The economic and social status of Romano-British rural villas in southern England
The nature of rural settlement patterns and the economy during the Roman occupation of Britain from the Claudian invasion of AD 43 to the end of the fourth century in Hampshire and West Sussex formed the focus of this research. The objective is to define a method of measuring the attributes of Romano-British ceramic assemblages that can be linked to the socio-economic status of the original owners and their villas. It is the hypothesis of this study that domestic ceramic vessels can be used as a reliable indicator of social status. A tenet of this hypothesis is that the higher social and economically wealthy Romano British villa owners would be in possession of greater amounts of ceramic fine table wares. The pottery assemblages and the architectural features of twenty villas in West Sussex and Hampshire were analysed in order to test this hypothesis. The quantities of fine wares were measured by Estimated Vessel Equivalents (EVEs) and the Romanised architectural features present were quantified by their presence. The economics of the Roman Empire was integrated with wealth and power which in itself was reflected in the fashions of the material culture together with the aspirations to acquire status. Social
Dicks, Jonathan
CC Archaeology
The economic and social status of Romano-British rural villas in southern England. The nature of rural settlement patterns and the economy during the Roman occupation of Britain from the Claudian invasion of AD 43 to the end of the fourth century in Hampshire and West Sussex formed the focus of this research. The objective is to define a method of measuring the attributes of Romano-British ceramic assemblages that can be linked to the socio-economic status of the original owners and their villas. It is the hypothesis of this study that domestic ceramic vessels can be used as a reliable indicator of social status. A tenet of this hypothesis is that the higher social and economically wealthy Romano British villa owners would be in possession of greater amounts of ceramic fine table wares. The pottery assemblages and the architectural features of twenty villas in West Sussex and Hampshire were analysed in order to test this hypothesis. The quantities of fine wares were measured by Estimated Vessel Equivalents (EVEs) and the Romanised architectural features present were quantified by their presence. The economics of the Roman Empire was integrated with wealth and power which in itself was reflected in the fashions of the material culture together with the aspirations to acquire status. Social
economic_social status romano_british rural villa southern_england nature rural_settlement pattern economy roman occupation britain claudian invasion hampshire west sussex form focus research objective define method_measure attribute romano_british ceramic_assemblage link socio_economic_status original owner villa hypothesis study domestic ceramic_vessel use reliable indicator social_status tenet hypothesis higher social economically wealthy romano_british villa owner would possession great amount ceramic fine table ware pottery_assemblages architectural_feature twenty villa west sussex hampshire analyse order_test hypothesis quantity fine ware measure vessel romanised architectural_feature present quantified presence economics roman_empire integrate wealth_power reflect fashion material_culture together aspiration acquire status social