This paper uses material efficacy as an analytical position to consider how silver helped to shape large-scale historical trajectories in Iron Age Scotland. Roman silver entered Scotland as imperial matter beginning in the first century ad and later inspired an assemblage of indigenous wearable silver in the fourth–fifth centuries. I investigate the human–silver collaborations involved in the transition from hoarding Roman silver coins to recycling Roman Hacksilber. By tracing the object trajectory of spiral rings, I show how silver's material properties and entanglements played a role in developing Scotland's earliest silver products. Around the fourth century, a diversity of spiral rings was replaced by a specific style of silver spiral finger ring. Silver brought to Iron Age Scotland by the Romans inspired and afforded individuals in northern Britain a new and empowering regional socio-political identity. Material efficacy, as explored in this case study, has relevance beyond Iron Age/Roman studies to any anthropological investigation of underrepresented human agency.

中文翻译：

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罗马银在铁器时代苏格兰的功效：螺旋环的物体轨迹


本文以物质功效为分析立场，思考白银如何帮助塑造苏格兰铁器时代的大规模历史轨迹。罗马银器从公元一世纪开始作为帝国物品进入苏格兰，后来在四五世纪激发了本土可穿戴银器的组合。我调查了从囤积罗马银币到回收罗马银币的转变中涉及的人与银的合作。通过追踪螺旋环的物体轨迹，我展示了银的材料特性和缠结如何在苏格兰最早的银产品的开发中发挥作用。大约在第四世纪，各种螺旋戒指被特定款式的银螺旋指环所取代。罗马人将白银带到铁器时代的苏格兰，激发了英国北部的人们的灵感，并为他们提供了一种新的、赋予权力的地区社会政治身份。正如本案例研究所探讨的，物质功效与铁器时代/罗马研究之外的任何对代表性不足的人类机构的人类学调查都有相关性。