The first in-depth study of the society and culture of Roman and late antique Egypt that uses everyday artefacts as its principal source of evidence, this book transforms our understanding of many aspects of its society and culture. It represents a fundamental reference work for scholars, with much new and essential information on a wide range of artefacts, many of which are found not only in Egypt, but also in the wider Roman and late antique world. It also sets out a new interpretation of everyday life and aspects of social relations in Egypt in the period under study. By taking a social archaeology approach, it contributes substantial insights into everyday practices and their social meanings in the past. Artefacts from UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology are the principal source of evidence. Most of these objects have not been the subject of any previous research. The book integrates the close study of artefact features with other sources of evidence, including papyri and visual material. There are two principal parts to the book, Part I: ‘Exploring the Social Functions of Dress Objects’, and Part II: ‘The Domestic Realm and Everyday Experience’. An important theme is the life course, and how both dress-related artefacts and ordinary functional objects construct age and gender-related status, and facilitate appropriate social relations and activities. There is also a particular focus on wider social experience in the domestic context. Other topics covered include economic and social changes across the period studied.

I would like to extend thanks to The Roman Society for their generous grant via the Hugh Last Fund in support of the costs of the illustrative material reproduced in this book. Also to Lloyd Bosworth for kindly advising on the artefact drawings. My thanks also go to the anonymous peer reviewers and my examiners Professors Antony Eastmond and Catherine Richardson, for their insightful comments and recommendations for the process of turning my thesis into a coherent manuscript. Also Michael Mulryan for his editing skills, and Nikos Karydis, Gavin Osbourne, Anne Stutchbury, Joe Williams, and Faith Morgan for their comments, suggestions and support throughout the entirety of this work. In particular, I wish to sincerely thank Professor Liz James for her valuable advice ever since first introducing me to the material culture of Late Antiquity. Finally, I am deeply grateful to all my friends and family who have forced food, drink, and company upon me as and when necessary, with patience and humour-if you are reading this, you know who you are. This book is dedicated to my dad Peter.

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The chapter illuminates how bracelets and torcs were used to construct social identities, and their importance as protective artefacts, using new evidence, particularly relating to diameter sizes, to question some previous interpretations of these artefacts. It starts with a preliminary discussion regarding identification and how these objects were worn. The data set of bracelets is then presented and evidence for dating of particular bracelet types is considered. Evidence for the use and social function of bracelets is then set out, particularly diameter sizes, which are shown to be important in identifying use by people at particular life course stages, for instance infants and children. Bracelets are shown to be especially common as a children’s item in Egypt, in contrast to other provinces. One particular type of bracelet, the amuletic disc bracelet, is shown to be associated with protection during pregnancy. The chapter then examines torcs, and following a literature review and discussion of dating evidence for particular types, it is established that most are of sixth- to seventh-century CE date. It is also shown that, contrary to established opinion, torcs do not have military associations in the late antique period, at least in Egypt. The diameter sizes of types of non-openable torcs instead show a strong bias to wear by infants and young children. The social functions of torcs are then discussed, which could include protection, status assertion, and signifier of dedication to a particular role. Other topics discussed include inheritance of these objects within families.

In this concluding discussion, evidence is brought together from the different categories of dress objects considered to examine further how people were assisted by objects in achieving social goals, and how these objects contributed to daily experience. Initially, the artefacts are examined from a life course perspective, in order to further illuminate the important roles and functions of dress objects at particular life course stages, a theme already evident in previous chapters. Particular types of dress objects associated with the life course stages of infancy and childhood, puberty up to menopause, and post-menopause, and their roles in life course rituals and identity construction are discussed. For infants and children, socialization and protection are important functions, while for adults, identities relating to fertility and married status are key. It is suggested that older women wore less jewellery than younger ones, and that gifting of jewellery within families was important in relation to life course stages and rituals. The various functions of dress objects in cementing and facilitating wider family and community relationships are also discussed.