TRAC 2026-27 Webinar: Roman London’s Pipe-Clay Figurines: Agency and Anthropocentrism

TRAC 2026-27 Webinar Lecture - Tuesday 3rd November 2026, 17:00 GMT 

Harrison Duddle, Durham University: 'A comparative theoretical discussion of Roman London’s pipe-clay figurines: assessing agency and anthropocentrism in Marxism and Post-humanism'

On comparison, Marxism’s anthropocentrism and Post-humanism’s emphasis on material agency initially seem at odds. However, when scrutinised, this illusory dichotomy is dispelled.
This presentation scrutinises three comparative points in detail: anthropocentrism, material agency, and the challenging of paradigm.

Ultimately, both can present a more balanced characterisation of object-human relationships, rejecting anthropocentrism, and contain the theoretical space for dialectic relationships. However, post-humanism asserts true object agency, whereas in Marxism object influence stems from human intent.  Finally, both critically challenge paradigms but achieve this differently: Post-humanism restructuring agency theory to deconstruct anthropocentrism, and Marxism counterbalancing capitalist paradigm by critically reorganising evidence.

The Roman Pipe-clay figurines:
This presentation applies its comparison of archaeological theory to Roman London’s pipe-clay figurine corpus. This corpus is a nationally significant collection of 168, primarily divine, statuettes imported from Gaul which provide vital insight into religious life and connectivity in Londinium. This complexity makes them an excellent forum to explore agency and anthropocentrism through.

Theory in Praxis:
Sourced from Fittock’s 2015 publication, the figurines’ spatial distribution, fragment analysis, and networking are interpreted through Post-humanist and Marxist lenses, rendering fresh insights into their use and influence.

Post-humanism asserts strong material agency with landscapes influencing religious practice, notably evidenced through depositional concentrations around the Walbrook stream. Furthermore, fragmentation analysis implies material influence, with worshippers believing in figurine rituals having miraculous impacts.

Marxian interpretation highlights material influence through the economic manipulation of statuettes, being imported from Gaul and with concentrations at Londinium’s north-bank dock. Furthermore, it potentially highlights the commodification of religion and the use of the figurines to socially condition worshippers, with religion operating as the ‘Opium of the Masses’. Clearly, material leverages influence here, even if agency is arguably derived from human intent.

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