“Creolization” and Agency in Divodurum Mediomatricorum

This paper investigates the nature of enculturation and agency within an expanding hegemony, specifically the Roman Empire. However, rather than using the traditional concept of Romanization, the concept of creolization will be discussed and applied to the site of Divodurum Mediomatricorum (modern Metz, France), whose public architecture and landscape indicate different strategies utilized by the people of the indigenous Gallic society as they adapted various Roman practices in the creation of the Gallo-Roman culture. This paper will illustrate that the theoretical advancement of creolization can provide archaeologists with a better understanding of the processes of enculturation.