Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore ways of thinking about the experiences of using and depositing objects, both mundane as well as explicitly 'votive' objects, at religious sites in Roman Britain.

Paper long abstract:

Religious experience in Roman Britain was vibrant and complex as this was a period that witnessed the introduction of a variety of new cults and practices alongside long-established, yet diverse ritual activities. Excavations of temples and sanctuaries in Roman Britain have revealed a lot of information about the objects that were used in the rituals and religious activities of the period. Some of these objects were made specifically to be used and deposited at religious sites such as lead curse tablets, miniature objects, altars, figurines etc. Large parts of the finds assemblages from these sites, however, comprise mundane objects, such as coins, personal decorative and toilet items (eg hairpins, brooches, nail-cleaners etc) and cooking and dining equipment, that had roles in everyday life. This raises several questions about the nature of so-called 'votive' objects and how we can approach understandings of them. The places in which these objects were used and deposited can maybe inform us about how these objects were perceived and also about what 'powers', if any, they may have been thought to possess. Drawing on approaches from prehistoric archaeology and other disciplines such as anthropology, this paper will outline some possible ways of thinking about the objects and spaces in which they were experienced in order to reach deeper understandings about human interaction and negotiation with the material world.