De Romeinse fibulae uit Oudenburg

This article discusses the research done on the brooches found in the late Roman fort and burial site at Oudenburg (Belgium). The first part aims to explain the context of the finds and typochronological data of the brooches from the excavation Oudenburg-Spegelaere on the southwest corner of the fort. Furthermore, it attempts to place these finds in a wider network by comparing some similar finds from other sites and their main distribution. The second part focuses specific on the crossbow brooches. After a short introduction about the research history, the article continues with the technological and social interpretation derived from the detailed measurements and observations of the brooches from both the fort and burial site.Dit artikel is de uiteenzetting van het onderzoek op de fibulae die gevonden zijn in het laat-Romeinse castellum en grafveld van Oudenburg. Het eerste deel behandelt de vondstcontext en typochronologische gegevens van de fibulae uit de opgraving Oudenburg-Spegelaere op de zuidwesthoek van het fort. Bovendien wordt er getracht om deze vondsten in een breder netwerk te plaatsen aan de hand van enkele vergelijkende voorbeelden en hun distributie. Het tweede deel concentreert zich specifiek op de kruisboogfibula. Naast een korte inleiding over voorafgaande studies, worden de vondsten uit het fort en het grafveld onderworpen aan gedetailleerde metingen en observaties, om nieuwe technologische en sociale interpretaties aan te reiken

Is archaeological practice obscuring our understanding of the Late Roman fifth century?

The fifth century in Northern Gaul is traditionally characterised by barbarian invasions, conflict, abandonment, and large migrations. However, there is little material evidence that can inform us on the identity, origin, and activities of local communities. This paper addresses the role of archaeological practice in obscuring the Late Roman fifth century. First, the state of research for the Late Roman period in the region of Flanders (Belgium) is presented to illustrate issues concerning identification, chronology, and interpretation of the material record in Northern Gaul. Second, the impact of theory and narratives on the collection of archaeological data is briefly reviewed, followed by an examination of the influence of classification, periodisation, and time perception on archaeological practice and their role in the persistence of current biases. Finally, some considerations are offered for new approaches to identify and interpret the material record from the Late Roman fifth century

Rethinking migration and mobility in the late roman west with ceramic petrography

For some time the study of migration with ceramics was considered unreliable or unuseful after the ethnic discourse applied by cultural historians. The idea of 'pots=people' was heavily criticized, and rightly so: for similarities in style can result from mobility in people, goods and ideas. Yet, discarding the ceramic evidence altogether is not the solution. With a proper understanding of the limitations and issues, and ideally supplemented with other datasets, the distribution of ceramics and ceramic technology can be very useful in studying migration and even distinguishing between different kinds of mobility. This poster aims to demonstrate the use of ceramic petrography to investigate migration and mobility in the Late Roman West. By identifying fabrics of traditional house-made pottery from Roman Gaul (local) and several Germanic territories outside the Roman Empire (non-local), the results demonstrate continued traditions, the arrival of new immigrants with ‘foreign’ traditions and new or redefined ceramic productions. On the one hand, these new techniques are the result of technological changes due to restrictions and changes in natural resources, and on the other hand can be linked to choices resulted from the merging of various cultural and ethnic groups

Evaluation of handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy results of Roman copper alloy brooches by using archaeological typology

As part of the Late Roman research project in Belgium and the Netherlands, 187 Roman copper alloy brooches were analyzed by means of handheld X-ray fluorescence (hXRF) spectroscopy in order to explore the relationship between composition, production organization and change over time. The selected brooch type is called ‘the crossbow brooch’, which is an artifact that is closely associated with the Late Roman elite, frequently occurring in many portraits on mosaics, sculptures and fresco’s from the 4th to the 6th century. The biography of the crossbow brooch, however, starts in the 3rd century as a simple military object and develops into one of the most significant symbols of Roman state authority in the 5th and 6th century. The hXRF spectrometer provided a non-destructive, mobile, quick and inexpensive way of analyzing these brooches that were part of valued museum and archaeological collections. The samples were selected to cover the entire chronological, geographical and stylistic variation of these brooches in the study area. Each object was measured in three to five locations to compensate the heterogeneity of the copper alloy and the geometry of the object. The compositional results revealed a continuous variation that crosses copper alloy boundaries with no evident groups or trends, as is often the case for archaeological data sets. To move beyond a black box approach that provides little insights, the typological information was added to interpret the compositional data. An archaeological typology is constructed based on observed variations that represent expressions of choices made by craftsmen and workshops. In other words, typology contains information that can help explain compositional variation caused by different manufacturing techniques or production centers, changes in consumer demands, as well as factor in aspects of chronology and regionality. Consequently, the division of the compositional data in the six types of crossbow brooches allowed to distinguish patterns that indicated changes in production organization related to social context. The combination of typology and compositional data allowed to characterize the different phases in the crossbow brooches’ life history, which in its turn contributed to the larger narrative of the rise to power of the military elite in the Late Roman period

Towards a differentiated view on mobility and migration in the transformation of local societies in Late Antiquity: the archaeological case of the Low Countries

By focusing on two different transformations of local societies in the southern Low Countries during Late Antiquity, this paper illustrates the necessity of differentiation in regional responses over time to, consciously or unconsciously, deal with continuous processes of mobility and migration