Charlotte with the tombstone of Vedica at Ilkley Manor House
Charlotte Bell is a fourth-year PhD student in Archaeology where her research looks at the misrepresentation of women in Roman Britain. Charlotte is a steering committee member at the British Epigraphy Society (BES) which promotes the study of inscriptions, texts and historical documents in Greek, Latin and other languages. She has been recently interviewed by BBC Radio Leeds on funerary inscriptions in Roman Britain.
How did I become an archaeological researcher on Romano-British women?
During my masters at the University of Liverpool, I chose to research women in Roman Britain using funerary inscriptions. I was attracted to the topic, thanks to my supervisor Dr Philip Freeman, who encouraged my study of gender in Roman Britain. I was also attracted to the topic as the last book was written in 1989, meaning there was a gap in the research. I chose funerary inscriptions as the data was easily accessible through the Roman Inscriptions of Britain website but found there was a larger number of women’s tombstones than expected. I discovered there was a lot of women who had erected tombstones for their husbands, which challenged the idea that they were financially reliant on them. This linked with my research into women’s status and how that was portrayed through tombstones. It also challenges contemporary assumptions we have for women in Roman Britain, and the concept that they were been financially dependent on their husbands.
After I finished my masters, I realised there was a lot of unanswered questions around Iron Age women and their lives in Roman Britain. As I enjoyed my time so much at the University of Liverpool, I decided to continue my research in the Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology department. I expanded the data I used in my MA from funerary inscriptions to burials which forms the research I am working on now.
Why should we study Romano-British Women?
Research on Roman women looks mainly at clothes, hairstyles, and jewellery, rather than conflict, disease, and financial independence. Most people think Roman women stayed at home with the children and spun wool, however this is an assumption based on societal norms rather than archaeological evidence.
The last book on women in Roman Britain was written more than 35 years ago, showing it is significantly under-researched and needs more representation in academic circles. Assumptions that there is not enough data for Romano-British women has impacted on scholars’ willingness to research the topic. However, my research on funerary inscriptions and burials have revealed plenty of data is available. It can give us an idea of how women lived which can challenge contemporary assumptions we have. In a field that is dominated by men and studies of the Roman military, we need to balance it by including research on women and their participation in society.
What do I aim to find out and why does it matter?
My research looks at burials and funerary inscriptions where I use a comparative model between Late Iron Age to Late Roman Britain. I hope to show how the treatment of women has changed over time and how different time periods had an impact on how women lived. Comparing different burial rites and the age in which they died should reveal how the Romans impacted on the lives of women. I want to look at whether this improved women’s lives or whether it destroyed Iron Age culture. Looking at female burials should tell me how much they accepted Roman culture which helps us re-consider if Britain was ‘Roman’ or not. Scholars call this ‘Romanisation’ and is a big debate in Roman research. Romanisation is the idea that when Romans conquered a region, they introduced the Latin language, temples, bathhouses, and religion to make that region ‘Roman.’
Women in Roman Britain are usually represented as mothers and wives, despite evidence suggesting they could also be wealthy women that played a key role in Romano-British society. Relooking at the skeletal remains can help us understand how they lived their lives, and this part of my research is really exciting because it shows Romano-British women had a hard life. There is a big difference between how we perceive these women, and the skeletons which show accidents, disease and conflict were high.
What next?
I hope to explore funerary inscriptions in more detail following my PhD. I want to use an exciting software called Virtual Reflectance Transformation Imaging (V-RTI) to make 3D models of women’s tombstones. V-RTI reveals details not visible to the naked eye and will help me build upon my PhD research I am looking forward to using V-RTI on all Romano-British women’s tombstones in the Northwest and produce an online exhibition which will preserve these tombstones for future research.