International research network publishes in the landmark 50th issue of the journal Internet Archaeology exploring new ways of processing millions of Roman artefacts associated with the consumption of food and drink
- Research draws on datasets from sites such as Pompeii, well-preserved military sites such as Vindolanda and other urban sites including London and Colchester in the UK
- Studies investigate social behaviour associated with how food and drink was consumed in the Roman world
- New models are designed for investigating artefact assemblages that have, to date, been too large to investigate for understanding social behaviour
The landmark 50th issue of the journal Internet Archaeology highlights the pioneering research conducted by a network of academics, professional archaeologists and museum curators, led by the Universities of Leicester and Exeter, who are investigating new ways of analysing vast quantities of Roman artefacts in order to better understand eating and drinking habits across the Roman world.
Eating and drinking are core activities around which interactions within and between households and communities are structured.
Current knowledge of everyday consumption practices for the majority living in the Roman Empire remains uneven, however, and little is known about how, where and with whom most people ate their meals, or what aspects of this social practice might have conveyed a universal sense of shared behaviour.
The 'Big Data on the Roman Table' (BDRT) research network, which is led by Professor Penelope Allison from the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History and Professor Martin Pitts from the University of Exeter, has explored theoretical and technological approaches to analysing the large amount of available artefactual data from the Roman world, so that social behaviour associated with food-consumption practices can indeed be investigated.
