I finally spoke to the ranger who unearthed a Roman fort in Northumberland

A few summers back I was at Vindolanda and this older ranger was giving a talk about a new trench they'd opened. He mentioned how he'd been digging there for twenty years and still got a jolt every time they found pottery. I asked him what his most surprising find was, and he just laughed and said a child's shoe from the third century. He looked me straight in the eye and said 'People think archaeology is about kings and battles, but it's really about the everyday stuff people left behind.' That one stuck with me because I'd always been more into the big finds myself. Now I can't stop thinking about the small things, like the little clay beads or a broken spoon. Has anyone else had a moment like that where a single object changed how you view a whole site?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren_carr21d ago

It's funny you mention that, I once got WAY too excited over a Roman hairpin I found in a field - turns out it was just a rusty nail and my imagination was working overtime. Guess I'm the kind of person who'd find a child's shoe and try to turn it into a sword.

the_max21d ago

Turns out it was just a rusty nail" - yeah, that's basically the story of every hobbyist ever, isn't it? We're all out here finding trash and convincing ourselves it's treasure, @wren_carr.