Tag: Hadrian’s Wall

Wooden Toilet Seat from Vindolanda

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From a Vindolanda Trust press release:

Finding something that you can relate to is always a special moment on an archaeological dig. At Vindolanda this is a common occurrence, a site where the special qualities lie not only in the discovery of gold and silver or artefacts which relate to the military might of the Roman Army but also of everyday ordinary items which nearly 2000 years later become extraordinary to the modern day visitors, volunteers and archaeologists alike. Personal letters, worn shoes, baby booties, socks, combs, jewellery, tools and textiles are just some of the items preserved in a remarkable condition that provide you with a unique window into the lives of people stationed at this most northern outpost of the Roman Empire.

Now archaeologists have another piece of this very personal human hoard at Vindolanda, a wooden latrine (toilet) seat, was discovered by the Director of Excavations, Dr Andrew Birley, in the deep pre-hadrianic trenches at Vindolanda. There are many examples of stone and marble seat benches from across the Roman Empire but this is believed to be the only surviving wooden seat, almost perfectly preserved in the anaerobic, oxygen free, conditions which exist at Vindolanda. Although this wooden seat is not as grand as a marble or stone toilet bench, it would be far more comfortable to sit on in the cool climate of Britannia. The seat has clearly been well used and was decommissioned from its original purpose and discarded amongst the rubbish left behind in the final fort at the site before the construction of Hadrian’s Wall started in the early second century.

Dr Birley commented on the find ‘there is always great excitement when you find something that has never been seen before and this discovery is wonderful….’ Andrew went on to say ‘We know a lot about Roman toilets from previous excavations at the site and from the wider Roman world which have included many fabulous Roman latrines but never before have we had the pleasure of seeing a surviving and perfectly preserved wooden seat. As soon as we started to uncover it there was no doubt at all on what we had found. It is made from a very well worked piece of wood and looks pretty comfortable. Now we need to find the toilet that went with it as Roman loos are fascinating places to excavate – their drains often contain astonishing artefacts. Let’s face it, if you drop something down a Roman latrine you are unlikely to attempt to fish it out unless you are pretty brave or foolhardy’. Discoveries at Vindolanda from latrines have included a baby boot, coins, a betrothal medallion, and a bronze lamp.

Archaeologists now need to find a ‘spongia’ the natural sponge on a stick which Romans used instead of toilet paper, and with over 100 years of archaeology remaining and the unique conditions for the preservation of such organic finds a discovery may just be possible.

The wooden seat will take up to 18 months to conserve and once this process is complete the artefact will be put on display at the Roman Army Museum.

… and the photo, of course:

Vindolanda Trust
Vindolanda Trust

I’m sure there are plenty of us who have visited the site of an ancient Roman latrine and shuddered at the thought of sitting on that cold, cold, stone. I’d suspect this would be a thing — like napkins at dinner parties — which someone would bring with them to the loo. Probably a ‘luxury item’ as well. I wonder if it had a special word in Latin …

Per Lineam Valli | Podcastellum 3: Romano-British Sculpture on the Wall

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

An interesting podcast … here’s an excerpted description:

This podcastellum consists entirely of an interview with Dr Jon Coulston of the School of Classics at the University of St Andrews (which is in Scotland, lest you forget). If you can hear your way past the rumble of the bus and the chatter of the ROMEC conference participants on their day out, this podcast will bring you insights into the production and use of Romano-British sculpture along Hadrian’s Wall along with a whole range of fascinating details about who did the carving, for whom, and with what.

LiDAR Sheds New Light on Hadrian’s Wall

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Pardon the groaner in that headline … this is actually hype for a television programme on the BBC but it looks rather interesting:

Hundreds of miles away from Hadrian’s Wall, a man surfing the internet from the comfort of his home stumbled across something that astonished the professionals.

Bryn Gethin’s discovery on his computer in Warwickshire, was one of a number, based on aerial photography and imaging techniques, that are rewriting a whole era of Roman history.

He spotted something while browsing old LIDAR (light detection and ranging) images, which show remains even if covered by trees or buildings.

Experts say he had potentially discovered the camp of the men who actually built the wall that runs across the country from Tyneside to Cumbria.

Surveyor Humphrey Welfare, currently investigating the site, said the camp would not have been seen without aerial images.

“It gives us another little insight, a little window into what happened during the construction of the wall,” he said.

“And that’s how archaeology builds up, piece by piece.”

It was known the wall supported civilian communities which provided goods and services in a local economy that benefitted both occupiers and natives.

But it seems there were Iron Age settlements hundreds of years before the arrival of the Romans who, rather than being an aggressive conquering force, forged working relationships with the resident population.

‘Whole new world’

“What we thought we saw was a very militaristic landscape, very sparsely populated and all we saw was what survived at the surface,” said Dr David Woolliscroft from Liverpool University.

“Then suddenly, when we started to fly, a whole new world emerged. Huge numbers – tens of thousands – of isolated farms, completely undefended.

“You can only have a landscape like that when people are so used to peace that they take it for granted.

“And that utterly changes the story of how we see the Romans.”

There is also evidence, discovered from the air, that throws into doubt the accepted belief that the wall was a barrier between the empire and the barbarian north.

Aerial pictures of a Roman aqueduct show it built north of the wall and right next to a native settlement.

“That shows a comfort in their own security and power, in that they’re happy for something as important as a water resource to be placed north of the frontier,” Dave Macleod, from English Heritage aerial survey team, said.

Aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers new revelations about life on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland

“You don’t put your water supply into enemy hands,” Dr Woolliscroft agreed. “Clearly they were very confident that this was an area that was theirs, even though it was beyond the wall.”

The area around Hadrian’s Wall has been mapped from the air by English Heritage but amateur research has also thrown up some surprising findings.

Ancient camps, ovens, rubbish pits and ditches show up from the air as crop marks, where plants grow differently – often invisible from the ground.

Work on Emperor Hadrian’s wall began in 122AD.

Archaeologists believed soldiers had settled in a nearby fort – Vindolanda – from about 85AD.

But another photograph shows something Dr Andrew Birley from the Vindolanda Trust believes is a fort built ten years earlier, 50 years before the wall.

“As we started excavating the ditches we were getting more and more evidence to suggest that this actually could pre-date anything on this part of the site that we’d previously known about,” he said.

If they find the timber fort gates – and it might take years – the rings on the wood could lead conclusively to a construction date.

It might prove the Romans established their frontier long before the history books currently say.

… the original article includes some photos and some Flash media which I couldn’t get to work because Flash seem to be doing weird things these past couple of days.

Hadrian’s Wall Expulsions?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Interesting item from the Independent hyping something in Current Archaeology … here’s the end bit:

[…] For decades, archaeologists struggled to date the indigenous communities around the wall because the site yielded very few artefacts. The only way of dating these Roman and pre-Roman Iron Age settlements was to excavate what little there was. Since the 1970s, when serious excavation began, experts believed the local population living in the shadow of the wall had actually flourished under the Roman invaders. But the new evidence suggests the Roman legions actually cleared a 10-mile stretch in front of the wall by force.

By using carbon-dating techniques archaeologists have been able to pinpoint the chronology of the local settlements far more accurately than in the past. More than 60 radiocarbon dating tests were undertaken on Iron Age settlements between 2002 and 2008 around the Newcastle area, giving the most complete sample ever of Iron Age settlements north of the wall.

Data from the investigation, led by Nick Hodgson at TWM Archaeology, is to be published in Current Archaeology next week and is said to be one of the biggest discoveries about the way in which Hadrian’s Wall shaped the country.

Dr Matthew Symonds, an expert on the wall and editor of Current Archaeology, said: “These new excavations suggest these settled farming communities… survived the first Roman appearance in the area. But it’s only when Hadrian’s Wall is built that they suddenly seem to go out of use.”

I’m not sure there’s a problem here, if I understand “shadow of the wall” and “front of the wall” correctly. Wouldn’t we expect the folks on the “Roman side” to flourish and the other side to have to clear out? Or am I missing something? (which is quite possible)