Archaeologists Unearth A 2,000-Year-Old Roman Fort | Digging for Britain

From uncovering a Bronze Age weapon hoard to investigating a Roman fort at Vindolanda, archaeologists reveal fascinating finds including an intact Roman sword and insights into ancient British life. Discover the mysteries of the Picts and a Neolithic settlement older than Skara Brae. Watch as Dr. Alice Roberts and a team of experts analyze artifacts and bring our ancestors' stories to life.
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[@LadyLillyNo]

I could listen to Alice Roberts reading the phonebook out loud.😊

[@paulmorgancollings7833]

@LadyLillyNo, and I, being a fan of both Professor Roberts and Archeology would one of these days like to find myself knee deep in Alice's trench. On a historical dig, obviously! Love watching the programmes and I've been re watching the old ones on the telly this afternoon on Blaze. Regards etc etc

[@ihopetowin]

Really? Terrible vowel swallowing affectation; sounds as though she is trying to speak through a mouthful of cotton wool. Recommend execution lessons. Appears also to be suffering a terrible choice of wardrobe, that wallpaper look went out in the 1970's.

[@mushymagazineonlocation7328]

Vindolander… the gift that just keeps on giving. Great history

[@johngarbutt6106]

She's one of the best archaeology speaker I've ever heard. 💯💯

[@Brian-om2hh]

And has an impressive string of letters after her name, to back up what she says....

[@nickmiller76]

@@Brian-om2hh She has no formal qualification in Archeology.

[@celticwolff5429]

@@nickmiller76 Being a physical anthropologist at Bristol University doesn't count?

[@cg256y9]

Vindolanda is amazing. You could film a full season of episodes there. I'd love to see it in person. Hello from USA. :)

[@jimbagley321]

Hello @cg256y9. What do you do for your vacation? Coming to Vindolanda is very straightforward and the site is absolutely amazing. The site itself is totally accessible - you are literally treading in the shoes of the roman legionnaires. The Museum on site and the Roman army Museum just down the road have amazing artifacts. Hop on a plane, take the train, book a stay at one of the lovely local pubs. rent a car and you will have the best experience of your life. Given you are keen enough to watch this video and make a comment. We love respectful visitors from the USA with an interest in history. If you have a few days to spare visit Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, Hampton Court and the |Tower of London, plus the hundreds of late Norman castles scattered along the English/Welsh borders.

[@JamesDumas-b1x]

Really good show. Educational and informative but not boring and a intelligent and lovely host.

[@MonibooFinebean]

Im so jealous that we dont have too much of this to find in the Americas ! SO cool history.

[@jimplummer4879]

We are still a young country as far as countries go.

[@PaulEcosse]

You really do. All kinds of things have walked this earth for millennia. Just need to find it.

[@helenhunter4540]

Moniboo: Even if you're forgetting that people have been here for thousands of years BEFORE Europeans, archeology can be done on sites just a few hundred years old.

[@Auxius.]

​@@jimplummer4879 You have native american and dinosaurs that you can excavate.

[@thomasbell7033]

​@@Auxius.Sadly, excavating aboriginal sites over here is extremely fraught politically.

[@lesliehart]

It wasn't just the "English" civil war, it was the civil war of the British Isles, as there were also battles in Ireland, Wales Scotland and at sea.

[@daleyg]

There is a move to call it the war of the three kingdoms.

[@Toglos]

Advert for history hit is way too loud.

[@angvannuil9280]

Was so pleased to see a new post 😊

[@Diogenes_43]

Soldiers would never leave their swords. If you can only bring one thing with you it would be your weapon. Very strange for them to be there.

[@joshbeatty7211]

Unless the owners weren't fortunate enough to grab them in time. They could have been attacked and suprised leaving no time to grab them

[@samuelgarrod8327]

They may have been surplus, in a store or armory.

[@Crispvs1]

They were probably damaged in some way which is now no longer visible. Most Roman equipment left behind at sites appears to have suffered damage and to be in need of repairs. The blades and tangs of the swords looked good, so i would guess that the handle assemblages had disintegrated and they were waiting to be rehandled when the decision was made to pack up and abandon the site. If they had not been repaired and were not serviceable at the point when the carts were being packed they would be buried - to be retrieved if the unit returned and if not, denied to an enemies who might occupy the site. The same would apply to the collection of broken equipment which was buried in the chest at Corbridge. Broken kit is nothing but extra weight to carry and takes up space needed for other things when space is limited.

[@johnwainwright1553]

Nice to see the famous tree that was so shamefully felled 😞34:44

[@Blair338RUM]

Tablet 291 of Claudia Severa to Sulpicia Lepindina “ the birthday invitation”tablet is a gorgeous piece of writing.

[@rcrawford42]

My brother studied history, and decided to focus on the early 20th century so the primary documents would mostly be typewritten.

[@jont8707]

Dr alice has the smarts and the looks that very rare I love any show that she on she tells such a great story the facts she knows what she talking about is what makes is so good bravo Dr alice

[@carl5652]

Professor Alice

[@nickmiller76]

@@carl5652 Only Professor of being on the telly, like Olusoga.

[@lianefehrle9921]

41:13 could they have stolen these items after a battle?

[@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq]

Extremely interesting but why the intrusive music ?

[@MARTINA-gc3tq]

How basic was the misconception that swords would be left as soldiers left in a hurry. If you’re worried about being attacked the one thing you don’t leave behind is your weapons.

[@margomoore4527]

I’ve never seen that kind of Roman script before-it’s almost cursive. I couldn’t read it initially the way I could the Roman capitals that are still so similar to our own letter forms.

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks

[@pollyb.4648]

I'm an anthropologist in the US and enjoying this series! Curious though as to Dr Robert's lovely accent? It seems very different from other British accents.

[@vicsaul5459]

Just a guess, slightly west country Bristol or Bath, with a hint of Midlands , 🇬🇧

[@nickmiller76]

Most of the women on the BBC talk like that. It's all a matter of taste of course, but I find it excruciating to listen to personally.

[@GilbMLRS]

How did such a complex and all the items be untouched after abandonment? You can't leave a house for a week until it's vandalized and for many years after it continues to be discernible thus inviting even more visitors. So how did the Roman sites lay undisturbed that even swords were still there and not quarried for all that could be re-used?

[@sturzuus]

Was rebuild like 9 times or something.

[@paulacorn1342]

So good to have more than three days for a dig 😊

[@ne0n1880]

"DISCOVER THE PAST BLABLABLA" Why does it has to be SO LOUD?

[@paulannable3734]

Does your device not include a volume control?

[@harrykouwen1426]

A thumb-fimble, my father was a tailor and used these, as well as smaller ones for other fingers, open and closed types.

[@tomadamchick1374]

I can’t believe some commenters are concentrating on an academic host’s looks and dress.

[@antonpressing]

For heaven's sake - the Picts constantly picked at the picky Romans !

[@johnjacobs1625]

Nice Showing!

[@helenhunter4540]

The roman things north of Hadrian's Wall could be the result of trade, 1st 2nd 3rd or more trades distant from the romans. Weird idea that the Picts would be ISOLATED if they had no contact with the romans!

[@rcrawford42]

There were multiple expeditions into Scotland by the Romans, and an attempt to build a line of fortifications farther north than Hadrian's Wall.

[@TerryLuck-em7cd]

#2000 Congratulations on reaching 2000 👏

[@johnmimist]

Nice job! For sure going to go before a trip! Curious why tho you don’t tweeze or wax? Since a tweezed or waxed hair grows back tapered, since it’s pulled at the root, and a new hair is tapered. And shaved hair as well as chemical removal( deppilatories) removes the hair at the surface, which is in the middle of the hair which is thick. Then you have them all growing back at the same time. Thick so i wonder how often you need to shave as opposed to randomly tweezing. Hmmm. I do know it’s hard to wax those tiny hairs especially on oily skin. Hmmmm. Where is this product made? Any idea? I want stuff that’s not full of chemicals

[@lewistempleman9752]

Amazing that a roman fart could be preserved so well

[@twebber1000]

The guy with the dreads looks like cheddar man!!!

[@jeffatkins6890]

Very interesting and I enjoyed the presentation , articles and guessing don’t provide much insight

[@jp-um2fr]

Pity Alice didn't mention that famous Roman general Gluteus Maximus.

[@nickmiller76]

He was a bit of an arse I heard.

[@petebrown6204]

I initially read that "o" as an "a". I was like, how do you trap one of those for 2000 years?? Haven't stopped laughing.......... 🤣 I am a child

[@paulalbert8096]

Silly question, but since there is such a lack of falling leaves and vegetation in that region, how does a house get covered up with dirt over hundreds and thousands of years, and obscure swords that are just left there? I can understand in a region with thousands of trees that are dropping leaves that create soil, but I don't understand how it happens in that region.

[@paulannable3734]

Constant erosion and deposition. It is incredible, isn’t it. New town levels being built over old layers. It doesn’t seem possible but it clearly is

[@paulalbert8096]

@@paulannable3734 it is incredible. I guess the key concept is that it is 2000-3000 years of deposits! Amazing to conceptualize.

[@nomad9459]

Am i the only one that clicked on this because i thought it said "excavating a Roman fart', not fort

[@Brian-om2hh]

Oh dear. I expect the reality took the wind out of your sails.

[@nickmiller76]

Ray-man, get it right.

[@Crispvs1]

If the settlement was in that part of Fife, it would probably have been in Votodini territory, rather that 'Pictish'.

[@Auxius.]

Hold up, swords on the floor? These are valuable to anyone. They must've left in a hurry *and* the buildings destroyed quickly after to cover up the swords. Was there any evidence of burning at Vindolanda?

[@Crispvs1]

Broken equipment was often buried during the abandonment of roman forts. In all probability the handle assemblages on the swords had disintegrated and they were awaiting repair, much like all the spearheads with the broken ends of shafts still in them and a sawblade missing its handle which were found in the remains of the chest found buried at Corbridge in 1964. When you are in situ you have places where you can keep equipment awaiting repair, but when you need to move, broken equipment which has not been repaired yet is just dead weight to carry and takes up space in carts which is needed for other things. The normal Roman solution to this problem was the bury the unrepaired equipment, in order to be retrieved if the same unit returned to the same site, but otherwise hidden from the eyes of enemies who might come across the abandoned site. It is probably for this reason that most surviving Roman Equipment appears to be damaged in some way or other, and is definitely the reason that the Romans buried an estimated ten million nails in a number of large pits when they dismantled the fort at Inchtuthil in the early second century AD.

[@Auxius.]

@@Crispvs1 The first blade was found intact in it's scabbard, in a living quarters. The second one looks like it was also in a room, as the excavator mentions both swords were found in the same condition. Even a broken blade would've been valuable to the British rebels, that's why I suspect they must've been covered before the rebels could scour through the abandoned fort.

[@RamBeloeZlato]

Thanks it was getting hot the same way.

[@mikelang8020]

SHES VERY BEAUTIFUL AND EXCELLENT SPEAKER OF THE OLD DAYS

[@theshadow5800]

If it was left behind, why didn't someone else, contemporary, claim it at the time, considering the value of the swords? Why was it completely abandoned till now?

[@kevinquist]

really really? really really really? REALLY!?!? sigh.

[@scottspaine4864]

Someone please explain why during these digs only pieces of items are found. A piece of a glass, bracelet, pottery, etc. What happened that only pieces are discovered.

[@rcrawford42]

Broken things were discarded, used as landfill. Or the cause of the site's abandonment was destructive enough to break things.

[@pollyb.4648]

And it's been thousands of years of frost/freeze heaving, plowing over etc

[@fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602]

I have some ancient treasures that I intend to smuggle to England. When I get there with them, I'll rent a car and head to a remote location. After driving a few hours, when I find myself in a place far from any city, town or village, I will stop the car on the highway. At night I will go into the woods to bury the ancient treasures (ancient Roman and Greek coins from different centuries and a chipped stone ax made by Brazilian Indians) and I will bury everything with care as if it were an offering to a deity. Local stones will be used to completely line the bottom and sides of the small hole in the earth. Then I will return to Brazil with one certainty: in the future, all of this will be discovered by an amateur and will cause a great debate among English historians, archaeologists and anthropologists. They will be very intrigued to find objects from such different periods buried in the same location, apparently far from any excavated human settlements. And I'm sure no one will remember that I wrote my plan here, because there is no better way to hide a plan like this by revealing it on the Internet because no one really pays attention to comments made on videos like this.

[@TheKencoffee]

Please be sure it has ancient Brazilian markings so it won't be mistaken for a bronze age artifact 😂

[@terryhetherington3364]

That’s been done already…lol

[@trentgay3437]

That old story is just a conspiracy 😉

[@fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602]

@@TheKencoffee We will see the result only after carry out a small experiment to test the hypothesis of the dangers and limits imposed on science because it has become entertainment.

[@philthycat1408]

Leave your name so you can be credited for making that part of history.

[@jacobkuykendall9325]

Is it me or is Alice smoking hot and has a way to make these shows cool and worth watching?

[@jamesmay6035]

34:34 "prince of thieves" location?

[@factanonverba6169]

Mnn! Did the Romans willingly trade, or did the fiendish Picts borrow the goods at the point of a weapon?

[@kevinc4632]

Fiendish???

[@factanonverba6169]

@@kevinc4632 according to the Romans! 😂

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

This show is good; but not as good as most claim; and a long way worse than Time Team, the show it is based on. The 'dig diary's' are good; and Alice Roberts is a treasure; but the script she reads is too often numb and banal. What she says about the relationship between the Picts & the Romans was out of date decades ago. We already know the Romans were 'soft investing' with the Picts . The repeated use of 'savage Picts' devalues the narrative.

[@antonpressing]

They should donate the money to time team !

[@sturzuus]

This it's a technical team problem after all she is a paleontologist with limited knowledge on some aspects.

[@robbyakes8736]

WAR IS EVIL

[@trentgay3437]

Were the swords on the floor or under it? They start out saying they took up the floor and then say the swords were left on the floor? A previous floor that was built over?

[@rcrawford42]

Vindolanda is a layer cake of construction -- two stone forts and more wooden ones. It was occupied for centuries, after all.

[@Crispvs1]

Almost certainly deliberately buried under the floor during preparation for abandonment of the fort. The swords were probably damaged in some way we can't see (the handle assemblages had probably disintegrated) and as they had not yet been repaired they would just be dead weight to a unit moving out and would have taken up space in baggage carts which was needed for other things. So they were buried to deny them to an enemy who might visit the site after it was abandoned.

[@si4632]

maybe they were the sea people

[@jacquelinevanderkooij4301]

Well they called germanic tribes who did not coorperate also barberians. But barbarians have their own culture too.

[@ElizaPurest]

❤🇬🇧❤

Maybe those pesky Romans shoulda/oughta stayed home and minded their own business!

[@Frank_Nemo]

24:58 Are those the only clothes she has?

[@pfa2000]

That's a bit harsh. Best dressed archeologist I've ever seen. 😉

[@mikegreen5596]

Didn’t hadrians wall have sporadic gates between the north and south,to allow travel between the two areas? If so it seems logical to assume trade or other simply day to day transfers between north and south We can’t conquer you but that doesn’t mean we can’t buy and sell stuff!

[@dickdastardly1883]

There was 17 large forts and 80 smaller ones along the wall, one at every Roman mile, known as mile castles. It’s at these smaller ones they had gates opening through the wall to allow goods, besides soldiers, to access north. Each mile castle had 6-8 soldiers lodging in it and it is said they collected tax’s here from traders going north and south. I live only an hours drive away and have visited the wall and forts many times over the years, including many sites south of the wall. Binchester, in Bishop Auckland, has a wonderfully preserved Roman bathhouse that has childrens ( slaves ? ) footprints in the concrete of the foundations from when it was being built and a stretch of Roman road you can walk on.

[@williammartin2593]

Whoever gave her that outfit is not her friend.

[@lenabreijer1311]

She doesn't care about your opinion, neither does anyone else

[@helenhunter4540]

Why do you assume someone gave it to her? And what do her clothes have to do with what she's talking about? Nothing.

[@FrostyBalls01]

Which one. I want to see how bad it is.

[@FrostyBalls01]

@@lenabreijer1311 no on asked for yours so shut up and leave us alone.

[@CarlosGarcia-fi4yu]

In the time of the Roman occupation in Britania (a name given by the Romans) were not or they didn't identify themselves as British, therefore, there was no British Revolution against Rome.

[@helenhunter4540]

"It must have belonged to a powerful man." "Fight to attain and retain it." " Bronze Age overlords, if you like." What if we don't like? Or think these theories proved?

[@clarkduncan3715]

These items could of been taken from Roman camps etc or collected from when the Romans left ... there was no friendship between the Calidonians and the Romans

[@SunofYork]

Shaycases the past...a claiser look..

[@nickmiller76]

......at the Ray-mans.....

[@russhp4645]

Whats up with that dudes hair?

[@sirdad1]

To the Victor go the spoils

[@gregedmand9939]

A beautiful and brilliant woman, wearing fashionable clothes while discussing archeological discoveries... What's not to like?

[@gittarollke3102]

True, very true lovely smart intelligent host just not a fan of the red hair all of sudden.

[@jimclarke1108]

Just lookin🥰oi oi oi

[@DanielFerguson-l2u]

Sorry, but the Romans didn't refer to the Barbarians as savages, nor did 'barbarian' have the negative connotation associated with the term today. This idea of barbarians as savages is a modern concept, based on much later ideas of the 'uncivilised' natives of the New World & sub Saharan Africa. In fact for the Romans 'Barbarian' meant uncorrupted people, not spoilt by the decadence of the world of baths & city politics. They were admired for their rugged manliness. virility, & 'natural' society, in contrast to the venality of the supposed elite class of Roman gentry, Senators etc, who had allowed themselves to be overawed by a series of tyrant Emperors, such as Nero & Domitian. The only real criticism of the Barbarians was to do with the apparent disorganised, unsophisticated, political arrangements, sometimes seen as dependant upon bloodthirsty priesthoods, & their 'habits' of unreliability when in alliances with Rome. The other weakness expressed by Tacitus for instance, was their vulnerability to the lur of the pleasures of the Roman life style, baths & wine etc, which could quite quickly undermine their natural, 'authentic' existence, making them soft like the people of the Mediterranean.

[@Mdalyhill]

The word is ancient onomatopoeia. The Greeks thought non-Greeks languages sounded primitive and strange, it all sounded like “Bar bar” to them. It very much was negative to the Greeks, and the Romans adopted the connotation

[@sturzuus]

@@Mdalyhill Also they considered barbarians the godless ones and people that worshiped other deities.

[@myview1875]

So the archaeologists on Iona had a bad dig so they through all their rubbish in the trench. 😐. Worse than little bugs. 😠.

[@classicambo9781]

16:16

[@kevinfoster1138]

Let's be realistic "people are going to people" even today local tribes will work with an invading army so why should it be any different 2000 years ago?

[@augustopinto2859]

Those swords are not Roman Gladio, way to long and way to thin, they could be cavalry spatas or sword used by the Pits bur surely not a legionnaire gladio.

[@robroy5352]

because they were 500 yrs before the romans

[@rcrawford42]

Vindolanda was a cavalry fort, so cavalry swords make perfect sense.

[@slowerpicker]

That soundtrack begad

[@Perparim-gp1ef]

Yes rom mejdet ingland for2000thazen hirs

[@helenhunter4540]

I've come to doubt the claims that entire countries or regions "became Christian" as a result of Christian missionaries, however famous. What likely happened is a few "leaders, kings, members of the elites" adopted the cult out of curiosity or politics. How much do we know about the relationships between leaders and people? Would leaders have expected the people they governed to accept a religion at their command? Imagine if missionaries of an unknown religion were to come to any country or region now.

[@gowdsake7103]

Interesting subject destroyed by terrible blip cut editing Do you honestly think that constant 4 second blip cuts are anything but annoying ! Maybe in brainless pop clips but NOT on what should be a serious subject

[@davidwhelan1545]

British rebels? Britons!

[@DavSchonen]

Too many adds, greedy!!

[@si4632]

oh dear what is she wearing lol

[@shawnsanborn2057]

What are you? A fashion critic? Lol

[@margomoore4527]

Cool clothes! I’d wear ‘em all, except for the gaudy skirt! And I’m a bit older than Prof. Alice.

[@vicsaul5459]

So many fashion police 🚔🙄in this comment section

[@sophieclarke3582]

Oh dear.. another insecure troll. If the presenters clothing was the most thought provoking part of this video for you, that's bleak.

[@si4632]

@@sophieclarke3582 Who took the jam out of your doughnut 🤣

[@magnusdunning6113]

Speaking of archaeology, where did the narrator dig up that awful looking skirt?

[@DonHavjuan]

More priceless and irrecoverable history destroyed for TV.

[@pollyb.4648]

Archeology is a SCIENCE, dedicated to uncovering history. Maybe we can learn to stop wars. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Being proven currently here in the US where many actually think they want a dictator here!

[@antonpressing]

Jerusalem - what type of a bulshit question ?

[@QuarkChaser360]

Bring back time team! Digging for Britain isn't as good because it's boring and nobody dares not to be "normal".

[@iainhay2823]

Time team is back, it’s on KZbin. Lastest released last weekend

[@QuarkChaser360]

@@iainhay2823 oh great, thanks, will check it out!

[@SpottedSharks]

Clicked for thumbnail of cute girl, stayed to suss out more of Britain's deep history.

[@anneglebe2098]

Before the Christians being there. I think the Druids were there.

[@davidwhelan1545]

And Shamanism, previously.

[@anneglebe2098]

I just know I read that for the Druids, they had there biggest site there. Like almost there training and main worship site. I could be wrong too! But that’s what I thought I read on it. Let me know! Thanks!

[@paulsmith-oy3bu]

Not the way to be at all declare them u give people bad name

[@deewhite4346]

Cant stand this woman , shame as i would love to watch this programme

[@obsidianjane4413]

Anyone else look a the thumbnail and go, "Not dressed like that you don't."? lol

[@VK6AB-]

The fossilisation of Britain has become an industry, vast amounts of resources have been tipped into this process and to little invested in the future. Its time to look to the future and stop revisiting the past, which has been deciphered by far better historians and archaeologists than these groups and individuals. All of this was well known and was well understood decades ago.

[@robroy5352]

i wonder wat they thought as they cut down the last tree,,,,,,,,,,,ohh shit, there's no trees left,,,,,,

[@sentinal2343]

2000 YEAR OLD Roman fort? 55 BC: Julius Caesar’s first invasion of Britain 54 BC: Julius Caesar’s second invasion of Britain 43 AD: Emperor Claudius launches the successful Roman invasion of Britain under the command of Aulus Plautius One wonders when exactly they built these forts? if THEY built them at all !!

[@sturzuus]

Around 85 AD was first garrison there, Coh. I Tungrorum and become part of Hadrian wall fortification after 120 AD. So your problem it's that are like 1940 years old and not exactly 2000yrs?!