I saw a special about a year or so ago on History International on Vindolanda. I have tried to "dig up" :lol: all I can on the area and per their website it sounds like this is a living archaeological site. Just curious if anyone has undergone any excavations there? I'd have to imagine that would be an exceptional experience.
I haven't excavated there as it is jolly expensive to do so! But if you're interested see the link:
http://www.vindolanda.com/excavate.htm
Fabulous finds of all sorts and at least you can be sure you're contributing to an exptensive programme - I just wish they'd be quicker about publishing some of their reports!
I was there for a week last month - very much seeing that water system in effect! It's a great site to be on with regards to its history and the staff are generally very friendly. There were about 40-odd volunteers on site, a mix of interested amateurs and archaeology students (quite a few from overseas). Sadly the weather was foul whilst I was there so I spent all of about ten minutes in the Period III trench. Didn't find any tablets unfortunately, but overall I had a great (and extremely tiring) time and would recommend it to anyone.
It is quite expensive to stay onsite - luckily for me my parents live about 40 minutes from the site so I was able to drive from home each morning. If you're willing to commute you could plausibly stay as far afield as Newcastle or Hexham, if that's cheaper. The onsite facilities are apparently pretty good but you may have to share rooms.
The water system they have excavated in the vicus is extremely impressive and shows the care that went into providing the civilian settlement with amenities. I can upload some photos of the dig if anyone's interested.
Very cool. I would love to see some pictures. I was also interested in hearing about the commuting aspect as well. Very informative post!!
Quote:Very cool. I would love to see some pictures. I was also interested in hearing about the commuting aspect as well. Very informative post!!
Vindolanda can be fairly easily accessed from the A69 or the B6318 - the latter has much better views, and is less likely to be congested than the A road. If you approach from the east you can come off the A69 and follow the Stanegate for a short while. Extremely atmospheric with the Whinsill climbing away to the right... It also brings you to the volunteers' car park at the rear of the site.
Adding some pictures, hope this works. (Edit: These are pretty bad photos but do give an idea of how damp it was. I was digging at the NW corner of the main trench near the temple site, and found a whole bunch of clay. I was digging next to a very nice water tank/spring though. Will try to find better photos later, took these on my phone.)
I have excavated there for two weeks in 2008. It was a trip of a lifetime for someone who lives in Canada! A fantastic place to see and visit, including Hadrians wall. I found a few coins, a large amount of fresco plaster pieces, with their designs still visible on them, as well as a Balista shot. I'll never forget it.
I visited Vindolanda for the second time last year and even shook Dr Birley's hand at the dig inside the fort. The dig volunteers always seem to fill up, and I would be interested, but no idea what thecost would be to stay. When you say expensive, what do you mean?
It's been a couple of years since we visited Hadrian's Wall and Vindolanda but I really enjoyed it. There was a special on television a while back (if anyone's mentioned it I apologize). It seems they found a young child's skeleton buried under a floor slab in what should have been sleeping quarters in the barracks area. They were attempting to solve it as a murder case but never came to any firm conclusions. Anyway it was a bit of a different take on the normal archaeological dig.
Vindolanda has produced some amazing finds.
Quote:I visited Vindolanda for the second time last year and even shook Dr Birley's hand at the dig inside the fort. The dig volunteers always seem to fill up, and I would be interested, but no idea what thecost would be to stay. When you say expensive, what do you mean?
The basic cost is £20 for membership to the 'Friends of Vindolanda' for the year in which you wish to attend (this gives you free access to the site and to the Roman Army Museum, so even if you just go twice it's worth it), then £40 per week of digging. There is catered accommodation onsite which costs £250 for five days, and an additional £50 if you want to stay over the weekend between successive weeks of digging. By all accounts the food was pretty good but that is quite a lot to pay, especially as the rooms are shared! There is however a Youth Hostel nearby, which works out at roughly half the price, although it would also be shared. Again I can't comment on the condition of the rooms but everyone seemed pretty happy.
If you are able to dig for more than one week, I'd recommend it - I do regret only doing one week, especially since the last day was rained off...
Quote:It's been a couple of years since we visited Hadrian's Wall and Vindolanda but I really enjoyed it. There was a special on television a while back (if anyone's mentioned it I apologize). It seems they found a young child's skeleton buried under a floor slab in what should have been sleeping quarters in the barracks area. They were attempting to solve it as a murder case but never came to any firm conclusions. Anyway it was a bit of a different take on the normal archaeological dig.
Vindolanda has produced some amazing finds.
I remember that. I do not believe anything official has been determined though it does appear as it was foul play and the body was "hidden" per se.
Well, the cynic in me says there's a world of difference between archaeological fact and sexing up an interpretation to grab the headlines and ultimately, improve visitor figures. :???:
Quote:Well, the cynic in me says there's a world of difference between archaeological fact and sexing up an interpretation to grab the headlines and ultimately, improve visitor figures. :???:
True, though what I seem to recall of the information there were several archaeologists who seemed to have come to the same conclusion- and they all didnt have the last name Birley
It was a well done brief investigation. They didn't make any grand showy claims in the end. They just gave the forensic facts and theoretical possibilities. It was interesting anyway even if historically inconclusive :-)
New here and not well versed in historical details. Hoping to learn a few things as I figure I'm never too old to learn.
Quote:New here and not well versed in historical details. Hoping to learn a few things as I figure I'm never too old to learn.
Taking part is the best way to learn! There were quite a few volunteers at Vindolanda in the same position as you and they were very welcome there.
The murder interpretation of the girl's body seems to be holding strong - the barrack room was apparantly out of use so it would have been a hiding place rather than a respectful burial. By the same account it was also clearly an illegal, deviant act, so it's not necessarily representative of a broader violent culture at the fort at the time. This was the opinion presented at the site, although we weren't digging in that area.