A Social Archaeology of Roman and Late Antique Egypt

Ellen Swift is Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Kent. She studied at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London for her BA, MA, and PhD. Grant-funded research undertaken by Ellen as Principal Investigator includes a Leverhulme Research Fellowship in 2013 and AHRC project 'Roman and Late Antique Artefacts from Egypt' in 2017-19. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. She has wide research interests in artefact studies, the late to post-Roman transition in the West, and Roman and late antique art, and has worked on artefacts from both the north-western provinces of the Roman empire and from Roman and late antique Egypt.Jo Stoner is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent. She studied Art History at undergraduate and Masters level at the University of Sussex, before completing a PhD in Classics and Archaeology at the University of Kent. She published her doctoral research on the lives of personal possessions in Late Antiquity as a monograph in 2019 and she recently completed a post-doc on the AHRC-funded 'Roman and Late Antique Artefacts from Egypt' project. Jo's research interests include the values of Roman and late antique artefacts, organic artefacts, personal meaning, and craft processes.April Pudsey is Head of History and Archaeology of Childhood at the interdisciplinary Manchester Centre for Youth Studies. She studied at the University of Manchester for her BA, MA and PhD, and has held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, in addition to a number of research and teaching posts since 2007. She works closely with documentary papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt, and has published around ancient demography, children, and family in the Roman world.

• 1: Introduction Part One: Exploring the Social Functions of Dress Objects 2: Introduction to Part One 3: Original String and Bead Assemblages 4: Bracelets and Torcs 5: Shoes and Sandals 6: Concluding Discussion to Part One Part Two: The Domestic Realm and Everyday Experience 7: Introduction to Part Two 8: Production and Experience: Objects Related to Textile Production 9: Children's Material Culture 10: Sound-making Objects 11: Concluding Discussion to Part Two 12: Egypt in the Roman and Late Antique World: An Artefacts Perspective Appendix 1: Phased Bead Assemblages from Qau Appendix 2: Assemblages of Beads with Evidence of Original Association Appendix 3: Data Set of Artefacts Including Ancient String Appendix 4: Data Set of Bracelets and Torcs Appendix 5: Data Set of Shoes Appendix 6: Data Set of Spindle Whorls Appendix 7: Sound Measurement and Studio Recording of Artefact Replicas

This valuable publication adds much to our awareness and knowledge of the material culture of Roman and late antique Egypt. It is wonderfully produced and particularly well-illustrated.