I am looking for comparisons for slate styli. At present I only know of two such objects, one from a reliable context from Bath, found in the fill of a beam slot dated to AD 80-90. Its 35 mm-long shaft with a diameter of 4.4–5.4 mm has seven unequal facets and tapers slightly before the used tip.
The other one comes from a Roman villa site in Swindon, but unfortunately it was unstratified, and the site also has a small medieval element.
Does anyone know of such objects? They could be used to write on slate tablets, but are they really writing implements?
Dear Jörn,
I actually work on Roman slate roofs in SW Germany. Please send me your questions/research items by mail. I will try to help ypu.
Kindly
Joachim
Many thanks for your hint, Jens. I shall have a look. The most useful I have found so far is V. Schaltenbrand Obrecht, 2012 STILUS. Kulturhistorische, typologisch-chronologische und technologische Untersuchungen an römischen Schreibgriffeln von Augusta Raurica und weiteren Fundorten, Forschungen in Augst 45. Römermuseum Augst, Augst (http://www.augustaraurica.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/2_Arch%C3%A4ologie/7_Literatur%20und%20Verlag/02_Forschungen_in_Augst/FiA45_1.pdf).
However, she was quite discouraging regarding my quest of finding slate styli in the Roman period. According to her, we can't expect them much before the 14th century.
Incidentally, both my mother as well as Michel Feugère were still taught their basic writing skills on slate tablets, writing with slate styli. I still used the tablets, but we were already using chalk to write with.
I am not sure if this is relevant because the stylus shown on p. 27 of the Bloomberg excavations by MOLA in London is for writing on wooden tablets, not slate (free download : https://data.bloomberglp.com/company/sites/30/2017/11/BLA-web.pdf) but perhaps Roger Tomlin's report on its Roman waxed tablets (https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Roman_London_s_First_Voices.html?id=2o6LDAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y) may have references to slate tablet styli
Many thanks for the two references, Madeleine. You are right, the one on p. 27 of the Bloomberg publication is one of the "usual" metal styli for writing on wax tablets. I will check Roger Tomlin's book, though. The styli I am looking for – which are themselves made of slate – might have been used for writing on wax if they were sufficiently pointed, although I think that's quite unlikely and they would have been confined to writing on slate, just as would have been the case from their (re?-) introduction in the late medieval period.
Thanks again for the hints.
Jörn, may I ask you if the Swindon villa is the one at Groundwell Ridge? if so, is there any news of its possible publication? I wrote a report for that project 12 years ago [and would no doubt now write it very differently!].
Yes, that's the one, Margaret. I'm afraid, I don't know about any publication plans, sorry.
For all who have commented and/or looked at this, there is now also a short article published in Lucerna
Article Is there such a thing as a Roman slate stylus? Lucerna 55, 2018, 8
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