Data copyright © Dr Hella Eckardt unless otherwise stated
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Dr
Hella
Eckardt
Department of Archaeology
University of Reading
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6AA
England
Toilet instruments (tweezers, ear-scoops and nail-cleaners) are common finds on many Roman sites, but this project for the first time presents a detailed corpus of material and a discussion of the social implications of their use. Circa 1300 toilet instruments were recorded in a systematic literature survey, dating from the late Iron Age to the Late Roman period. For each category of toilet instrument a detailed typology is suggested; the dating as well as spatial and social distribution of these objects is discussed in the book (Crummy, N. & Eckardt, H. 2008. Styling the body in late Iron Age and Roman Britain: a contextual approach to toilet instruments. Instrumentum Monograph No. 36). The book also contains distribution maps, and a discussion of comparative material. The database provides a basic record of each of the toilet instruments recorded. Catalogue numbers given in the text and figures of the book refer to the database presented here, which also lists each object's findspot, and provides a reference to the original publication, where such information is available. The database can be searched by catalogue number, by type or sub-type, by site or by context type, allowing researchers to interrogate the data according to their specific questions.
Image (right): A chatelaine brooch with toilet instruments, now in the British Museum. © Trustees of the British Museum.