Wooden writing-tablet from Vindolanda

• 

  Tablet with a military intelligence report

 

Length: 22.300 cm

P&EE 1986 10-1 64

Room 49: Roman Britain

• Larger image

Roman Treasures

The Vindolanda tablets

Late 1st or early 2nd century AD
From Vindolanda Roman fort (modern Chesterholm), Northumberland

Although it might seem hard to believe at first glance, these pieces of wood were recently voted number 1 out of all the British treasures in the British Museum. They are the oldest surviving examples of handwriting in Britain, and were found on the site of a Roman fort. There are hundreds of fragments altogether, written on thin pieces of wood. Most are letters.

Usually items that survive from the past tell us about the wealthy, but the tablets are valuable in that they tell us what everyday people like us were doing and thinking. The main picture is a birthday invitation, written by a woman asking her friend to a party. Some of the tablets are military documents, others are letters written to soldiers at the fort. The intelligence report shown includes a description of how the Britons fought, saying 'The cavalry do not use swords nor do the wretched Britons mount in order to throw javelins'.