Vindolanda

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Map sources for Vindolanda at grid reference NY770663

Vindolanda^[1] was a Roman auxiliary fort located at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, near the modern border with Scotland, guarding the Stanegate^[2]. It is famous for the find of the Vindolanda tablets, one of the most important finds of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Empire.

1 Garrison
2 Fort and town
3 Excavation
4 References
5 See also
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Garrison

The garrison were auxiliary infantry or cavalry units, not components of Roman legions. From the early 3rd century onwards, this was the 4th cohort of Gauls. It had been presumed that this title was by this time purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally, but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers.^[3] The inscription reads:

CIVES GALLI DE GALLIAE CONCORDES QUE BRITANNI

Of which a free translation would be:

The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia with the full support of the British born troops^[4]

[edit] Fort and town

The fort was originally constructed in turf and timber before Hadrian's Wall was built around 122, and was repaired and rebuilt several times. Later, apparently after a period of abandonment when the garrison transferred to a fort on the Wall itself (probably Housesteads fort), a new stone fort was built approximately on the same site. This fort, and the civilian community abutting it – called a "vicus", remained in existence until the end of the Roman period in Britain in 410. Scattered finds suggest some type of settlement, including a possible early church, well into the 5th century.

[edit] Excavation

Before World War II, the house at Chesterholm where the museum is now located was purchased by archaeologist Eric Birley, who was interested in the possibilities for excavating the site. The excavations have been carried on by his son, Robin Birley, and other family members, into the present day. They occur each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six meters. The anoxic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artifacts that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier.

In 1970, the Vindolanda Trust, a registered charity, was founded to administer the site and museum, and in 1997, the Trust took over the running of the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran, another Hadrian's Wall fort which it had acquired in 1972.

[edit] References

^ The name is Celtic meaning something like 'fair/blessed'-'enclosure/meadow/prairie/grassy plain' (the modern Welsh/Celtic word would be something like gwynlan).
^ The Roman road from the River Tyne, to the Solway Firth
^ Selkirk, A. A ritual statue from Vindolanda. Current Archaeology 205: 4-5 (2006)
^ Selkirk, A. A ritual statue from Vindolanda. Current Archaeology 205: 4 (2006)