Since its foundation in 1970, research and education have been at the core of the aims and objectives of the Vindolanda Trust. The fully documented archaeological record and collection have contributed to numerous research projects which inform and advance the knowledge of the Hadrian’s Wall frontier, the province of Roman Britain, its relationship with the other Roman frontiers and its association within the wider Empire. From the ongoing excavation programme to every single virtual and physical visitor who interacts with Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum our goal is that you feel enriched by your experience.

The Vindolanda Trust is in contact with several international specialists, with whom it has developed collaborative research programmes.  Amongst them are many acknowledged leaders in their field, whom the Trust’s archaeologists and curator contact for cross pollination on research into the collection. Specialists contribute on a regular basis to the Vindolanda Trust’s excavation reports, while others publish standalone articles or contribute to books and academic journals.

Many specialist and post graduate students use the collection and work with other comparator collections around Roman Britain. You can read excerpts from their projects here:

Human Remains     Artillery     Ancient parasites     Gaming boards     Severan Skull

Collaborative research projects contribute to our understanding of the site as well as raising its profile. Access to the collection has been granted to many different universities and other interested bodies, for projects such as:

Like a whisper – Time on the land     Four artists from Connecticut      The Missing Dead gaming app 

Arch-I-Scan

These collaborative programmes not only contribute to our understanding of the collection but have also opened up new avenues of research and interaction within the fields of archeo-science and experiencing the collection through the fine arts.

Reaching out

The Vindolanda Trust uses several different ways to share the results of its research to the widest variety of user groups.

We utilise our collections through displays at the Vindolanda Museum and at the Roman Army Museum to engage with the general public. Around 150,000 visitors including adults, families, seniors and students visit the sites every year as well as a number of school, university and other groups. Visitors are the primary supporters and funders of the Trust’s aims and objectives.

• We facilitate a programme of outreach lectures, which include groups like local history and archaeological societies and university of the third age based in many different areas around the country.
• Our staff interact and give papers at national and international conferences including the Roman Society, Roman Archaeological Conference, the Roman Finds Group and the Limes Congress. These conferences promote the understanding of the Vindolanda collection and its influence on the wider Roman Frontier and Empire as a whole.
• We are part of the Frontier of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site and are committed to the associated Research Framework. The Trust actively contributes to the Hadrian’s Wall delivery groups for archaeology and research, learning and interpretation, operations and marketing for the World Heritage Site and is active on the Curators’ Group and the Education Forum.
• Our website and social media are used to reach a worldwide audience. The website includes our blog, and excavation reports. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are used to further communicate about new objects which are added to the collection and are used to highlight pieces on display or in the reserve collection.
• We also send out a monthly newsletter to our general subscribers and a school’s newsletter to our school’s market. This highlights relevant information to different user groups.

The contribution that the Vindolanda collection makes to the corpus of material from the Roman world is now widely recognized for the value of its site specific nature, the quality and extent of its dated contexts and the superb comparatives that it offers for collections across both the national and international fields of Roman interest. The Vindolanda collection also touches the lives of thousands of non-specialists, who interact with the fruits of research via the museum exhibitions and online content every year. It offers hundreds of volunteering opportunities, who in turn support the site, and make the aims and objectives of the Trust sustainable.