Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Swift, Ellen
Titre(s) : Roman artefacts and society [Texte imprimé] : design, behaviour and experience / Ellen Swift
Édition : 1st ed.
Publication : Oxford (GB) : Oxford University press, 2017, cop. 2017
Description matérielle : xi, 305 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Comprend : Introduction ; Function ; Behaviour/experience ; Users ; Production and users
; Conclusion.
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-297) and index
Design theory is used to investigate Roman artefacts in a new way, making a significant
contribution to both Roman social history, and our understanding of the relationships
that exist between artefacts and people. Based on extensive data collection and the
close study of artefacts from museum collections and archives, the book examines the
relationship between artefacts, everyday behaviour, and experience. The concept of
'affordances'-features of an artefact that make possible, and incline users towards,
particular uses for functional artefacts-is an important one for the approach taken.
This concept is carefully evaluated by considering affordances in relation to other
sources of evidence, such as use-wear, archaeological context, the end-products resulting
from artefact use, and experimental reconstruction. Artefact types explored in the
case studies include locks and keys, pens, shears, glass vessels, dice, boxes, and
finger-rings, using material mainly drawn from the north-western Roman provinces,
with some material also from Roman Egypt. The book then considers how we can use artefacts
to understand particular aspects of Roman behaviour and experience, including discrepant
experiences according to factors such as age, social position, and left- or right-handedness,
which are fostered through artefact design. The relationship between production and
users of artefacts is also explored, investigating what particular production methods
make possible in terms of user experience, and also examining production constraints
that have unintended consequences for users. The book examines topics such as the
perceived agency of objects, differences in social practice across the provinces,
cultural change and development in daily practice, and the persistence of tradition
and social convention. It shows that design intentions, everyday habits of use, and
the constraints of production processes each contribute to the reproduction and transformation
of material culture
Sujet(s) : Culture matérielle -- Rome
Arts décoratifs antiques -- Société -- Rome
Moeurs et coutumes -- Rome
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 0198785267. - ISBN 9780198785262. - ISBN 9781137390356 (erroné)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb452951078
Notice n° :
FRBNF45295107
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
