From glass blowing to building in concrete, several technological innovations date to the Roman period. These innovations had important social, cultural, and economic consequences. Glass blowing greatly sped up the production process, making glass tableware accessible to consumers across social strata. Concrete construction encouraged development of new building forms such as vaulted spaces, which in turn shaped social dynamics and political statements. When it comes to the northwestern provinces, however, technological innovation can appear rather less radical and consist of, for instance, the use of a gravel substrate for roads or the scaling up of rooftile production. The impact of those technological innovations has tended to be read in terms of a cultural convergence, aspiration, or domination (“Romanization”). Both the nature and consequences of innovations are thus evaluated from a Romano-centric perspective. Examining instead how technological innovations in the northwestern provinces made use of local social and technical building blocks can unlock different perspectives on how innovation worked and what its social, economic, and cultural consequences were for the provinces.
Plus d’informations :
[Website Radboud University]