Hadrian’s Wall has yet to lose its capacity to surprise. After more than a century of excavation, it might be suspected that the former frontier has surrendered its secrets, but the richness of the archaeological record continues to astound. Fresh discoveries are raising new questions about who could pass through the Wall, and where, and about how the Roman soldiers interacted with the world beyond their ramparts. As well as the vibrant extramural settlements outside Wall forts, which nurtured communities of soldiers’ partners, children, slaves, and wheeler-dealers scheming to part the troops from their cash, there were farmsteads built by communities that had worked the landscape for centuries. Both types of settlement have been under the spotlight over the last decade. One outcome is the relationship between occupiers and occupied starting to look less cosy, with the traditional model of shared prosperity created by a durable pax Romana being edged out by the idea of a barrier that created winners and losers. If so, it casts the Wall as the epicentre for a changing world, intentionally or otherwise, whose aftershocks can still be felt today.
Elsewhere in this special issue, you can read about the ground-breaking work under way at some of the most-celebrated sites along Hadrian’s Wall. These often long-running excavations routinely offer up such a wealth of archaeological information that it is only natural they sometimes overshadow other work on the monument. Our knowledge of Hadrian’s Wall, though, is driven forward by a medley of excavations and surveys, whether large or small, as well as specialist studies and new thoughts on old material. This work has been the product of many hands, ranging from community groups like WallQuest, WallCAP, and Altogether Archaeology to the invaluable contribution made by developer-funded investigations. Sometimes, bringing together the results of so many labours can feel like trying to slot pieces of a mosaic into place, but all these projects have shaped the picture that emerged over the last decade.
Who goes there?
One impressive example of how many parts can come together to create a much larger whole comes from Benwell fort. There, separate projects run by WallQuest, Northern Archaeological Associates (NAA), Pre-Construct Archaeology, the Archaeological Practice, and even a casual garden find have shed light on activity beyond the fort defences. In some cases, it is the scale of individual structures that impresses, with a sizable buttressed warehouse investigated by the Archaeological Practice seemingly founded beside the road linking the fort to the Tyne. As well as emphasising the importance of river supply, the discovery of buildings some 300m from Benwell fort illustrates how these extramural settlements could far outgrow the military bases that spawned them. A real bombshell, though, came from NAA’s work north of the fort – and the Wall. This was once thought to be empty space, but excavations are revealing traces of an Iron Age settlement, Roman-era field systems, possible workshops, and activity lingering into the post-Roman period.
War Classics – Old Soldiers Never Die