A section of Hadrians Wall located near the walls milecastle39 near Hexham in northern England on January 19. This year marks the 1900th anniversary the construction of it. AFP
Nineteen hundred years ago, Hadrian’s Wall was built to repel barbarian hordes. Now archaeologists at Hadrians Wall, northern England, are facing a new enemy climate. This threatens their vast treasure troves of Roman artifacts.
Many thousands of soldiers lived near the 118km stonewall, which runs from west coast to coast of England. It marks the boundary of the Roman Empire, and is Britain’s largest Roman archaeological feature.
The wall was built during the reign of Hadrian in 122 AD. It marked the border between Roman Britannia (unconquered Caledonia) and helped to keep barbarian raiders from entering the empire.
Roman soldiers who lived there left behind more than just wooden structures. Archaeologists can reconstruct their lives in the windswept north of empire using the fascinating detritus of daily life.
They include Vindolanda fort, 53km west from Newcastle upon Tyne. This Roman settlement was at the original eastern edge of the wall. It was then called Pons Aelius.
Many of Hadrian’s Wall’s landscapes are preserved under peat-bog and marsh very moist, very wet ground. This has protected archaeology for nearly two millennia. Andrew Birley, chief executive of Vindolanda Trust and director of excavations, stated.
He said that climate change is inevitable as global warming occurs.
Ground heats up faster than air temperature, caking soil and letting oxygen through cracks.
Birley stated that things that are very delicate, such as leather, textile, or wood, can become oxygen-insensitive and crack, decay, and eventually disappear forever.
Under threat
The dramatic landscape surrounding the wall has seen stone and wood structures, leather shoes, clothing, weapons, and tools over the years. It also contains handwritten wooden tables, which have provided insight into Roman life in Britain.
Vindolanda’s site is less than 25% complete. The fort is just one of 14 on Hadrians Wall. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. It is also one the most well-known tourist attractions in Britain.
A sign at Vindolanda is the entrance to the large Roman auxiliary fort situated 1.6km south-east of Hadrians Wall. This sign predates the wall approximately 40 years. AFP
All this masonry, all that masonry, all the ground behind me was below the ground. Birley stated that it was in a farmers field 50-years ago.
Only 1% of Hadrian’s Wall has been excavated archaeologically. A lot of this landscape is protected in the wet peatlands environment, and that makes it a landscape that is really at risk.
There are dozens of Roman shoes for all ages, genders and social classes displayed behind him. This is just a small selection of the more than 5,500 leather items that have been found at the site.
Many artifacts have retained a remarkable level of detail due to their black, peaty soil.
They are amazing because they have completely changed our perceptions of the Roman Empire, and the Roman army. They’ve made it a place where there are lots of children running around, he said.
We wouldn’t know what we would have done without these artifacts.
Race is alive and well
Every year, events will be held to commemorate the 1,900 years since the wall was built.
Birley believes the anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect about how to make sure that the wall, and its artifacts, will still be in existence in 1,900 more years.
He stated that the Roman army embarked in one of the most significant construction pieces in the entire empire.
They transformed this beautiful rural landscape around me into Hadrian’s Wall, a barrier that runs through the heart of the country.
Instead of defending Roman Britain’s north from unconquered Caledonian Caledonia, the race is now between archaeologists to find climate change and archaeologists.
Is it possible to find out what’s happening at these sites? Can we intervene to protect these sites? Can we save material before it is lost forever?