Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early medieval archaeology: Vindolanda. Over the past 50 years, annual excavations at this site have revealed incredible amounts of new information. Information that has not only shone more light on the site’s history, but also on the minutiae of everyday life for those people who lived on this north western frontier of the Roman Empire almost 2,000 years ago.

A plethora of stunning artefacts have been unearthed over the last half decade from Vindolanda: from the only Roman boxing gloves found from anywhere in the Roman Empire to early medieval Christian graffiti. What’s most exciting of all, however, is that there are still so many more exciting finds to be uncovered in the years ahead.

As 2021 nears it end, the Vindolanda team have just wrapped up their most recent excavation of the site. History Hit’s Tristan Hughes headed up to Vindolanda to see what discoveries they’ve made this year and the exciting prospects for the 2022 season. Featuring Dr Andrew Birley, Head of Excavations at Vindolanda, and Marta Alberta, Site Archaeologist at Vindolanda.