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probably stitched onto the pouch. That wax tablets were sealed is Bone spatulate strips
well known and despite the lack of evidence it cannot be ruled out
that seal boxes were used to seal writing tablets. It is thought that We know that rulers were used as writing implements in Antiquity
in this case the three holes in the bottom would have allowed a (Anth. Pal. 6.62–66) and a group of bone ‘spatulate strips’ have been
little bit of wax to leak out and attach the box to the tablet when identified as possible examples. The exact function of these strips is
it hardened (Furger et al. 2009, 19). controversial, but they are found in association with other writing
equipment in depictions as well as in graves, military and civilian
With the assumed close connection to writing tablets, finds of seal and rural sites across the empire and therefore seem to have been
boxes have been considered by some scholars to indicate the presence used in this context (Božič and Feugère 2004, 40).
of literacy in rural areas, particularly those providing manpower for
auxiliary units (Derks and Roymans 2002). Their findings need to be They are made of bone and of rectangular or trapezoidal shape with
reconsidered in the light of the alternative explanation concerning an often-rounded head on one end which is sometimes pierced with
money bags. However, the accounting and the numeracy involved one or two holes. The section of the ‘blade’ can be plano-convex,
can be seen as part of the wider context of literacy.
Fig. 75: Seal box from Yorkshire (UK) with
preserved string. © Colin Andrews.
Further reading:
Fig. 76: Roman bone spatulate strips (possible rulers) from London
Andrews 2012, 2013; Bertrand et al. 2021; Derks and Roymans 2002; Furger (UK). © Glynn Davis, reproduced by permission of MOLA.
et al. 2009; Koscevic 1991; López de la Orden 1993
