Pewter hoards from Roman Britain
Poor man’s silver? Pewter tableware: its function,
significance and contribution to our understanding of life in Roman
Britain
Project leader: Lindsey Smith
Department:
Prehistory and Europe
Project start: October 2007
End date: 2010
Other British Museum staff: Richard Hobbs
External partners: Professor Mike
Fulford and Dr Hella Eckardt, University Of Reading: www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology
Project funded by: Arts and Humanities Research
Council Arts and Humanities Research Council (Collaborative
Doctoral Award)
The British Museum
Description:
This project undertakes research on over 100 pieces of
Romano-British pewter tableware vessels held by the British
Museum. The collection has been growing since 1844
and this is the first time it has been
fully researched or published. The majority of items are
bowls, platters, plates, jugs, ingots and ‘vessels’ and a common
interpretation is that they were functional utilitarian pieces
comprising of the typical Roman dining accoutrement of wealthy
villa owners. However, provenance from a number of finds,
has been found in areas not typically associated with a high
number of Roman villas, such as the Fens in East Anglia
and other wet or watery places.
Alternative interpretations drawing on scientific analysis of
alloy composition, wear marks, inscriptions, shapes and form will
be considered and, to date, evidence rarely shows indications of
major wear due to use. Added to the fact that pewter
is a soft material (with high lead
content), and is therefore not necessarily suitable for use at
the table, this evidence challenges the traditional
interpretation.
Evidence from hoards that have included
pewter, and depositional data, will form a major part of
this research and will aim to address wider social, economic,
religious, political and art-historical issues. For example,
the project will look at the relationship of vessel forms to
contemporary ceramics and silver vessels, the connection with
literacy and early Christian iconography and the relationship with
continental finds of pewter.
Objectives:
The results of this project will be published after the
submission of a PhD thesis in 2010.
The main objectives are:
- To help the British Museum understand the significance of
this important collection and to circulate the data
to stimulate wider debate concerning how we study
value-laden artefacts
- Construct a detailed catalogue recording shape and form, wear
marks, inscriptions and more to form the framework from
which comparable questions can be made
- Improve our knowledge of the styles and functional use of
pewter and juxtapose this against other ranges of artefacts
(ceramics, glass, metals) across regional and continental
parallels
- Improve on the chronology and perhaps show how varied habits of
metal-working were in different regions amongst different
communities
- Go beyond the physical object–contextual perspective
and enhance existing theories of pewter use by taking account
of regional and cultural diversities.
Image:
Selection of pewter vessels from the
British Museum collection
Supported by
