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5 Furnishings, Utilitarian Artifacts, and Coins Erminia Lapadula With a contribution by Anna Rita Parente Introduction Several small finds in various materials illuminate activities and aspects of the site both everyday and noteworthy.1 Though not numerous, the rudimentary picture of life at the farmhouse they paint presents some surprises. The first of the groupings is comprised of objects in glass, bone, and copper alloy that illustrate feminine cosmetics and adornment. Several unusual finds are lumped together as household instruments (instrumenta domestica) and include a bell and a weight, while another group with a familiar spindle whorl and a rare, exceptionally modern-looking thimble represents a probable major activity at San Biagio: spinning, weaving, and sewing. The production of wool may have been intended for both family needs and the marketplace. The lamps are surprisingly few, and poorly preserved compared with, for example, those from the roughly contemporary major villa of San Giovanni di Ruoti in the interior.2 Another exceptional find is a firestarter, grouped together with other objects from the world of carpentry , such as an appliqué, clamp, and nails. The extensive remains of lead clamps used to repair the huge storage dolia embedded in the farmhouse’s floors testify to the value placed on these expensive containers. It is uncommon to find window glass, and it, together with the small bath complex and frescoed walls, suggests a degree of luxury found in the larger villas of the period, as for example at San Giovanni di Ruoti,3 where it appeared as early as the first two centuries of the Imperial period. Striking among the small finds—and useful in establishing the chronology of the farmhouse—are the 17 low-denomination bronze coins found in two groups in the tablinum and hypocaust of the caldarium of the bath; the other two coins were found in the kitchen and in the cistern. They bear portraits of rul1 The following catalog has been compiled and recorded in the same way as previous chapters; please refer to the Ch. 4 introduction for the methodology. 2 Rossiter 1997. 3 Small 1994, 146–47. ers of the end of the 3rd century (Gallienus Claudius II, Tacitus, Probus, and Diocletian) and of the early 4th century AD (Licinius and Constantine I). In their number and condition, the coins of San Biagio present a sharp constrast to the villas at San Giovanni, where coins were especially rare finds. Personal Artifacts Few artifacts pertaining to clothing and personal ornament were found at San Biagio, and they mainly relate to the feminine world: two beads, a bracelet, a hair pin, and a small spatula for cosmetics. These artifacts indicate that the mistress of the house paid attention to the care of her body and her appearance. Unfortunately, the limited number of finds makes it impossible to advance a hypothesis regarding the type of clothing or the fashion of accessorizing garments and the body. However, the presence of the bracelet, a number of beads (probably from a necklace ), and a hairpin suggest that the occupants of the farmhouse adhered to norms of the Roman period.4 While most of these items are easily identified with numerous comparanda, one object has proven more difficult to interpret. It is a copper alloy circular ring, probably from the buckle of a belt. The extremely simple shape and design make it difficult to attribute to a man’s or woman’s belt buckle, as the type is used for both sexes (though is perhaps slightly more common for men’s belts). Simple rings of this sort were also used as suspension rings, hooks for furniture or wooden boxes, and at times also as elements for horse trappings, but the context of this particular find within the vestibule/atrium suggests it is more likely to be a belt buckle. This type was widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin over a long period (Roman to Renaissance). The findspots of all the objects within the house (Room V, the tablinum, for the spatula; Room VI, 4 For the technical characteristics and methods of production for the bracelet and the glass beads, see Ch. 6, “Archaeometric Analyses of Metal, Glass, and Plaster.” 170 Erminia Lapadula the atrium, for the belt buckle; Room III, the service/ bathing area, for the bracelet; and Room I, the caldarium , for the glass paste beads and hairpin) highlight the use of the rooms by the owners of the house and the mistress in particular in the bathing area. 3.1.1 Bead...

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