Young and old in Roman Britain: aspects of age identity and life-course transitions in regional burial practice
Young and old in Roman Britain: aspects of age identity and life-course transitions in regional burial practice
Age is an intrinsic aspect of identity and, by extension, is inherent in social organisation. This thesis utilises a life course methodology to examine aspects of age identity in Roman Britain, as expressed in the burial evidence from contexts in the east and west of central southern Britain during the 1st-early 5th centuries CE. It seeks to establish a life course framework in order to identify the key age stages of the gendered life course. Within this framework, the impact of regionalism on the expression of age is explored, with particular reference to urban and rural differentiation in age and gender identity. Finally, this thesis considers how being young and old was represented in burial, identifying the key age characteristics and exploring age concepts relating to these social sub-groups.
The results show a defined Romano-British life course focussed upon the young adult. The life course trajectory was gender-specific, with female age identity circumscribed by fertility whilst male age stages were influenced by external socioeconomic factors. How age was represented in burial reflected regional concepts of identity, particularly within the burial of the young and the old. Furthermore, within the regional patterns of the life course, a defined urban/rural divide is visible in how age was expressed, indicating the divergent impact of urban and rural life ways. In regard to the young, this thesis establishes the trajectory of the sub-adult life course, and identified that the age characteristics visible in burial encompassed aspects of physical and social development. This thesis also establishes the visibility of the elderly within the burial record, identifying an unexplored social sub-group, the study of which will further understanding of age identity in Roman provincial contexts.
Moore, Alison Jane
9f5e205e-085b-4ee2-9603-f9b3bd9887a4
September 2009
Moore, Alison Jane
9f5e205e-085b-4ee2-9603-f9b3bd9887a4
Hinton, David
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Zakrzewski, Sonia
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Moore, Alison Jane
(2009)
Young and old in Roman Britain: aspects of age identity and life-course transitions in regional burial practice.
University of Southampton, School of Humanities, Doctoral Thesis, 348pp.
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Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Age is an intrinsic aspect of identity and, by extension, is inherent in social organisation. This thesis utilises a life course methodology to examine aspects of age identity in Roman Britain, as expressed in the burial evidence from contexts in the east and west of central southern Britain during the 1st-early 5th centuries CE. It seeks to establish a life course framework in order to identify the key age stages of the gendered life course. Within this framework, the impact of regionalism on the expression of age is explored, with particular reference to urban and rural differentiation in age and gender identity. Finally, this thesis considers how being young and old was represented in burial, identifying the key age characteristics and exploring age concepts relating to these social sub-groups.
The results show a defined Romano-British life course focussed upon the young adult. The life course trajectory was gender-specific, with female age identity circumscribed by fertility whilst male age stages were influenced by external socioeconomic factors. How age was represented in burial reflected regional concepts of identity, particularly within the burial of the young and the old. Furthermore, within the regional patterns of the life course, a defined urban/rural divide is visible in how age was expressed, indicating the divergent impact of urban and rural life ways. In regard to the young, this thesis establishes the trajectory of the sub-adult life course, and identified that the age characteristics visible in burial encompassed aspects of physical and social development. This thesis also establishes the visibility of the elderly within the burial record, identifying an unexplored social sub-group, the study of which will further understanding of age identity in Roman provincial contexts.
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Published date: September 2009
Organisations:
University of Southampton, Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 360559
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/360559
PURE UUID: a7e17d7a-2539-43ea-b0b1-78f4ccc3c68a
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Date deposited: 13 Dec 2013 12:19
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 01:51
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Author:
Alison Jane Moore
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