Cultural Transformations in Germania Secunda

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction and literature review 

Migration (theory) in (Late Roman) archaeology

Approaches to non-Roman identities in Late Roman archaeology

Discussion and thesis themes

Research objectives and thesis structure

Chapter 2: Migrant communities in rural settlements in Germania Secunda

Settlement (dis)contuinuity

Sunken feature buildings (SFB)

Rye cultivation/consumption

Handmade pottery

House architecture

Discussion

Chapter 3: Spatial and chronological distribution of civilian dress accessories

Late 3rd-4th century brooches and hairpins

4th-5th century brooches

5th century brooches and hairpins

Discussion

Chapter 4: Spatial and chronological distribution of military dress accessories

Crossbow brooches

The Late Roman military belt

Distribution and deposition

Depositional practices: ‘belt graves’

Decoration on belts

Social connotations

Discussion

Chapter 5: Methodology for pXRF and dimensional measurements

Literature review

Set-up and review

Late Roman copper alloys and the possibility of recycling

Sampling strategy and object choice

Methods for presenting data

Chapter 6: Shape of the pXRF dataset

The composition of the dataset

Decorative surface treatments

A chronological perspective

A first comparison between military and civilian alloys

Chapter 7: Compositional patterns of production in copper-alloy dress accessories

Military dress ornaments

Coefficient of variation: dimensions

A comparison with contemporary civilian dress accessories

A brief look towards the north

Conclusion

Chapter 8: Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix 1. Inventory of long and short houses from Late Roman settlements in Germania Secunda

Appendix 2. Inventory of sunken feature buildings (SFB) from Late Roman settlements in Germania Magna and Germania Secunda

Digital Appendices

Appendix 3. Inventory of Late Roman civilian-associated dress accessories from Germania Magna and Germania Secunda

Appendix 4. Inventory of Late Roman military-associated dress accessories from Germania Magna and Germania Secunda

Appendix 5. pXRF dataset on Late Roman copper-alloy dress accessories from Germania Magna and Germania Secunda

Appendix 6. Dataset of object dimensions of Late Roman copper-alloy dress accessories from Germania Magna and Germania Secunda

Plates

Bibliography

Classical sources

References

About the Author

Berber S. van der Meulen-van der Veen acquired her BA and MA in Archaeology at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam in 2014 and 2017 respectively. From 2018-2023, she carried out her AHRC-funded PhD research at Cardiff University and the University of Reading into the archaeology of the Late Roman Lower Rhine frontier. She currently works as a lecturer in historical archaeology at the University of Amsterdam and sits on the editorial board of the Historical Metallurgy Journal.