Keeping up Appearances on the Romano-British Frontier
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Roman Vindolanda lies on the Stanegate Road to the south of Hadrian's Wall, on the northern frontier of the Romano-British province. It has complex stratigraphy with at least ten layers of occupation dating from around AD 85 to its abandonment in the 5th century, but it is the first five levels from AD 85 to AD 130-139 that have produced some of the most significant organic objects from the Empire, including the Vindolanda writing tablets (Birley 2009). One of the distinctive aspects of the Vindolanda collection is the large number of wooden hair combs found in these levels. Over 160 boxwood hair combs have been unearthed from the site. Resembling modern nit combs, these small objects had the primary function of cleaning and detangling hair, but further examination of the collection allows for the exploration of different aspects of style and function.
Source: Internet Archaeology
DOI: 10.11141/ia.42.6.6
Author: Barbara Birley
Institution: Vindolanda Trust
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,103
OpenAlex ID: W2533720407