Not Always Black and White: The Transmission and Social Role of Black-and-White Mosaics in Roman Britannia (15 min)

Presenters

Caroline Nemechek, University of Michigan

Abstract

This paper examines a corpus of second century C.E. black-and-white mosaics from Roman Britannia as evidence for the agency of local mosaic crafters. Crafter agency continues to be a topic of interest for scholars of various fields, yet is seldom addressed in the study of Roman mosaics. This is partly on account of the contradiction that while mosaics themselves preserve well, there is little to no surviving traces of the production process. My paper interrogates the mosaics further, as they offer underutilized testimony of the production process: the choice of materials, color preferences, and the transmission of nonfigural motifs. By utilizing this strand of evidence, I argue that far from creating a purposeful reference to an older tradition of Italian mosaics, as previous studies implied, these mosaic crafters were developing a new, highly localized mosaic tradition in conversation with the first century C.E. mosaics from the Fishbourne Villa. Rather than serving as a simple marker of Romanitas, examination of crafter agency reveals a more complicated picture of the role of mosaics as aestheticized surfaces and social symbols. In this situation, a grand local site—a hallmark of quality, legitimacy, and status—provides inspiration. Crafters are actively responding to and adapting a Roman art form through the lens of an already historic site, for particular purpose in their current cultural, social, and political reality.