Went to the Roman fort at Vindolanda last month and the volunteers there are literally pulling 2,000 year old boots out of the mud

Reese Harris · 2026-09-27T17:45:05.565107+00:00

I stopped by the site near Hexham in northern England on a Tuesday and there were like 6 people in a trench just peeling leather sandals out of wet clay. The oxygen free soil there keeps wood and fabric intact, which almost never happens, so they have actual birthday invites and grocery lists from soldiers on display. One guy showed me a postcard sized tablet where a soldier complains he ran out of beer and asks his buddy to send more. Here is my hot take, this site is 100x more interesting than any gold mask or tomb that grabs headlines, and most people have no clue it exists. It keeps getting pushed back because of funding and weather, and I think that is a crime. Has anyone here actually done a dig there or at a similar waterlogged site, and is it as good as the museum makes it look?

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Went to the Roman fort at Vindolanda last month and the volunteers there are literally pulling 2,000 year old boots out of the mud | Archaeology Discoveries - HW Forums