Vindolanda

A fantastic morning here. This Roman Fort was founded about 90AD. There have been some amazing finds here including the Vindolanda tablets. These were found mainly in a waterlogged rubbish heap at the corner of the commander's house in the pre-Hadrianic fort. The vast majority of them date from the period AD 97-103. More have been recovered from other parts of the site since. In all, there are over 400 tablets, made from thinly cut slivers of wood between one and three mm thick, about the size of a modern postcard, on which the correspondent wrote in ink before folding the leaf in half and writing the address on the back.

They tell of every aspect of everyday life. How much the soldiers were paid, what people ate, who did what tasks. Made for fascinating reading

"My fellow soldiers have no beer. Please order some to be sent"

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"I have sent(?) you...pairs of socks from Sattua, two pairs of sandals and two pairs of underpants, two pairs of sandals...Greet...Elpis...Tetricus and all your messmates with whom I pray that you live in the greatest good fortune."

The diet of the inhabitants of Vindolanda was pretty varied. Within the Vindolanda tablets, 46 different types of foodstuff are mentioned. Whilst the more exotic of these, such as roe deer, venison, spices, olives, wine and honey.

Shoes, shoes and more shoes, thousands of them in the moat, where the mud preserved them. Only one pair though, all the rest odd!