Dress Accessories, Culture and Identity in the Late Roman Period

This paper focuses on the importance of assessing cultural practices associated with objects, as well as the appearance of objects themselves, in an evaluation of their meaning in the past. Focusing on Roman dress accessories, it investigates the relationship between dress and identity in some detail. Case-studies are used to illustrate the key points, drawing upon a data base of artefacts in grave assemblages. The paper documents the existence of established cultural conventions in the occurrence and positioning of artefacts at burial, for example, the wearing of finger-rings and bracelets of different materials in specific positions. These trends are argued to illustrate the significance of material culture in the past in shaping cultural identities.