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Nina Crummy

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Nina Crummy is a British archaeologist and artefact (small finds) specialist, especially of Roman material culture.

Career

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Crummy completed an undergraduate degree at Keele University[1] and works as an independent archaeological finds specialist.[2] She was formerly Archaeological Archive Manager at the Museum of London,[3] where she helped develop the Museum's standards for the deposition of archaeological finds.[4] She consolidated the Museum of London's archaeological archive collection, based at Lever Street, the precursor to the London Archaeological Archive & Research Centre (LAARC).[5][6] She has had a long-standing relationship with the University of Reading, as a visiting research fellow to the Department of Archaeology[7] and as a small finds consultant on the Silchester Town Life Project.[8][9] She has previously been elected as a fellow to the Society of Antiquaries of London.[10][11]

She has written numerous archaeological reports and publications on the subject of small finds, ranging from site assemblages to individual artefacts.[12][13] She is notable for her work on the small finds from Roman Colchester (Camulodunum)[14] and Roman Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum).[15] Major contributions to artefact studies include those on Roman toilet instruments[16] and the manufacture of Roman bone artefacts.[17][18][19] Her book, The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9,[20] has been described as the 'bible of the Roman finds world in Britain' by archaeologist and finds specialist Hillary Cool.[21]

Crummy's Functional Categories for Small Finds

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Crummy's publication The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9[22] was one of the first to analyse and present archaeological artefacts (small finds) within 'functional' as opposed to 'material' categories.[23] Although this system of categorisation has been questioned, for simplifying objects' multiple functionality, it remains highly influential especially within Romano-British archaeology.[24][25]

The subjects of the functional categories are: Category 1: Objects of personal adornment or dress; Category 2: Toilet, surgical or pharmaceutical instruments; Category 3: Objects used in the manufacture or working of textiles; Category 4: Household utensils and furniture; Category 5: Objects used for recreational purposes; Category 6: Objects employed in weighing and measuring; Category 7: Objects used for or associated with written communications; Category 8: Objects associated with transport. Category 9: Buildings and services; Category 10: Tools; Category 11: Fasteners and fittings; Category 12: Objects associated with agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry. Category 13: Military equipment. Finds such as weapons, fittings from armour, tools with military associations, and phallic amulets possibly used by the army; Category 14: Objects associated with religious beliefs and practices; Category 15: Objects and waste material associated with metal working; Category 16: Objects and waste material associated with antler, horn, bone, and tooth working; Category 17: Objects and waste material associated with the manufacture of pottery vessels or pipeclay objects; Category 18: Objects the function or identification of which is unknown or uncertain.

Selected publications

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  • Crummy, N. 1979. 'A chronology of Romano-British bone pins'. Britannia 10: 157-163
  • Crummy, N. 1981. 'Bone-working at Colchester'. Britannia 12: 277-285
  • Crummy, N. 1983. The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9. Colchester: Colchester Archaeological Trust
  • Crummy, N. 2002. 'From self-sufficiency to commerce: structural and artifactual evidence for textile manufacture in eastern England in the pre-conquest period. In: D. G. Koslin & J. Snyde (eds). Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress: Objects, Texts, Images. Basingstoke: Palgrave
  • Crummy, N. 2007. 'Six honest serving men: A basic methodology for the study of small find'. In: R. Hingley & S. Willis (eds). Roman finds: context and theory; proceedings of a conference held at the University of Durham, July 2002. Oxford: Oxbow
  • Crummy, N. 2010. 'Bears and coins: The iconography of protection in late Roman infant burials'. Britannia 41: 37-93
  • Crummy, N. 2011. 'Travel and transport'. In: L. Allason-Jones (ed). Artefacts in Roman Britain: Their Purpose and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 46-67
  • Crummy, N. 2016. 'Toilet instruments: Symbols of dissent?'. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 35.3: 285-293
  • Crummy, N. 2017. 'Working skeletal materials in south-eastern Roman Britain'. In: D. Bird (ed). Agriculture and Industry in South-Eastern Roman Britain. Oxford: Oxbow Books: 255-281
  • Crummy, N. 2018. 'The small finds'. In: M. Fulford, A. Clarke, E. Durham & N. Pankhurst. Late Iron Age Calleva: The Pre-conquest Occupation at Silchester Insula IX

Edited Publications

  • Crummy, N. (ed). 2005. Image, Craft and the Classical World: Essays in Honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns. Monographies Instrumentum 29. Montagnac: M. Mergoil

Co-authored Publications

  • Crummy, N., Crummy, P. & Crossan, C. 1993. Excavations of Roman and Later Cemeteries, Churches and Monastic Sites in Colchester, 1971-88. Colchester: Colchester Archaeological Trust
  • Crummy, N. & Davis, G.J.C. 2020. 'A black mineral amulet from Colchester's north cemetery. Britannia 51
  • Crummy, N., Henig, M. & Ward, C. 2016. A hoard of military awards, jewellery and coins from Colchester. Britannia 47: 1-28
  • Eckardt, H. & Crummy, N. 2008. Styling the body in Later Iron Age and Roman Britain: A Contextual Approach to Toilet Instruments. Monagnac: Instrumentum Monograph

References

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  1. ^ "University of Reading Staff List (2008-9)" (PDF). University of Reading.
  2. ^ "The Silchester Core Project Team". University of Reading: Silchester Archaeology.
  3. ^ Devonshire, Amanda; Wood, Barbara, eds. (1996). Women in Industry and Technology: From Prehistory to the Present Day. Museum of London. p. 316.
  4. ^ "Museum of London Archaeological Archive: Standards Preface" (PDF).
  5. ^ Shepherd, John (2011). "The London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre: Past, Present and Future" (PDF). The Archaeologist (20): 45.
  6. ^ Swain, Hedley (2007). An Introduction to Museum Archaeology. Cambridge University Press. p. 133.
  7. ^ "University of Reading Staff List (2008-9)" (PDF). University of Reading.
  8. ^ "The 'Town Life' Project 1997-2002: Abandonment". University of Reading: Silchester Archaeology.
  9. ^ "The Silchester Core Project Team". University of Reading: Silchester Archaeology.
  10. ^ "University of Reading Staff List (2008-9)" (PDF). University of Reading.
  11. ^ "Salon 130". Salon: Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter (130). 14 February 2020.
  12. ^ "ADS Library". Archaeological Data Service.
  13. ^ "Bibliography of Nina Crummy". Archéophile.
  14. ^ "Colchester Archaeological Trust Report Titles". Colchester Archaeological Trust Online Report Library.
  15. ^ "Silchester Town Life Project Publications (since 1997)". University of Reading: Silchester Archaeology.
  16. ^ Hella Eckardt; Nina Crummy (2008). Styling the body in Later Iron Age and Roman Britain: A Contextual Approach to Toilet Instruments. M. Mergoil.
  17. ^ Crummy, Nina (1979). "A Chronology of Romano-British Bone Pins". Britannia. 10: 157–163. doi:10.2307/526051. JSTOR 526051. S2CID 163005062.
  18. ^ Crummy, Nina (1981). "Bone-working at Colchester". Britannia. 12: 277–285. doi:10.2307/526252. JSTOR 526252. S2CID 163363605.
  19. ^ Nina Crummy (2017). "Working skeletal materials in south-eastern Roman Britain". In Bird, David (ed.). Agriculture and Industry in South-Eastern Roman Britain. Oxbow Books.
  20. ^ Crummy, Nina (1983). The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9 (PDF). Colchester Archaeological Trust.
  21. ^ Cool, Hilary. "A Basic Bibliography for Studying Romano-British Small Finds" (PDF). Barbican Research Associates.
  22. ^ Crummy, Nina (1983). The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9 (PDF). Colchester Archaeological Trust.
  23. ^ Ellen Swift (2016). "The development of artefact studies". In Millett, Martin; Revell, Louise; Moore, Alison (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 80.
  24. ^ Allison, Penelope (2013). People and Spaces in Roman Military Bases. Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–43.
  25. ^ Martin Millett (2017). "Discussion. Reflections on the representational use of artefact evidence". In Van Oyden, Astrid; Pitts, Martin (eds.). Materialising Roman Histories. Oxbow Books. p. 69.