PELLIS: Investigating the manufacture, trade, and economy of Roman leather through multi-analytical approaches

The PELLIS project is situated within the economic and manufacturing history of the Roman provinces and frontiers, specifically aiming to enhance our understanding of the leather economy in the Roman Empire. Archaeological leather artefacts are rare due to the rapid decomposition of organic materials. They only survive in exceptional preservation environments, but significant amounts have been recovered at certain Roman sites. Leather was essential in both civilian and military life, being used to make footwear, clothing, military equipment (such as tents, shields, and saddles), as well as everyday items like bags and belts. Economic models of the Roman Empire have primarily focused on inorganic artefacts, such as pottery, which tend to preserve well. Despite its importance to the overall economy, limited knowledge exists regarding how leather was processed, traded, and supplied throughout the Roman Empire. The PELLIS project aims to address this challenge by combining scientific and humanistic approaches in an interdisciplinary collaboration to further our understanding of leather manufacture, trade, object production and use in the Roman world. Our objective is to employ advanced scientific methods (proteomic, stable isotopes and genetic analysis) to explore leather preservation and processing, and to establish the species, sex and origin of animals used for leather hide and object production. PELLIS will focus on Roman sites from Britain, the Netherlands and Syria that hold significant assemblages of archaeological leather. By sampling material from three centuries of Roman occupation, different geographical locations, varied site contexts, and various types of burial environments, our research will inform historical understanding of the full cycle of the leather economy in the Roman world. Our data will for the first time provide insights into the choices made during leather production, distribution and manufacture of different object types, presenting a socio-economic picture of how individuals accessed and used leather goods. The results will illuminate herd management and animal husbandry practices related to the leather economy, and leather trade networks across the Roman Empire. Integrating this new data with existing economic models will result in a more holistic understanding of the Roman economy. The PELLIS project outcomes will enrich narratives of Roman lifeways and have numerous applications. The methodologies developed can be applied to leather across different time periods in antiquity and various regions. The data obtained from sites with large leather assemblages will serve as excellent baseline information for smaller projects with limited resources, enabling them to better evaluate the leather they discover. The new insights into the Roman leather economy will benefit other historical fields as well. Museums and archaeological sites will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the past to enhance their presentations for public audiences. By collaborating with museum partners, the team will maximise this opportunity by sharing results with diverse audiences through virtual and in-person platforms. Finally, the benefits to the project’s early career researchers are significant. The project provides valuable training for the next generation of scholars—both humanists and scientists—in a multidisciplinary environment that should serve as a model for future work.