Fifty years ago this month, a dig discovery in Northumberland opened up an astonishing window into everyday life almost 2,000 years ago.
The postcard-sized thin wooden writing tablet found at the Roman fort of Vindolanda was the first of almost 2,000 which have since been unearthed, allowing voices to be heard from the distant past.
The Vindolanda Trust is now celebrating the 50th anniversary of that first find on March 23, 1973, in which the writer says: ”Have sent you pairs of socks from Sattua, two pairs of sandals and two pairs of underpants. Greet all your messmates with whom I pray that you live in the greatest of good fortune.”
