A Tour of the Excavations at Vindolanda

This spring, Dr. Andrew Birley gave me a tour of the ongoing excavations at Vindolanda, a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall.
Check out my other KZbin channels, ‪@toldinstone‬ and ‪@toldinstonefootnotes‬
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome to Vindolanda
4:41 The wooden underworld
7:13 Layers of history
9:03 Becoming part of the story

[@Sajxi]

This guy is a natural born narrator!

[@davidhollins870]

He keeps you going when it is raining and you are tired from digging all day - a rare skill.

[@Lurkzz]

Indeed, had me hooked from minute one!

[@simonorch]

I was one of the volunteers in the background. After filming was done we uncovered a wax writing tablet in my section of the site, I think it was the first of the season.

[@marcus1715]

I live 5 miles from here and have spent many summer weeks excavating here. My grandfather was actually one of the original trustees at Vindolanda. The team there are some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people you will ever meet and since it has been redone the museum is an absolute cornucopia of ancient roman artefacts. There aren't many places where you can see live archaeology and even be a part of it, Vindolanda is a truly special place.

[@RaspberryWhy]

Knowledgeable and articulate. That's my type of academic guide. Thanks

[@nated4070]

What an amazing video. Could listen to him talk about Vindolanda for hours! Thank you

[@MGBait]

I visited Vindolanda almost two decades ago and I loved it. Now I'm kicking myself I didn't ask the excavators on-site questions.

[@mjribes]

I'm walking the wall with my 9-year-old son next week and we plan to stop off at Vindolanda. Can't wait!

[@jamiephalliday]

Love this place. Apparently there were roofed structures there as late as the 1700s but they got demolished for local farms.

[@Hilqy]

Love to see how much they truly enjoy their work, can wait to see more discoveries from this site

[@carausiuscaesar5672]

Love Vindolanda!🇨🇦

[@rundbaum]

god this was fascinating!! wow . . .

[@theworldaccordingtojoe9269]

Echo the quality of this video and the narration. Hopefully I can find a way to visit. I would never have known about Vindolanda without this video. Thank you!

[@Exitlad27]

I hope to visit, at some point. Great video thanks.

[@khalidalali186]

Fascinating stuff, thanks!

[@vespasian606]

The weather can be s little forceful in those parts so those doing the digging have my respect. As an aside the countrys only known in situ and intact roman milestone lies nearby. It has a twin but that was sadly cut near the base presumably for a gate post. An intriguing place that I need to visit again. The memory of the phallus carved into the street that led to the officers quarters still makes me chuckle.

[@ericatlas]

Drove down all the way from Edinburgh earlier this year via Jedburgh...was raining like always..

[@keithagn]

I am a Romano British fanboy, and I love anything about Hadrian's Wall especially. Regards from Canada 🇨🇦

[@paulcowie7854]

Come and visit one day, l live nearby, have walked most of the Wall and visited several forts including this one several times. It never gets dull .

[@DonariaRegia]

Artifacts recovered not only tell who lived there and when, but also where and why. Near the end of the fort's use, a migration pattern can be seen in the finds. Artifacts related to women in the lower (earlier) layers are found in the vicus, the village outside of the fort. But the final deposits of such materials (at the end of the fort's life) are only found in one corner of the barracks inside the fort; demonstrating the loss of Roman control in the region.

[@mtathos_]

Super interesting!

[@RedcoatsReturn]

Excellent work going on there…lets preserve and share the knowledge and the history….well done….well done 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😊👍👍

[@rickb3078]

I was waiting for my Friday dose of toldinstone

[@thefunkychicken582]

What a terrific video. Thanks for bringing us into your world and sharing your knowledge.

[@Andy-ft8jf]

I swear you are my favourite youtuber! Thank you for this extremely valuable content!

[@isabelahart9377]

Amazing

[@mariadespina80]

Called, in Latin, Vallum Hadriani or Vallum Aelium, Hadrian's Wall is a fortification whose construction began in 122 CE, in the Roman province of Britannia, under the reign of Emperor Hadrian - Trajan's successor. The grandiose construction began on the shores of the River Tyne, close to the North Sea, and reached the Irish Sea. It represented the northern limit of the Roman Empire, beyond which began the territories belonging to the free tribes of those lands, including the Picts. The wall was built by the Roman legionnaires, among whom there were also architects, masons or stonemasons. The components of the Roman legions had the status of Roman citizens. The soldiers who worked or carried out military activities at Hadrian's Wall came from northern Europe, there were also units brought from greater distances, made up of fighters of different nations. Among them were Asturians (from the Iberian Peninsula), Syrians and Geto-Dacians from the kingdom of Dacia, conquered by the Romans in 106. Current Romania . At Hadrian's wall, in the fort of Banna, the Dacians from the Prima Aelia Dacorum cohort stationed and fought.. . The ancient Dacia - current Romania. The Dacians, the ancestors of today's Romanians.

[@procrastinator41]

“Oooh Dennis, there’s some lovely filth over’ere”

[@TrevorD19]

I hope you enjoyed the time over there. The weather here in chicagoland is poop.

[@69waveydavey]

I'd go but I was there last Sunday.

[@69waveydavey]

Stay till after 5 and you get the place to yourself, by the way. The place closes but you can leave anytime.

[@cadmaw]

Got to stay onside with the funding😅

[@mwalako]

Or maybe the women had a lot more shoes?

[@keithagn]

😂

[@Zuckerpuppekopf]

It is astonishing how much the Romans contributed to the modern British economy in the form of tourism income.

[@JacquesMare]

How does one preserve such old material before it disintegrate when exposed to air?

[@scoon2117]

Toldinstone has sent me down more rabbit holes than anyone lol.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Teachers told us The Romans built this place They built a wall and a temple on the edge of the Empire garrison town They lived and they died They prayed to their gods But the stone gods did not make a sound And their empire crumbled Till all that was left Were the stones the workmen found

[@AnnThracks1]

Would have been nice to see some actual artifacts. Is there a museum there?

[@jamiephalliday]

Yes. Lots of stuff including the shoes he spoke about, and tablets linking those shoes to actual people and dinner invites. It’s amazing.

[@DonariaRegia]

An image search is worth it, the shoes alone are incredible. Intricate, almost lacy patterns cut out of the leather in some examples. Brass cavalry fittings pulled straight from the anaerobic soil still shine in the sun! A lot of militaria but of course but so many regular everyday things. One artifact I just noticed on display is a small statue of a housefly, how strange. Wait, never mind a fly landed on my screen.

[@roderickjoyce6716]

There is a museum at Vindolanda, highly recommended and a good place to shelter from the Northumbrian weather. The Vindolanda Trust also run the Roman Army Museum at Magna, near the modern village of Greenhead, a few miles to the west of Vindolanda,

[@mariadespina80]

BANNA ! The Dacians Fort on the wall of Hadrian. Banna-Birdoswald, Britannia-UK. BANNA - In Northumbria - the largest and oldest fort of the sixteen inscribed along the wall, the best preserved, with most vestiges, the only inhabited, and after the breakdown of the Roman empire, long after, by the descendants of those soldiers coming from Dacia . Banna! ... Birdoswald, as the Englishmen baptized it . This fortress was built and inhabited by 1000 soldiers from COHORS I AELIA DACORUM , recruited by the Roman Emperor Hadrian from Dacia ( actual Romania) at 120-125 AC , to fight against Scottish, Iuti and Picti from the north. After the Dacian wars (101-102 and 105-106), the Roman Empire used Dacian cohorts (military units of 500-1000 soldiers) throughout the Empire, archaeological discoveries pointing to their presence both in the United Kingdom today and in Turkey . '' '' They were remarkable warriors. They fought without fear of death and died laughing because they believed that their souls were immortal. The title "Aelia" itself was a great honor, for it derives from the entire name of Emperor Hadrian, a name that could be won only because of a military or cultural service out of the ordinary. At first they were sent to the Wall, in an outpost called Bewcastle, to fight first with the barbarian tribes. Send somehow to the sacrifice. At a fort located in an open, wilderness, without a wall, without forests, without anything around. That, precisely because they knew their courage and devotion in the fight. They were supposed to die, but they did not die. Then they came here to Banna, and they lived here until the end. They got lands, rights, ranks. They have remained forever there in their city. Yes. They were undoubtedly among the best fighters brought here to fight at Hadrian's wall. These are facts, certainties, "says the archaeologist Robin Birley ''' , British archaeologist Director of Excavations at the Roman site of Vindolanda and head of the Vindolanda research committee . The Dacians, the Romanians ancestors..

[@simplepixel5617]

I would give anything in this world to do a day of work there and help to excavate. Unfortunately I'm not an archeologist :(

[@paulcowie7854]

You can volunteer, don't think you have to be an archaeologist, just willing to help and follow instructions.

[@simplepixel5617]

@@paulcowie7854 I went on their website and indeed it is true. I don't live in Uk, but I am already planing to go for 2 weeks next year. This i'm not missing out on :)

[@davidhollins870]

@@simplepixel5617Make sure you check the website in late October when they announce Booking Day in early November - it is a mad scramble about 1100. Make sure you have a direct internet link as I have been too slow in the past using office Wi-Fi.

[@Caesar-ww3yp]

​@@simplepixel5617are you still going? :)

[@simplepixel5617]

Unfortunately my plans got derailed because we are still on the roads in Italy and by my calculations we wont be able to make it to Uk until December, since we make a loop to Spain and then trough France. Probably next year for sure if I will be able to buy in since I have my sis there and have to visit her also. Did u got in? @@Caesar-ww3yp

[@romanhistorywalks6526]

Thought I spotted myself in the background

[@SaszaDerRoyt]

I'm just thinking how much incredible dendrochronological data could be found from just well-preserved wood!

[@SaszaDerRoyt]

If the opportunity ever arises I should like to work at Vindolanda, I'm not yet sure if my excavation skills are up to scratch for such a delicate site but if I can get a couple weeks to do so I'd love to get to know this fascinating soil

[@g1stylempdesign929]

When you remove the top soil, the overburdened the exposed layers dry out…..When you peel an orange the moisture of the orange escapes and it dries out. It’s not just climate volatility, hotter summers and more precipitation in the winter months, it’s the removal of organic substrate that would otherwise shield the artifacts. But, if you can make a case for climate change perhaps you can appeal to more volunteers and generate more funding. They should build hothouse style structures over the sites of excavation to prevent the drying and limit the over saturation.

[@carausiuscaesar5672]

Did Nero not say Rome burned cause of climate change?

[@carausiuscaesar5672]

“Big hairy Roman soldiers -men mainly-“is he saying some were women Roman soldiers?non binary maybe?

[@vernonoehlke4025]

Climate change 🙄

[@opmdevil]

First?

[@Catonius]

climate change, sure buddy.

[@Ionabrodie69]

Well he’s a yank , so one of yours.. 🙄

[@nameunavailable1330]

“Climate Change” I almost took him seriously.

[@billythedog-309]

Yes, who would take him seriously after saying that? The conspiracy sites you visit probably have far better explanations.

[@sgassocsg]

Since climate change happens naturally, and often dramatically, how do you verify man made climate change? However, I support the elimination of combustion and the resurgence of atomic/electric future…buy an EV!

[@namenameson9065]

lol the climate is crushing the soil? give us a break!

[@adrienlefebvre9871]

erosion.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

The waterlogged soil of the Vindolanda site in particular has maintained oxygen-free (anaerobic) conditions, which prevent the decay of organic matter, because it has had a high and stable subsurface water table for thousands of years. But in recent years, the area has been experiencing longer periods of drought, which means the water table has time to recede between rain events. As the water table lowers, the pores and voids in the soil which had previously been filled with incompressible water instead fill with air, which *_is_* compressible, and the weight of the soil above compresses the now-compressible pores and voids in the soil below, thus yes, actually crushing the soil, and the introduction of excess oxygen to what had previously been an anaerobic environment speeds up the decay of organic remains, leaving even more pores and voids to then get crushed. The compressed soil is then less porous, which means that when it does rain, more of that rain tends to run off into streams and rivers (which increases topsoil erosion) than gets absorbed, which slows down the rate at which the subsurface aquifer replenishes itself and keeps the water table lower than it would have been otherwise.

[@namenameson9065]

@@bartolomeothesatyr Ok, so what do you expect us to do about it? Pay more taxes? Stop using electricity? Sign up for world government tyranny? The problem, you see, isn't that the climate changes, which it obviously does. It's that "Climate Change" is political opportunism hiding a dangerous agenda. Our guy here is clearly exploiting that, probably because it helps fund his career.

[@bethwilliams4903]

And in the last 12,000 years that never happened before

[@namenameson9065]

@@bethwilliams4903 Erosion is a constant force. Yes it has. It is always happening. Guy in the video even says this location is unique because the layers of human activity. That's why it's well preserved. Do these people even think?

[@dutro76]

With the triangle analysis method I developed, the answer can be derived as soon as it is analyzed. Specify 3 locations. Vindolanda, 54 59 26.06 N, 2 21 38.05 W, Vatican, 41 54 8.00 N, 12 27 26.13 E, One hundredth of the Sun diameter distance Point ,from Machupicchu sun stone, 7 10 29.10 S, 56 6 56.45 E, The mutual distances of those three points are 8743km, 1814km, 115km, and the sum of the three is 10672km. Mars diameter is 6794km, Mars circumference is about 21345km. It is calculated as π=3 14159. 10672km≒21345km×0.49999, The total distance of the three sides is the half-perimeter of Mars. The extremely high accuracy is important evidence that the Anunnaki descended on earth 200,000 years ago and constructed and arranged ancient ruins with modules based on the size of the solar system bodies. Since it has not been moved since it was installed, good results can be obtained by measuring carefully. I have already completed the analysis of more than 90,000 demonstration cases. This is one example. I will explain the reason for each length. 8743km≒8501km; Triton circumference ×1.028, 1814km≒3636km × 0 499, Io diameter ×0.5, 115km ≒ Io circumference × 1.0067, PS; The hypothetical sun spot is a vestige track that the Anunnaki diligently collected the gold-laden mud deposited on the ocean floor. It is 12km wide and remains for 20000km continuously. In addition, it is characterized by a small detour to the west only here. It's a sacred point of importance and a base that I cherish!　There are several other locations.