Too Bad Target ™ Wasn’t Invented Yet (ca. 75-125 AD)
In the 1970s, excavators working at Hadrian’s wall came across a large number of ancient documents – Roman letters, contracts, and other writings – in and around the area. The documents are actually pieces of wood that had originally been composed using wax drawn onto wooden tablets with a stylus, but after sitting in the ground for 2000 years, the wax had long since decomposed – leaving only faint scratches in the wood where the writing had once been.
Hadrian’s wall is one of the most important Roman monuments in Britain, as it was the marker for the British northern border of the Roman Empire. In fact, Hadrian’s wall was the most heavily fortified border in the entirety of the Empire, and was a strong military defense against raids by Scotland’s Pictish tribes.
With a heavy military presence at the wall, perhaps it is not surprising that the first document to be deciphered from the cache was a Roman soldier’s shopping list! It seems that this soldier was heading to an auction with several key purchases in mind: a general outfit of clothing, which would have cost him around 8 percent of his annual income, and another 10 percent of his annual income would go toward the purchase of a new cloak. With Britain’s often harsh climate, a new cloak would have been absolutely necessary for a soldier’s well being – which is probably why it cost him a small fortune.
The list was deciphered by exaggerating the stylus markings on the tablet through digital imaging and virtual reconstruction technology. Noting the shadows that the etchings cast when low, focused light was shone on the wood, researchers were able to analyze the scratch marks and make out distinct letters.
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Tomorrow: Talk about an old dog…
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