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Vindolanda Stylus Tablets

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description Vindolanda Stylus Tablets Overview

The Vindolanda tablets are thin wooden writing tablets excavated from the Roman fort of Vindolanda near Hadrian's Wall in northern England, dating to around 85–130 CE and comprising the oldest surviving handwritten documents found in Britain.

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What was written on the Vindolanda tablets?

The texts include military reports, duty lists, supply requests, accounts, and private letters. Together they reveal daily life among soldiers, officers, families, and enslaved people near Hadrian's Wall.

What does the Vindolanda birthday invitation say?

Claudia Severa invited Sulpicia Lepidina to a birthday celebration in one of the collection's best-known letters. A personal closing written in a different hand is often identified as one of the earliest surviving examples of a woman's Latin handwriting.

How were the Vindolanda tablets written if they were made of wood?

Many are very thin wooden leaves written on with carbon-based ink rather than carved with a stylus. Their darkened, waterlogged burial conditions helped preserve material that would normally decay.

Do the Vindolanda tablets date from the building of Hadrian's Wall?

Many tablets date from about 85 to 130 CE, spanning periods just before and during the wall's early construction. Hadrian's Wall itself was begun around 122 CE.

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