Strictly Economic?

The complex subject of production and consumption in antiquity has beenattracting growing interest in Classical Archaeology for some time. Research with aneconomic perspective, such as the investigation of the dynamics of the production ofobjects or ornaments in Antiquity, has opened up new insights into Greco-Romanculture. Against this background, the present volume focuses on a particular methodof production: serial production. On the basis of close-up observations of thefinds, the authors of the volume illuminate the broad spectrum of ancient serialproduction in Greece and Rome in exemplary fashion; the examples deal with a rangefrom (late) Classical ceramics with painted decoration to mechanically reproducedcoins and relief tableware to luxurious marble urns. The aim is first describingindividual series and defining them and subsequently using this information tointerpret the respective conditions that led to the series. This processdemonstrates that the phenomenon of serial production (and seriality more generally)consistently transcends economic aspects and seamlessly leads over into other areasof ancient cultural history and its research.