Finds from the Frontier

This conference might interest some of our readers. Our very own Rob Collins seems to be heavily involved with this, back to your day job Dwarf King! Finds conference logoFinds from the Frontier is a conference that aims to bring together finds specialists of the Roman period with the specific aim of shedding light on the lives of the 4th century limitanei of Britain . This late period is generally seen as one of declining standards in the Roman military and materially poorer than the previous centuries. Do the artefacts that were left behind justify this stance?

While individual papers are focused on individual classes of artefacts, this conference will not simply provide papers offering typologies for 4th–5th century material culture. Rather, the primary emphasis of the conference is to provide interpretations of the life of the late military community (soldiers and ‘civilians’) through artefactual evidence. What do the finds tell us about frontier life in terms of eating, personal appearance, economy, and identity?

At present, the following have agreed to speak on these topics, with other papers and speakers to be confirmed in the near future:

The 4th Century Frontier Tony Wilmott

Coins Richard Brickstock

Personal Appearance Lindsay Allason-Jones

Epigraphy and Written Sources Mark Hassall

Environmental Evidence Jacquie Huntley

Brooches Rob Collins

‘Barbarians’ North of the Wall Fraser Hunter

Identity Hilary Cool