reinforcement & reviews of materials/concepts.

(2). Take notes on lectures, etc. …→ The act of writing down notes, even with

most course materials and instructions online,

serves as an invaluable aid to one focusing on

class topic and retaining information better.

(3). Complete the required textbook

readings, and/or review the ppt.,

prior to the specific class day …→ This will provide greater clarity and

comprehension of the material, and will enable

asking focused questions where something

may be less clear (in the textbook or lecture).

(4). Ask questions during the class if

you are confused/wish more data→ The class is an ideal place to ask for more

clarity or further information not contained in

the textbook, ppt., and/or lecture (If nobody

asks questions, the lecture proceeds …).

(5). Complete optional materials:→ Additional reinforcement, studying & bonus?

https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/

https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/

Evolution of archaeology:

- New findings → more data

- Learning to ask the

“right questions,”

- Implementing more of the

“right methods,”

Excavating Pompeii since 1748 …New approaches

1.

Early Searchers:(Roman Empire)

1.a-c.

Early Searchers:Past through pre-1940 AD

including historians, explorers,

early archaeologists & others(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Introduction to Archaeology: Renfrew & Bahn 2019 (8th ed.): chp.3

3. Where? Survey and Excavation of Sites and Features.

2.1. Discovering archaeological

sites and features:

• Various sites & features have

never been lost: Roman Forum

• Only their function awaited further

further analysis

• Many sites found by the public,

accidentally:

E.g., Painted caves at Lascaux

Painted cave at Cosquer

(found by a diver)

Terracotta army in China

(farmers cutting a well)

• Archaeologists focus on

detecting & investigating the

full range of site types.

1. ground/surface reconnaissance

2. Aerial reconnaissance

18th cent AD: Forum in Rome

Early searchers near Pompeii:

• 1709 discovery of coloured marble

during well excavation on an estate

at Resina (i.e., Herculaneum near

Pompeii) & subsequent expanded

digging from 1709–1716 by Prince

d’Elbeuf who bought the estate and

plundered Herculaneum’s theatre of

of its marble & bronze statuary, etc.

• 1738-1740+: King Charles VII made

Naples his capital in 1735, and he

pursued art & culture to gain status,

continuing the digging at the same

& former estate of Prince d’Elbeuf.

• Initial discoveries at Herculaneum

had soon inspired searches for

more artifacts in this region, while

locals made finds in their fields.

• Alcubierre initiated 1st excavation at

“La Civita” in April 1748 → Pompeii

Charles (VII) of Boubon employed

Rocque J. de Alcubierre & Karl Weber

to excavate at Herculaneum & Pompeii.


1. The Searchers: The History of Archaeology.

2.2. The First Excavations:• 18th cent AD excavating major sites:

- Italy: Pompeii (1748).

- Peru: Huaca de Tantalluc (1765).

- USA: Burial mound in Virginia (1784)

(excav. by Thomas Jefferson)

→ Virginia mound:

-100s of mounds E. of Mississippi river

- Believed to be built by vanished race

- Jefferson excav. Scientifically (FIRST)

- Found multiple layers & bones

- Tested ideas against data

- Promoted builders’ indigenous origins

- Early 1800s: Richard Cole Hoare

excavated 100s of burial mounds in UK

He developed a typology of mounds.

Early searchers at Pompeii:

1748-1798:

• 1763: An inscription found at “La

Civita” identifies it as “Pompeii”:

1806-1815:

• 1808-1815: Excavations intensify …

E.g., Forum and the amphitheatre.

1815-1860:

• 1816: Major findings of “House of the

Tragic Poet,” “House of the Faun,”

& the Forum Baths … at Pompeii.

• Giuseppe Fiorelli: 1847+at Pompeii

• 1860: Pompeii is made a national

treasure by a newly unified Italy.

1860-1870:

• Excavations of housing along major

street, and a few other areas.

• 1863-75: Fiorelli director at Pompeii

1879-1923:

• 1910-1923: Excavations are made

along the Via dell’ Abbondanza.

Amphitheatre at Pompeii

“House of the Faun”

Later searchers at Pompeii:

1924-1961: Initially pre WW II →

• 1924-1939: Excavating the “Villa of

the Mysteries” & much of Region 1

• Minimal work at Pompeii during war

• 1945: Excavations resume in

Regions 1 & 2 to augment tourism …

1962-present:

• Excavation slows and concentrates

on specific areas and housing (i.e.,

the site is suffering erosion, etc.).

• 1980: Major earthquake damages

large parts of Pompeii (much now

closed off to public access).

• 1997: A special law diverting all the

tourist proceeds from Pompeii to

conserve and aid Pompeii’s heritage

and tourism.

Ca. 1930s

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/1705933

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/1705933

Excavators, excavation dates, and excavated remains at Pompeii:

“Early Searchers” = pre World War II (post WW II = “scientific”)

1748 →

1806+ excavations

1.d.

Early Searchers:Past through pre-1940 AD


early archaeologists & others(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

DON’T FORGET Doc./Video …

Documentary / video:

• Remember to watch one of the

recommended documentaries

and extract and fill in specific

details from it into as many of

the 12 sections as possible.

• Some of the documentaries

will be narrower in focus than

others, but ALL of them will have

some coverage of several to

many of the 12 categories.

• The details extracted from the

documentaries should be explicit,

& not “generic” broad generalities:

In other words, the information

provided should contain such data

as names of specialists, projects,

sites, and other relevant information.

• The better/best documentaries tend

to be BBC, Pbs/Nova, Discovery,

National Geographic, & others …One of the documentary recommendations:

See sources for others …

2.

The Evidence:(Roman Empire)

2.a-c.

The evidence:Different types of evidence,

the basis from which we

extrapolate interpretations(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Some sites/monuments have never been “lost,” …

remaining standing, partially buried, and/or often poorly

understood: Rome (Forum; palaces; aqueducts; roads; etc.)


2. What is Left? The Variety of the Evidence.

- Human impact is deliberate through

accidental construction,

use / habitation,

re-use / modification,

abandonment,

re-discovery / disturbance,

etc.

of buildings.

- Nature affects the burial & relative

preservation of archaeological record:

Volcanic ash (pumice)

Wind borne sand/soil

Flash floods, water erosion,

etc. relocating item.

Animal tunnels.

Etc.

The formation processes

are varied & complex:

i.e., = many ways in which

artifacts & ecofacts

appear in excav. contexts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinian_eruption

Plinian eruption

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinian_eruption



1.2. Material culture debris

survives in many ways:

1. Cold sites:

Sub-zero temperatures (C)

E.g., Pazyryk: organic mat.

2. Dry sites:

Arid environments

E.g., Peru: organic mat.

3. Wet sites:

Water logged (no oxygen)

E.g., Florida swamps: org.

4. Natural disasters:

Volcanic eruptions (pumice)

E.g., Pompeii, etc.

Mudslides (sealed deposits)

E.g., Canada: Hope slide.

→ Need to know processes of

preservation & what = lost

→ design optimum Q and A

Exceptional preservation

of organic materials …

https://slideplayer.com/slide/776632/

https://slideplayer.com/slide/776632/

Daily Life in a Roman Town: South of Rome.

Pompeii - Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD

Approx. a 550 x 770 m town



1.2. Material culture debris

survives in many ways:

1. Cold sites:

Sub-zero temperatures (C)

E.g., Pazyryk: organic mat.

2. Dry sites:

Arid environments

E.g., Peru: organic mat.

3. Wet sites:

Water logged (no oxygen)

E.g., Florida swamps: org.

4. Natural disasters:

Volcanic eruptions (pumice)

E.g., Pompeii, etc.

Mudslides (sealed deposits)

E.g., Canada: Hope slide.

→ Need to know processes of

preservation & what = lost

→ design optimum Q and A

- Knowing one is seeking

hollows from bodies …

Varying – excellent preservation

of organic materials …

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/36706

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/36706

Pompeii: reconstruction. Plaster cast from hollow.

E.g., Fore-knowledge to enable

casting bodies within hollows

Hadrian’s villa: Parts of it were visible prior to excavation …

Housing: Elite villas.• Upper class landowners had

country villas.

• Major cultural focal point and

agricultural production.

• Using fertilizer, machinery, etc.

to improve productivity.

• Subsumed small peasant land

owners, providing protection

against bandits.

• Free peasants tied to the land as

coloni (via Diocletian’s economic

reforms).

• People migrated from cities in

3rd cent. AD to obtain livelihood

as coloni

• Non-Roman regions emulating

Roman techniques & competing

→ reduction in trade.

Remaining evidence:

Even some partly-largely

destroyed “buried remains”

yield traces …

a. Brought up in ploughing

E.g., stone foundations

b. Partly visible at the surface,

E.g., Via discoloration

of soil and powdered stone

c. Greater visibility from the

air, such as balloons, planes

drones, etc.

Daily Life in the Roman

Empire: preserved via …• Funerary monuments yield

images of daily life

(particularly in W. empire)

• Precise detail:

- Family life & small-scale

industrial settings

- Iron working (blacksmith)

- Butcher shop

- Green grocer

- Shopkeeper

- Apothecary

- Stage coach

Recreation: Theaters• Continuing from Greek traditions, theaters

were popular places for entertainment and

socializing.

Public Baths:• Another place for socializing & cleansing oneself

Literature, etc., preserved via copies:• A. Tibullus & S. Propertius Augustan elegy

• P. Ovidius Naso (Ovid) Amores Metamorphoses

• Titus Livius Historian

• L. Annaeus Seneca Dialogues & tragedies

• Petronius Satiricon,Trimalchio’s Feast

• Cornelius Tacitus Historian, story-teller, etc.

• L. Apuleius The Golden Ass

• etc.

Medieval monks & others preserved

copies of selected classical documents by

copying and recopying → written evidence

2.d.

The evidence:Different types of evidence,

the basis from which we

extrapolate interpretations(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


3.

ARCHAEOLOGY:More recent archaeological

Investigations

& researchers:

(Roman Empire)

3.a-c.

Recent archaeology

and surveys:1945 AD to present,


*recent archaeologists, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


3. Where? Survey and Excavation of Sites and Features.

2.2. Ground Reconnaissance:

• Different means exist for

identifying specific sites.

• Examining documentary sources

for place names.

2.2.a. Documentary sources.

E.g., Schliemann’s search for Troy

(via Homer’s Iliad)

E.g., Helge & Stine’s discovery of

L’Anse aux Meadows in

Newfoundland (Canada)

(via Viking Sagas)

E.g., Old place names (early maps)

Biblical lands; Europe; etc.

E.g., 12th century AD maps & plans

of some towns.

Historical & literary research

to initiate a search for specific

through general sites

i.e., clues regarding where

one might begin searching

A quest for known, but

lost remains …

OTHER CLUES FROM STANDING / EXPOSED SITES:

=Sites never lost, partially buried, and often poorly understood:

Recent searchers at Pompeii:

1924-1961: continuing post-WW II

• 1924-1939: Excavating the “Villa of

the Mysteries” & much of Region 1

• Minimal work at Pompeii during war

• 1945: Excavations resume in

Regions 1 & 2 to augment tourism …

1962-present:

• Excavation slows and concentrates

on specific areas and housing (i.e.,

the site is suffering erosion, etc.).

• 1980: Major earthquake damages

large parts of Pompeii (much now

closed off to public access).

• 1997: A special law diverting all the

tourist proceeds from Pompeii to

conserve and aid Pompeii’s heritage

and tourism.

Excavators, excavation dates, and excavated remains at Pompeii:

“Early Searchers” = pre World War II (post WW II = “scientific”)

1748 →

1806+ excavations

Pompeii: collapse of housing at the site on 7 Nov., 2010

Today, most of the work at Pompeii = conservation / restoration


3. Where? Survey and Excavation of Sites and Features.Photogrammetric plans

• can georeference/rectify oblique

views in a computer using known

reference points.

• Scale 1:2500 maps have good

detail (+/- 2 meters)

• Digital terrain modelling = good

in places of greater vertical contrast

(computer program corrections)

• Survey of surrounding environment:

- Aerial photos

- Crop marks

- Soil marks

E.g., ditches

enclosure

roadways

etc.

Soil marks: Winter plowing scraping

chalk foundations of a Gallo-Roman villa

in France. Post WW II work …

(Late 20th cent.)

Soil marks: i.e., Roman villa under ploughed fields – stone foundations

Drought accentuated crop marks:

False colour high lights crop marks

Vertical photograph/image – better for planning.

July 2007 imagehttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/26706758_The_Map_of_Altinum_Ancestor_of_Venice

Andrea Ninfo, Alessandra Fontana, Paolo Mozzi, & Francesco Ferrarese (2009) in SCIENCE …

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26706758_The_Map_of_Altinum_Ancestor_of_Venice

World View 3 satellite imagery: 30 cm pixel resolution2014+

Geophysical survey at Roman

Wroxeter: Magnetometry data,

GPR, gradiometer, etc.

1990s survey

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Image-of-the-magnetic-data-of-the-Roman-city-of-Wroxeter-collected-using-Geoscan-Research_fig1_220476174

Vince Gaffney et. al.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Image-of-the-magnetic-data-of-the-Roman-city-of-Wroxeter-collected-using-Geoscan-Research_fig1_220476174

Joanne Berry (2007)Chester Starr (1983)

Other documentaries on

Ancient Rome:

E.g., History Channel series:

Rome: Engineering an

Empire (94 minutes)

3.d.

Recent archaeology

and surveys:1945 AD to present,


*recent archaeologists, etc.

(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


4.

DATING:Approaches to dating

and chronology:

(Roman Empire)

Introduction to Archaeology: Renfrew & Bahn 2016 (7th ed.):

Culture Study on Roman society/culture. Empire & timeline ...

Timeline Early Rome → Republic → Imperial Rome:

• Legendary tradition of 7 kings of Rome = 750 – 510 BC

(Foundation of Rome by Romulus, etc.)

• Roman Republic (invasions; battles; etc.) = 510 – 272+ BC

• 1st Punic War → 2nd Punic War (Hannibal) = 264 – 202 BC

• Rome expanding Eastward (Greece) = 202 – 133 BC

• Rome civil wars (two phases) = 133 – 44 BC

• Roman Principate (→ death of J. Caesar) = 44 – 30 BC .

• Augustus Caesar (Octavian) = 30 – 27 BC

• Julio-Claudian dynasty = 27 BC – 68 AD

• Flavian, Nervo-Trajanic, & Antonine dynasties = 69 – 192 AD

• Severan dynasty = 193 – 235 AD

• Political anarchy & decline = 235 – 284 AD

• Western & Eastern Roman empires = 284 – 476 AD

• Barbarians invade & rule Italy = 476 AD .

• Eastern Roman empire continues = 491 – 565 AD

4.a-c.

Dating the past:Techniques by which we

obtain the absolute dates

and relative dates for past

events or sequences …(Ancient Rome/Roman Europe)

Origin of Rome:

Oral tradition: =written later

Twins Romulus & Remus

abandoned as children

on banks of the Tiber

• Rescued & suckled by a

She-wolf

• Rescued later by shepherds

• Later quarrelled →

Romulus killed Remus

• Romulus “founded” Rome

ca. 750 BC (Roman writers),

including city institutions.

• Story recorded around

3rd cent. BC (content/assoc.)

• 8th cent. BC = simple huts

found on Palatine hill (C14+)

• Romulus → king non-hereditary

• Chose 100 men → senate

→ descendants = patricians

-People → 3 tribes → each

30 units (curiae) → assembly

The foundation of Rome:• 8th cent. Small village (C14)

• 770+BC population increases

& more contact with Greece.

• Greater craft specialization

(e.g., pottery)

• Very wealthy tombs →

indicates social stratification

• Late 7th cent. BC→urbanized

settlement at Rome (C14; rel.)

• Began building stone & timber

frame houses, public square,

temples, public buildings, etc.

• Series of tyrant rulers

• Military system improved

(centuries → legion)

• Modified citizenship

• Interactions with Etruscans

• 509 BC monarchy ended →

“collegiate magistracy” =

two men (consuls) in power.

• Patricians vs. plebeians.

Stratigraphy, contextual dating (artifacts & samples),

and texts


5. How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology.3.2.a. Written records:

• Some civilizations have sufficient

texts regarding their social structure

• One’s main aim should be finding

such texts

• Writing is used variously by different

societies: Dated by known rulers/persons, assoc.+

- Mycenaeans (i.e., commerce)

- Greeks & Romans e.g.,marble decrees

- Coinage → individual city state mints

→ imperial rule

- Mayan glyphs also have hist. events

- Indus Valley script awaits decipherment

- Mesopotamia has innumerable texts

of many types.

E.g., Self-perception (cognitive info)

Economic texts

Law code of Hammurabi

• Maintain objectivity with all evidence

(each source has its own biases)



socializing.


Literature, etc., preserved via copies:• A. Tibullus & S. Propertius Augustan elegy







• etc.

Histories, reign lengths, year dates, etc.,

combined with astronomical sightings and

associated radiocarbon dating → abs. dates


4. When? Dating Methods and Chronology.8.2.b. C14 history & basis of method.

• 1949 W. Libby obtained 1st C14 date

• Need organic samples-wood

-charcoal

-seeds

-plants

-bones

• Various counting errors, cosmic

radiation, etc. → uncertainty in

measurements (+/- std. deviation).

• Req. samples’ size = decreasing

a. 1950s-60s: 10-20 g. wood

b. 1970s-80s: 5 g pure carbon

c. Now: 5-10 mg samples

→ test precious items

• C14 dates expressed before 1950 AD

when listing years BP (before present)

• +/-100 yrs 68% → +/-200 yrs 95%

• Calibration with tree-rings → calendar

years.

Radiocarbon

dates calibrated

with tree-rings seq.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1MKDC_enUS774US774&biw=1530&bih=714&tbm=isch&sa

=1&ei=DwSuXKHcCISSsAWR9ayoDw&q=radiocarbon+dating&oq=radiocarbon+dating&gs_l

=img.3..0l10.1745183.1749333..1750221...0.0..0.144.1392.16j2......0....1..gws-wiz-img......


4. When? Dating Methods and Chronology.

9.1. Trapped electron dating:

• Thermoluminescence (TL), optical,

& electron spin resonance dating

display indirect radioactive decay.

• Focus on radiation received by sample

(assuming annual dose = constant).

9.2.a. Thermoluminescence dating:

• TL advantages versus C14, it …

a. dates pottery (i.e., clay)

b. “dates” inorganic items (burnt flint)

earlier than C14 limit (50,000 BP)

9.2.b. Basis of method:

• Dating minerals set to “0” by 500 C/932 F

accidentally/intentionally (pottery; flints)

• Clay has some radioactive elements

obtained internally & externally.

• Gauge site soil’s radioactivity → accuracy

(1 yr. capsule; radiation counter; sample)

• Lab heats sample; measures light radiation

TL-dating can be used on pottery,

and burnt flint, etc. (i.e., non-org.),

but it has an increasingly broad

error range the earlier in time

one goes …

OLS = used more now … (need specialist, including for sampling)


1. The Searchers: The History of Archaeology.3.4. The Three Age System:• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen

suggested artifacts from Danish

barrows displayed 3 Ages:

Stone, Bronze, & Iron Ages.

→ system = adopted in Europe.

• Later: Stone Age → “old” & “new”

= Paleolithic and Neolithic.

• This system was less applicable

outside Europe

• Remains a key class. system

• Conceptual advances:

- 1. Antiquity of humankind

- 2. Principle of evolution

- 3. Three-Age system

• → Other scholars → typologies:

- Oscar Montelius: fibulae

- John Evans: coins

IRON

AGE

BRONZE

AGE

STONE

AGE

= Relative sequence / dating


1. The Searchers: The History of Archaeology.3.4. The Three Age System:• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen

suggested artifacts from Danish

barrows displayed 3 Ages:

Stone, Bronze, & Iron Ages.

→ system = adopted in Europe.

• Later: Stone Age → “old” & “new”

= Paleolithic and Neolithic.

• This system was less applicable

outside Europe

• Remains a key class. system

• Conceptual advances:

- 1. Antiquity of humankind

- 2. Principle of evolution

- 3. Three-Age system

• → Other scholars → typologies:

- Oscar Montelius: fibulae

- John Evans: coins

One may obtain relative

dates in a sequence:

• Architectural phases

• Sequential features

• Sequence of layers/deposits

• Artifacts & culture changes

(including typologies)

→Tied into absolute dates

(radiocarbon dating; TL; etc)

4.d.

Dating the past:Techniques by which we

obtain the absolute dates and

relative dates for past

events or sequences …



5.

SOCIAL

ORGANIZATIONApproaches to categorizing

social organization:

(Roman Empire)

5.a.

Social

Organization:Ranks, occupations, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Politics: Republic.• Rome changed during wars of conquest:

• Power held by patricians & plebeians

(nobles dominating senate + magistrates)

• Nobility = part of politically powerful and

wealthy land owners.

• Rome governed by annual, elected

magistrates & senate (ex-magistrates)

• Guiding Roman foreign policy

• Improving life for lower classes

• All full citizens could participate in voting

assemblies.

• Voting tallied by groups:

E.g., local tribes: 4 “urban” & 31 “rural

with only landowners registering in “rural”

tribes versus landless urban tribes

→ wealthy landowners had more votes

whilst peasant land-holders unable to

attend assembly which was held in Rome.

302 BC

290 BC

241 BC

Conquest of Italy:

• New patrician nobility →society transformed

• Founding colonies; expanding Roman territory

• Conquest; treaties; alliances; 272+ control Italy

Julius Caesar: Building an empire → 44 BC.

Caesar’s Gallic wars; civil war (Scipio Africanus); Cleopatra VII

Rome: The City & the Forum.Octavian (Augustus Caesar) …

The principate (first among equals):

Based on general consensus

• Compromise between republican

& monarchical governments

• Power delegated by senate &

the people

• Traits:

a. Authoritarian power

b. Reverence for traditional forms

Politics: Empire. Power held by emperor

• 284-305 major reforms by Emp. Diocletian

Tetrachy (subdividing Empire E-W)

297 AD: Empire subdivided into 12 admin.

districts & 101 provinces.

• 324 AD: Constantine the Great (sole ruler)

Divine nature of emperor

• 476 AD: West Roman empire falls

Provinces and frontiers of the Empire to 106 AD:

Organization of the Roman Empire and societies within it

Roman road system:

- Part of the Appian Way

outside Rome (312 BC+).

- The surviving Roman road

system provides a definite

clue to the existence of a

central administrative system

dictating the building of roads

throughout the empire.

- Indicates Roman territory

versus areas outside empire.


5. How Were Societies Organized? Social Archaeology.

6.4. Administration beyond the

primary center:

• Surveying/excavating multiple

sites enable a study of

centrally organized admin.

• One needs to find administrative

artifacts:

- Clay sealings, imperial seals,

cartouches, Roman milestone,

- Standard weights & measures

(i.e., central authority; other?)

- Broad transportation network:

Roads in land-based territory

- Military fortifications

(securing borders; regions; etc.)

- Etc.

Roman roads

5.b.

SOCIAL

ORGANIZATIONMilitary organization …:

(Roman Empire)

Roman military:

Legion = 5000 troops

Cohorts = 500 each x 10

Centuries = approx. 100 x 5-6

Late Roman empire:• The army → increases to 75 legions

= 900,000 troops

• Army subdivisions:

a. Field army

b. Army of the frontier

c. The guard

• Neighbours provided protection

along the frontiers: i.e., vested

interest in protecting their lands.

Roman battle tactics:

• A favourite Roman military

tactic = the testudo (“tortoise”)

which was applied to approach

enemy fortifications.

• Like the Greeks, the Romans

developed many siege machines,

siege towers, etc.

• The Roman army had infantry,

cavalry, chariotry, a navy, and

foreign auxiliaries.

• War elephants were used by

Hannibal (of Carthage) against

Rome; also adopted by Rome.

Roman army: Trajan (building a military camp).

Roman garrison town:- A typical permanent Roman

legionary fortress

- Barrack blocks accommodated

5000 soldiers (legionaries)

subdivided into 10 cohorts,

in turn subdivided into 6 centuries

(“100” soldiers; usually smaller).

- E.g., Novaesium (Neuss) on the

Rhine frontier, Germany.

Composition:

1. Administration & services (blue)

2. Higher ranking officers quarters

3. Granaries & magazines (green)

4. Workshops

5. Hospital

6. Cavalry barracks (purple)

7. Centurion’s barracks (hatched)

8. Infantry barracks (yellow)

Roman colony-towns:• 2nd cent. BC colony towns

used in colonizing Italy and

some territories abroad (Gaul).

• Some garrison colonies were

placed on the southern coast

to guard against possible

maritime invasions.

• Roman colony towns had a

grid plan, which survives in

many modern Italian cities

that originated as Roman

colonies: e.g., Florence

• Colonies often received

optimistic names:

E.g., “strength”, “plenty”

• Unfortunately, Roman settlers

lost their citizenship, and

became less willing to colonize.

• 177 BC colonization halted briefly.

Surviving colony grid plan, built by

Augustus: modern Florence, Italy

5.c.

Social

Organization:Different status evident via

settlements & housing etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Housing: Elite villas.• Upper class landowners had

country villas.

• Major cultural focal point and

agricultural production.

• Using fertilizer, machinery, etc.

to improve productivity.

• Subsumed small peasant land

owners, providing protection

against bandits.

• Free peasants tied to the land as

coloni (via Diocletian’s economic

reforms).

• People migrated from cities in

3rd cent. AD to obtain livelihood

as coloni

• Non-Roman regions emulating

Roman techniques & competing

→ reduction in trade.

Elite Roman housing: Reflecting social stratification / hierarchy …http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/arts-architecture/architecture/roman-house.php

http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/arts-architecture/architecture/roman-house.php

https://www.quora.com/What-did-a-poor-Roman-house-look-like-

What-was-a-poor-family-like

Poorer Roman housing:-Insulae (town upper apartments)

-Farmers’ housing (kitchen below)

http://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/ancient-rome/ancient-roman

-houses/ancient-roman-houses-1/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/324399979390372602/

Insulae: Ranging

in size & quality

https://www.quora.com/What-did-a-poor-Roman-house-look-like-What-was-a-poor-family-like

https://www.quora.com/What-did-a-poor-Roman-house-look-like-What-was-a-poor-family-like

http://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/ancient-rome/ancient-roman-houses/ancient-roman-houses-1/

http://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/ancient-rome/ancient-roman-houses/ancient-roman-houses-1/


Social organization: the family.• Father in charge of the family, over

a. The wife (mater familias)

b. The children (liberi)

c. Slaves (servi)

d. Domestic animals

e. All property (fixed & mobile)

• Upon the death of the father →

sons dictated their own lives

and property.

• Strict discipline within household

• Transferred into military discipline

Citizenship:

• Values: virtue, liberty (conscience/action)

glory, reverence, piety, loyalty, reliability,

and a public post.

• Ideally working to improve power &

greatness of fellow Romans

• Supreme law: welfare of the people

• Individual glorified only in victory & death

5.d.

Social

Organization:Different status evident via

Tombs, burials, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

https://www.slideshare.net/Ecomuseum/session-no2-2010-roman-funeral-practices-by-rachel-brochstein

Family tombs: https://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_14.html

Diverse mortuary practices:

• Great diversity with inhumation

and cremation, plus changes in

preferences: In addition, the poor

could not afford cremation …

• Many differences in locations &

graves-tombs: status, culture, etc.

• E.g., Appian Way noble mortuary

monuments;

• Family mausoleums: vary widely

• E.g., Pompeii Street of Tombs;

• E.g., “Potters’ Fields” for pauper

class burials: E. Esquiline Hill.


https://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_14.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Tomb_(Silistra)#/media/File:Roman_Tomb_Silistra_TB.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Tomb_(Silistra)#/

media/File:Roman_Tomb_Silistra_fresco_servant.jpg

Roman Tomb of Silistra (NE Bulgaria):

• Town in southern Dobruja, Lower Danube River;

• Mid-4th cent. AD (pre-376 AD), in Durostorum;

• Pagan art in frescoes on 11 interior panels;

• 2.60 x 3.30 metre, East-West burial chamber;

• Affluent resident of the town (tomb not completed)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Tomb_(Silistra)#/media/File:Roman_Tomb_Silistra_fresco_servant.jpg


An elite pyramid tomb of Caius Cestius (Rome): Roman politician …

https://www.walksinsiderome.com/en/blog/about-rome/the-mausoleums-of-rome-tombs-become-beautiful-monuments.html

https://www.walksinsiderome.com/en/blog/about-rome/the-mausoleums-of-rome-tombs-become-beautiful-monuments.html

5.e. Social

Organization:Different ways of categorizing

social organization ...(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


6.

ENVIRONMENT:Determining the

Past Environment:

(Roman Empire)

6.a.

Environment:Ancient landscape,

topography types, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Topography of Europe:

i.e., Roman Empire

Geological map of Europe

Soils map of Europe: i.e., emphasizing the great spatial diversity.

Environment: heartland

• Close interaction between

plains, hills, & mountains.

• 20% land = plains

• 40% land = hills

• 40% land = mountains

• → great diversity in climate

• The Alps separate Italy

from Europe

• “Unified” mainland S. of Alps

• Hot summers

• Mild winters

• Moderate rainfall

• Crops: Wheat, barley, peas,

beans, & olives and grapes.

• Livestock: goats & pigs

• Fishing & hunting.

Italy (heartland)

versus great diversity

across empire …


6. What Was the Environment? Environmental Archaeology.

3.6.b. Buried land surfaces:

• Peat has buried ancient soil

and past landscapes (U.K.)

• Neolithic farmland has

emerged from peat in Ireland

• Volcanic deposits have buried

landscapes & ancient forests:

- Pompeii

- Thera

3.7. Tree Rings and Climate:

• Tree ring growth varies

- Nothing (winter)

- Strong (spring)

- Wider (more moisture/rain)

- Dense forest (slow growth)

- Light forest (fast growth)

- Temperature gauge

Changing landscapes:

-- destruction (towns+pop)

-- renewal (fertile ash …)

6.b.

Environment:Types of vegetation

and fauna.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Vegetation map of modern Europe:

Coniferous forest;

Med. Vegetation;

Mixed forest;

Deciduous forest;

Wooded steppe;

Grass (steppes);

Heath and moor;

Some Alpine

veg.


6. What Was the Environment? Environmental Archaeology.6.3.b. Gardens:

• Various types of gardens exist

- Functional → ornamental.

- E.g., Pompeii: casts made of

trees & plants revealing

different types,

garden designs,

gardening techniques

grafting, etc.

6.3.c. Pollution of Air & Water:

• Past pollution of rivers can be

detected in fish species:

- Appearance of more pollutant

tolerant types in middens.

- Molluscs (types less oxygenated)

• Past air pollution:

- Cores from Lakes & peat bogs

→ lead levels > under Phoenicians

- Greek-Roman use of lead increased

Micro-environment …

Selected wild fauna in Europe:Reindeer;

Wild Boar.

Raccoon Dog;

Pine Marten;

Norwegian Lemming;

Alpine Long-Eared Bat;

Saiga;

etc.

For more data, see: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-europe.html

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-europe.html


6. What Was the Environment? Environmental Archaeology.6.3.b. Gardens:

• Various types of gardens exist

- Functional → ornamental.

- E.g., Pompeii: casts made of

trees & plants revealing

different types,

garden designs,

gardening techniques

grafting, etc.

6.3.c. Pollution of Air & Water:

• Past pollution of rivers can be

detected in fish species:

- Appearance of more pollutant

tolerant types in middens.

- Molluscs (types less oxygenated)

• Past air pollution:

- Cores from Lakes & peat bogs

→ lead levels > under Phoenicians

- Greek-Roman use of lead increased

6.c.

Environment:Climate details


Europe: SUMMER temperatures in C & F for July.

- More than 25 degrees down to 5-10 degrees Celsius from South to North

- More than 77 degrees down to 50-59 degrees Fahrenheit from South to North

Europe WINTER temperatures in C & F for January.

- Around 10-15 degrees down to less than 10 degrees Celsius from SW to NE

- Around 50-59 degrees down to less than 14 degrees Fahrenheit from SW-NE

Environment: heartland








from Europe


• Hot summers

• Mild winters





• Fishing & hunting.

Italy (heartland)

versus great diversity

across empire …

6.d.

Environment:Landscape, vegetation,

flora, fauna & climate details(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


7.

SUBSISTENCE:Determining the

past subsistence patterns:

(Roman Empire)

7.a.

Subsistence:Types of domestic

Plants/flora (eaten)(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


7. What Did They Eat? Subsistence and Diet.2.9 Plant evidence from

literate societies:

• Literate societies have yielded

much evidence for anc. plant

domestication, farming, cooking, etc.:

• Strabo: much info

• Josephus: Roman army food

• Virgil’s Georgics Roman farming

• Varro’s Ag.Study Roman farming

• Apicius: Cookery book

• Fort Vindolanda: Letters noting food

• Herodotus 5th C: Egyptian food

• Pharaonic Egypt: Tombs, texts, food

= much data: elite

• Egyptian villages: Lower class data.

• Egyptian models: Other data

• Babylonian tablets: 35 stew recipes

• China granaries: Texts, grains, etc.

• Americas 16th cent: B. de Sahagun

Subsistence:








from Europe


• Hot summers

• Mild winters





• Fishing & hunting: deer,

boars, riverine+maritime, +

Rome’s maritime

harbour at Ostia:

• FEEDING A

MAJOR CITY &

OTHER URBAN

POPULATIONS:

• Rome required

a major port

(Ostia) to receive

grain shipments

(massive grain

ships from Egypt),

which were

transferred to

smaller barges

and transported

upriver to Rome.


7. What Did They Eat? Subsistence and Diet.

More about feces: . . .

• Nevada Lovelock Cave:

- 5000 feces 2,500-150 BP

- Diet: seeds, fish, birds,

feather frags. (waterfowl).

• Elsewhere, can study sewers,

cesspits, and latrines:

E.g., Roman fort latrine (UK):

→ little meat in soldiers’ diet

→ much wheat bran (bread)

Viticulture / “Viniculture:

“The Romans expanded wherever they could cultivate grapes/wine”



5.4. Remains of individual

meals:

• Pompeii: meals found intact

on tables & food in stores.

E.g., Fish, eggs, bread, meats

• Peruvian graves:

E.g., Desiccated corn cobs

• Egyptian graves:

E.g., Dyn. 2 Saqqara tomb of

a noblewoman’s grave with

cereals, fish, fowl, beef, fruit,

cakes, honey, cheese, wine.

• China Han period 206 BC-AD 220

Tombs yield provisions, medicines

& containers with detailed content

labels.

7.b.

Subsistence:Types of domestic

animals/fauna (eaten)(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)



5.3. Art & literature:

• New Mexico Mimbres pottery

depicts 20 species of fish.

• Most = marine species,

placed on pottery found

500 km from sea.

• Egypt, Hatti (Anatolia),

Mesopotamia, Greece, and

Rome →

have texts regarding veterinary

medicine+; art illustrating food+.

Art as a source for past foodways


7. What Did They Eat? Subsistence and Diet.5.1.d. Residues in vessels:

• 800 BC Austrian sherd:

→ overcooked milk

• Neolithic sherds (Germany):

→ milk fat & beef suet

• Lake Constance sherds:

→ fish fats

• Roman pottery:

→ butter & pork fat

• Early Dyn. Egyptian vessels:

→ Cheese, beer, wine, yeast

• Early Joman sherds (Japan):

→ dolphin fat (4000 BC)

• Late Paleolithic at Pirika:

→deer fat (scraper edges)

• 700 B Kg.Midas tomb (Turkey):

→ Sheep/goat meat, pulses, grape

wine, barley beer, & honey mead.

• Prehistoric midden (S. Africa):

→ sherds: marine animal (seal?)

7.c.

Subsistence:Types of wild plants

and animals (eaten)(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Roman hunting:

• Deer, gazelles, boars, lions, bears,

etc.

• Also capturing animals for the

colosseum, zoos, pets, etc.



4.5.b. Fish:

• Fish weight can be derived

from bones.

• Fish species yield dietary info:

a. Riverine fish

b. maritime fish

• Some fish are salted for

preservation: consumption

out of season.

• Some fish are mummified

(Egypt)

• Romans artificially cultivated

fish and oysters in ponds.

• Also fishing: rivers and sea

wide range of sustenance …

Roman

fish

farming

Stephanie Jacomet, Cultivated food plants and probable wild foods.https://www.researchgate.net/figure/List-of-cultivated-food-plants-and-probably-collected-wild-fruits-that-were-found-in_tbl2_225786933

“The Mespilus (medlar) fruit tree, non-native in Europe, is generally

believed to have been introduced to central Europe during the Roman

occupation of the region. Archaeobotanical remains of medlar are

generally rare, resulting in a patchy knowledge of its early distribution”

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/List-of-cultivated-food-plants-and-probably-collected-wild-fruits-that-were-found-in_tbl2_225786933

7.d.

Subsistence:Types of domestic & wild

plants and animals (eaten)(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


8.

TECHNOLOGY:Technology and industries

(Roman Empire)

8.a-c.

Technology:Selected past crafts,

industries, and technology,

including their processes …(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


8. How Did They Make Use of Tools? Technology.2.4. How were stones worked & fitted?

Protzen’s experiments reveal var. ways

to duplicate Inca stonework (Peru).

- Hammering & dressing stone blocks,

shaping one face in 20 min.

- Preparing bedding for upper course

block-by-block

- 90 minutes to obtain a good fit.

Haselberger found architect’s drawings

in 4th Cent. BC Apollo Temple (Didyma).

- Full sized & scaled down incised plans

- Other temples with similar plans

AD 120 Roman Pantheon:

- Part of its plan found incised in paving

beside Mausoleum of Augustus.

Egyptian architect’s plans of Tomb of

Ramesses IV (12th cent BC) on papyrus:

- Including placement of interior shrines.Mausoleum of Augustus

Roman Pantheon

The craft of building …

Engineering:

Roads.• An elaborate

system of well-made

roads (+mile stones)

allowing rapid

transportation of the

army & commerce

throughout all types

of weather.

https://app.emaze.com/@AFQICWZT#1Roman roads: Techniques …

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/interactive_learning/romanbuildingfiles/yr_7_roman_builbing.htm

https://app.emaze.com/@AFQICWZT#1

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/interactive_learning/romanbuildingfiles/yr_7_roman_builbing.htm

Engineering: Bridges• Using the arch to span

great heights & distances

to allow roads to cross

rivers and ravines.

• Some bridges survive today

and are still in use.

Alcantara, Spain

Engineering:

Aqueducts

• Major engineering

feats using the arch

and containing a

slight decline over

long distances.

• Supplying major

towns and cities

with water.

• A vulnerable system

easily breached by

invaders, & forcing

the depopulation

of major centers.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/

2016/11-12/roman-aqueducts-engineering-innovation/

Romans: Building aqueducts

http://www.romanaqueducts.info/picturedictionary/pd_onderwerpen/construction.htm

https://interestingengineering.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-roman-aqueducts

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/roman-aqueducts-engineering-innovation/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/roman-aqueducts-engineering-innovation/

http://www.romanaqueducts.info/picturedictionary/pd_onderwerpen/construction.htm

https://interestingengineering.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-roman-aqueducts

Engineering: Water mill.• Water mills of Barbegal 4th cent. AD

• 2 metre wide water wheels

• Horizontal millstones

• Water diverted from aqueduct →

30 degree descent through paddles,

turning the mill stones & grinding grain

→ major flour production.

• Sufficient flour ground to supply

80,000 persons.



Roman sawmill: E.g., Hierapolis sawmill, with crank & connecting rod

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_technology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierapolis_sawmill

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(mechanism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecting_rod


Roman construction crane reconstruction: Bonn, Germany.




8. How Did They Make Use of Tools? Technology.

Cast iron:

• A more complex furnace installation

is required.

• Some examples appear in 6th cent

BC Greece

• Cast iron = a brittle alloy of iron

• It has a lower melting point

• It has 1.5% - 5% carbon content

Steel:

• Steel is iron with 0.3% - 1.2% carbon

• It is easily worked

• It hardens with cooling

• “True steel” appears in the Roman

period.

• Carburizing → made a similar

product.

Damascus steel

8.d.

Technology:Selected past crafts,

industries, and technology,

including their processes …(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


9.

TRADE &

EXCHANGE:Exchange of materials, products,

& ideas (incl. influx of peoples).

(Roman Empire)

9.a.Trade & exchange:

Imports to Roman Emp.,

and their sources(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Roman Economy: Resources & re-dispersal

E.g., Amber from Baltic; Silk from Far East (China) via Red Sea+;

Tin from Cornwall, Hispania, Afghanistan; Ivory from NE Africa

Communication

via roads.• An elaborate

system of well-made

roads (+mile stones)

allowing rapid

transportation of the

army & commerce

throughout all types

of weather.


9. What Contact Did They Have? Trade and Exchange.4.1. The study of distribution.

• Mostly relies on determining sources

and assessing trade items.

• Distribution mechanisms are

harder to reconstruct without texts

• Loc. & excavation of shipwrecks

helps such analysis.

• Internal trade information:

- Minoan Linear B tablets reveal

products sent → palace at Knossos

& redispersal from this palace.

• External trade information:

- 14th cent. BC Amarna Letters note

gifts between pharaohs & neighbors

• Preliterate & literate societies:

- Seals & sealings → > internal trade

- Manufacturer’s marks: e.g., wine jars

→distribution maps for diff. containers

Varazze (NW Italy): Divers find 2000

year-old Roman shipwreck; excellent

preservation yielding intact food.

Stamp of Sestius:• Spatial distribution of find spots of wine jars

+ stamped seals bearing the name of Sestius:

→ Reveals extent of export from Cosa estate of

this wine …


10. What Did They Think? Cognitive Archaeology, Art, Religion8.1. Symbols of organization

and power.

• Authority figures use symbols to aid in

organizing & controlling populations.

• Communicative symbols:

E.g., data, information, archives

• Power symbols:

E.g., colossal statues, structures,

8.2. Money: symbols of value &

organization in complex societies.

• Complex social organizations often

have a relative value system for

establishing exchange & rel. wealth:

e.g., money.

• An artificial medium of exchange:

Often: gold, silver, or bronze (coinage)

• Money = issued by city state or a

broader government (mint).

Monetary economy

within most of the

Roman Empire


9. What Contact Did They Have? Trade and Exchange.

7.1.b. Further insights into the

exchange system.

- In a monetary economy further

analysis is possible.

- Examine minting & taxation

- Date coins more precisely

- Sourcing coins (mints noted)

Fort Dura Europas (E. Syria):

- Yielded 10,712 coins

- Minted at 16 Greek cities

- Coins span 27 BC-AD 256

Initial prosperity 27 BC-AD 180

Dramatic decline AD 180-256

“Buffer zone” hypothetical model:

- L. Hedeager’s suggested three

economic systems in N. Europe:

Roman empire → buffer → Germany

(Money → mixed → moneyless)Monetary economy


9. What Contact Did They Have? Trade and Exchange.• New Guinea:

- Pigs given as gifts → prestigious

“Big Man” status.

- Obligates a repayment.

• Neolithic Britain:

- Stone axe dispersal network.

- Probably involved gift exchange.

• 4000 BC Europe:

- Mediterranean shell dispersal to

Balkans & central Europe →

prestige item initiating reciprocity.

• External reciprocal exchange:

- Incorporates aim of profiting from

unrelated groups/polities (= barter)

• Trader/Consumer exchange:

- Redistribution via market exchange

• Tax collector:

- Redistribution of wealth

Constants throughout

Antiquity → present:

Death & Taxes

Roman tax collector

calculating tax …




exchange system.

-Fort Dura Europas (E. Syria):



- Coins span 27 BC - AD 256







(Money → mixed → moneyless)

Fort Dura Europas (beside Euphrates)

Minting coins

9.b.Trade & exchange:

Exports from China,

and their destinations(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

The economy:Coinage:

• Republican silver coinage & Caesar’s gold

coinage → double coinage (the dinar).

• Inflation in early 4th cent. → silver discontinued

Economic districts:

• Many areas throughout empire, becoming more

independent in 2nd cent. AD → reduced land

values in Rome

• 3rd cent. AD these areas became independent

economically, removing markets from Italy.

Trade:• Pax Augusta → peace throughout empire

fostered Mediterranean wide trade & prosperity.

• Building:

- land & maritime facilities (roads; lighthouses;

harbors; docks; etc.)

- Post offices & relay stations (communication)

- Canals extending riverine transport

• Long-distance trade: India, Ceylon, China




exchange system.

- In a monetary economy further

analysis is possible.

- Examine minting & taxation

- Date coins more precisely

- Sourcing coins (mints noted)

Fort Dura Europas (E. Syria):



- Coins span 27 BC-AD 256







(Money → mixed → moneyless)

9.c.Trade & exchange:Means of transportation

within & beyond China(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Rome’s maritime

harbour at Ostia:

• Sea transport:

Major shipments

from Egypt …

• Rome required

a major port

(Ostia) to receive

grain shipments

(massive grain

ships from Egypt),

which were

transferred to

smaller barges

and transported

upriver to Rome.

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2017/06/14/the-roman-grain-trade/

Roman grain trade: ships, grains, routes

https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-people-only-

ate-food-produced-locally

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2017/06/14/the-roman-grain-trade/

https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-people-only-ate-food-produced-locally

https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-people-only-ate-food-produced-locally

Roman cargo ship: wine …

https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/goodies-naval-encyclopedia/antique-ships/roman-ships/

https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/goodies-naval-encyclopedia/antique-ships/roman-ships/

9.d.Trade & exchange:

Imports, exports, and

transport within & beyond(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


10.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Art, thoughts, shrines

& religious beliefs.(Roman Empire)

10.a.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Religion, temples, & rites(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Religion:• Polytheistic = multiple deities

• Main triad:

Jupiter (rain & wind; storm & thunder)

Mars (Agriculture → god of war;

life and death)

Quirnus (same functions as Mars)

• 506+ BC: Jupiter, Juno, & Minerva.

• Republic: other important deities

Janus (beginnings: January)

Liber (Dionysus)

Volcanus (Hephaistos) god of fire

Mercurius (Hermes) god of trade

Vesta, goddess of the hearth

Ceres (Demeter) goddess of fruitfulness

• Special deities associated with springs,

groves, and caves.

• Imperial period: worship of emperor

• Many mystery cults: Mithras (in caves)

Mithras, god of light

fighting darkness.

Creative god,

slaying bull

in cave

(blood =

source

of life).

Religion: Roman and foreign cults.

• Many foreign religions entered

Roman empire as it expanded.

• Egyptian cult of Isis was particularly

popular and later vied with Christianity

Divination:

• Romans examined entrails to predict

the future (Etruscans famed diviners)

10.b.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Burial practices & beliefs(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


Family tombs: https://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_14.html

Diverse mortuary practices:

• Great diversity with inhumation

and cremation, plus changes in

preferences: In addition, the poor

could not afford cremation …

• Many differences in locations &

graves-tombs: status, culture, etc.

• E.g., Appian Way noble mortuary

monuments;

• Family mausoleums: vary widely

• E.g., Pompeii Street of Tombs;

• E.g., “Potters’ Fields” for pauper

class burials: E. Esquiline Hill.


https://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_14.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Tomb_(Silistra)#/

media/File:Roman_Tomb_Silistra_fresco_servant.jpg

Roman Tomb of Silistra (NE Bulgaria):

• Town in southern Dobruja, Lower Danube River;

• Mid-4th cent. AD (pre-376 AD), in Durostorum;

• Pagan art in frescoes on 11 interior panels;

• 2.60 x 3.30 metre, East-West burial chamber;

• Affluent resident of the town (tomb not completed)




10.c.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Art, philosophy, law,

& other things(Ancient Rome/ Roman Empire)

Roman art, sculpture, & architecture:

• Roman art = grew from Greek art

(arriving via Italy & Sicily; Etruscans)

• Roman architecture developed through

practical requirements

• Innovations: moulding & mortar;

baked bricks; arch & vault techniques.

• Portrait busts: replicating exact features

of face versus Greek idealization of

human form (perfect physique)

• Historic relief, including triumphal

processions.

• Wall paintings decorating homes, etc.

• Later mosaic art (later Antiquity)

• …

Origin of Rome:

• Oral tradition:Twins Romulus & Remus

abandoned as children

on banks of the Tiber

• Rescued & suckled by a

She-wolf

• Rescued later by shepherds

• Later quarrelled →

Romulus killed Remus

• Romulus “founded” Rome

ca. 750 BC (Roman writers),

including city institutions.

• Story recorded around

3rd century BC

• 8th cent. BC simple huts

found on Palatine hill

• Romulus → king non-hereditary

• Chose 100 men → senate

→ descendants = patricians

-People → 3 tribes → each

30 units (curiae) → assembly

The Law:• Some consider Roman law its

greatest contribution to the world.

• The law of the peoples

(added to customary law)

• Could be applied to non-Romans

• Separate from private, internal

family matters (legal relations)

• Initially the Priesthood maintained

the law (part of divine regulations)

• Magistracy proposed laws of the

Republic (passed by pop. Assembly)

• Jurists initially counsellors →

legal schools in Imperial Period

(Sabinians & Proculians).

• Roman law survives in modern

Europe

Recreation: The Coliseum• Public entertainment placated the

poorer masses (& unemployed)

• Major aspect of social life & relations

• Entertainment provided by local

officials in competition with other

dignitaries (= patronage).

• The emperor could out-do such

patronage with greater displays of

wealth and generosity.

The Coliseum: Entertainment for the masses• Games both placated and worsened social tensions

• Games included:

- Gladiatorial events

- Naval battles in coliseum

- Chariot races (in stadium)

- Wild beast fights

- Executions of individuals & peoples (slaves) in arena

- Combat between men and animals



socializing.


Literature:• A. Tibullus & S. Propertius Augustan elegy







• etc.

10.d.

COGNITIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY:Religion, temples, rites, burials,

art, philosophy, and other things



11.

APPEARANCE:(e.g., clothing, health,

bioarchaeology, etc.)(Roman Empire)


11. Who Were They? What Were They Like?

The Archaeology of People.

Late 18th/19th cent. AD New Zealand:

- Ethnographic data on Maori nuclear

families: 1 household per 2 store pits

= 6 adults per 2 store pits

36 pits →18 households →108 persons

Kalahari Desert & Aust. aborigines:

- 25 persons on average per H-G band

- Band size varies per season over time

Larger areas/populations:

- Greece in 431 BC: 315,000 population

- Greece in 323 BC: 258,000 population

- Anc. Rome at maximum(?) extent:

450,000

- World populations:

a. Paleolithic-Mesolithic 5-20 million

Diversity:

Urban to rural populations,

and Italy to other societies,

Cultures, & ethnic groups.

Multi-cultural populations too

11.a.

APPEARANCE:Clothing, adornment,

appearance, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Daily Life in the Roman

Empire: appearance• Funerary monuments yield

images of daily life

(particularly in W. empire)

• Precise detail:

- Family life & small-scale

industrial settings

- Iron working (blacksmith)

- Butcher shop

- Green grocer

- Shopkeeper

- Apothecary

- Stage coach

Pompeii: reconstruction.

→ Physical remains …

Plaster cast from hollow.

11.b.

APPEARANCE:Ethnicity, lifeways, food,

language, characteristics,(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)

Various ethnic/cultural groups:• Celtic with sub-groups

• Germanic with sub-groups

• Latin with sub-groups

• Berber with sub-groups

• Balkan with sub-groups

• Semitic with sub-groups

• Iranian with sub-groups

• Caucasian with sub-groups

• Greek with sub-groups

• Other with sub-groups

The Roman Empire

contained many

ethnic groupings

https://i.redd.it/alivb01qrn541.png






The Archaeology of People.2.5. What did they look like?

• Preserved bodies = ideal:

-Tollund man; Egy. mummies.

• Portraits:

-Upper paleolithic+; mummy cases.

•

• Sculpture:

- Greek & Roman busts.

• Life & death masks:

-Sometimes comparable with portraits

• Comparisons between skeletal

remains & portraits:

15th cent. AD: Marie de Bourgogne

Tsar Nicholas II & Alexandra remains.

• Other info:

Qn.Tiye hair locket in labelled Tut’s tomb

compared with unidentified mummy.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiV_c_1wo7XAhWn1IMKHa4cAdUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fio9.gizmodo.com%2Fancient-roman-funeral-masks-made-from-wax-were-freakish-1496284227&psig=AOvVaw3xYpwNk5HYGoyKSBPpe-ay&ust=1509115346765753

11.c.

APPEARANCE:Health, medicine, nutrition,

life expectancy, etc.(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)




4.4.c. Lead poisoning.

• Past toxic substances, such as

lead, have also caused illness

and death.

Roman period England:

• High % of lead in bones at

Poundbury (via diet).

AD 1845 expedition to NW

(Canada):

• Very high % of lead poisoning

from lead-soldered food tins,

glazed pottery, lead foil lining.

United States 17th-19th cent. AD:

• Various lead glazes on ceramics,

etc., → lead absorbed via food

→ lead poisoning.

E.g., Roman lead water pipes




5.2. Malnutrition.

• Malnutrition affects body: Harris lines.

Teeth:

Poorly mineralized dentine (lacking

in milk, fish, oil, animal fats)

Abraded: sand & grit in food.

Palate & gum conditions:

Scurvy = a lack of vitamin C

E.g., Sailors’ diet (lacking fresh food)

Body size & condition:

Herculaneum: Flatter leg bones in

adults from malnutrition (less protein).

Textual-pictorial record:

Su Wen: 3rd millennium BC text noting

what = apparently a vitamin B deficiency

Strabo also discusses deficient diet (V-B)

Egy. art portrays famine victims Dyn.5



The Archaeology of People.4.6. Medical knowledge.

Dentistry: Egy. & Roman texts note

wiring to retain false teeth, etc.

Trepanation: removing pressure on

brain (migraines; epilepsy; etc.).

8000-7000+ BP (Andes especially).

Splints for broken bones:

3rd millennium BC Egypt

Artificial toes: Ancient Egypt

Removal of stillborn infant:

4th cent. AD burial (cemetery in UK)

Amputation: 2nd cent AD body (Rome)

Surgical equipment:

Pompeii; Roman shipwreck; Peru AD

450-750; Mary Rose wreck AD 1600s

Hospital: 11th cent AD Buddhist clinic

11.d.

APPEARANCE:Clothing, adornment, language, ethnicity,

lifeways, food, health, medicine,

nutrition, life expectancy, etc.



12.

PROCESSES

OF CHANGE:(Roman Empire)

Introduction to Archaeology: Renfrew & Bahn 2019 (8th ed.):

Special Lecture-1: Reconstructing Ancient Landscapes.

Timeline Early Rome → Republic → Imperial Rome:

• Legendary tradition of 7 kings of Rome = 750 – 510 BC

(Foundation of Rome by Romulus, etc.)

• Roman Republic (invasions; battles; etc.) = 510 – 272+ BC

• 1st Punic War → 2nd Punic War (Hannibal) = 264 – 202 BC

• Rome expanding Eastward (Greece) = 202 – 133 BC

• Rome civil wars (two phases) = 133 – 44 BC

• Roman Principate (→ death of J. Caesar) = 44 – 30 BC .

• Augustus Caesar (Octavian) = 30 – 27 BC

• Julio-Claudian dynasty = 27 BC – 68 AD

• Flavian, Nervo-Trajanic, & Antonine dynasties = 69 – 192 AD

• Severan dynasty = 193 – 235 AD

• Political anarchy & decline = 235 – 284 AD

• Western & Eastern Roman empires = 284 – 476 AD

• Barbarians invade & rule Italy = 476 AD .

• Eastern Roman empire continues = 491 – 565 AD

12.a-c.

Change:Selected changes, and

factors behind change,

at the advent, during, or at

the “end” of the past culture(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


12. Why Did Things Change? Explanation in Archaeology.

8.3.c. Catastrophe theory

and chaos theory.

• Catastrophe theory, derived from

mathematics, promotes that when

a series of factors work together,

gradual changes in these factors

can produce sudden effects.

• R. Thom describe such changes

as elementary catastrophes,

applying one to an archaeological

case.

Landscape around Mt. Vesuvius

changed in AD 79, plus impact …

• Naval HQ damaged;

• Several towns & farms lost;

• Population & regional economy

sustained much damage …

Politics: Republic.• Rome changed during wars of conquest:

• Power held by patricians & plebeians

(nobles dominating senate + magistrates)

• Nobility = part of politically powerful and

wealthy land owners.

• Rome governed by annual, elected

magistrates & senate (ex-magistrates)

• Guiding Roman foreign policy

• Improving life for lower classes

• All full citizens could participate in voting

assemblies.

• Voting tallied by groups:

E.g., local tribes: 4 “urban” & 31 “rural

with only landowners registering in “rural”

tribes versus landless urban tribes

→ wealthy landowners had more votes

whilst peasant land-holders unable to

attend assembly which was held in Rome.

Religion and the State: The spread of Christianity: →

i.e., From active persecution to tolerance to official religion …

Religion & the State: Christianity

• Various persecutions of Christians

during Imperial era:

64 AD Limited persecution by Nero

81-96 AD Limited pers. by Domitan

98-117 Limited pers. by Trajan

249-51 AD 1st general/broad persecution

257-58 AD Persecution under Valerian

260 AD Edict of Toleration (40 years)

303-11 AD Persecution under Diocletian

313 AD Milan Edict of Toleration

• 330 AD: Byzantium renamed

Constantinople → Christian capital in

deliberate contrast to “heathen” Rome

• 337 AD Constantine the Great baptised

on his death bed

• 391 AD: Christianity = officially

proclaimed the state religion

with other religions being

prohibited.

476 AD FALL OF THE WEST ROMAN EMPIRE

Complex & debated factors behind fall of (West) Roman Empire

• Barbarian invasions:

AD 300s invading Goths; 410 Visigoth Alaric sacks Rome; etc.

• Economic decline & overreliance upon slaves:

Costly wars; overspending; high taxes; inflation; wealth disparity

• Late 3rd cent. AD division of Empire (Diocletian):

West Empire (Rome) lost resources of East; > vulnerable; etc.

• Overextended & high cost of military/defenses:

Hard & costly to administer effectively; insufficient troops; etc.

• Corruption & instability of government:

2nd–3rd cent AD assassinations of emperors; Senate corrupt; etc.

• Migrations/invasions of Huns & other barbarians:

Late 4th cent. AD Huns invade N.Europe, forcing Germans south

• Rise of Christianity & decline of traditional Roman values:

313-380 AD tolerance→official religion; eroded status of emperor

• Composition of Roman legions changed:

Late 3rd cent.+ began hiring non-Roman mercenaries (Goths+),

with minimal/no loyalty to Rome → many later aided attacks …

12.d. Change:Selected changes, and

factors behind change,

at the advent, during, or at

the “end” of the past culture(Ancient Rome/Roman Empire)


13.

SOURCES:(Roman Empire)

Other documentaries on

Ancient Rome:

E.g., History Channel series:

Rome: Engineering an

Empire (94 minutes)

Joanne Berry (2007)Chester Starr (1983)

Documentary option: 2010 (270 mins.)

NG When Rome Ruled …

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrq9ck

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrq9ck


History Rome: Rise & Fall of An Empire

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2w3ths

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2w3ths

Documentary option: n.d. (50 min.)

Kulture The Romans in North Africa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ3EHor-Npg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ3EHor-Npg


BBC Hadrian’s Wall: Edge of Empire …

Documentary option: 2001 (50 min.)

BBC Pompeii: The Last Day …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10XtuFWrCRg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10XtuFWrCRg


Kultur Pompeii: The Doomed City …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaKM7qJNuY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaKM7qJNuY0


NGA Pompeii and the Roman Villa.


PBS Roman City …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K7Yds8bWz4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K7Yds8bWz4


Kultur Ancient Rome: Glorious Empire

Documentary option: 2005 (94 min).

History Rome: Engineering an Empire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5obOUDyQ5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5obOUDyQ5s

Documentary option: (54 min.)

NOVA Secrets of Lost Empires: Colosseum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K22D7oh4i5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K22D7oh4i5g

Documentary option: (54 min.)

NOVA Secrets of Lost Empires II: Roman Bath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo9MGYDwheo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo9MGYDwheo


TLC Byzantium: The Lost Empire …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c80r7YphZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c80r7YphZU

Anth.106 Ppt. background lecture (no. 4), on Ancient Roman Empire, accompanying documentary no. 4...

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Transcript of Anth.106 Ppt. background lecture (no. 4), on Ancient Roman Empire, accompanying documentary no. 4...