Literacies and material culture: metal inkwells in the Roman world

Literacy is one of the defining elements of Roman culture, but metal inkwells have not previously been studied in depth. The monograph associated with this project examines Roman writing equipment to consider questions of use, practice and deposition, and analyses gender and age patterns.
The material presented on the ADS consists of a word catalogue of nearly 500 Roman metal inkwells from across the Empire.The objects are ordered by type; images had to be removed for copyright reasons. The catalogue will enable researchers to study these neglected objects in depth, while the monograph addresses wider questions of writing practice and literate identities.