Archaeology is wonderful! I was doing some research on the internet this morning when I stumbled across a story from the BBC, dated 1st of June 2016, regarding recent finds at a London dig. They made an exciting discovery of wooden tablets with early Roman writing, preserved in the mud of the buried Walbrook river. As no oxygen was able to get to them they did not decay as they normally would. Some of the tablets have been translated and one dated AD 43-53, translation reads; ” …because they are boasting through the whole market that you have lent them money. Therefore I ask you in your own interest not to appear shabby… you will not thus favour your own affairs…”
Another document is clearly dated 8th of January AD 57. It seems the writings cover a span of several years.
I wonder what these people would have written had they known that in almost two thousand years someone would be reading their words? A time machine would really come in handy some days.
There are still more to be translated and I will be watching to see what they reveal. This is an exciting find.
These items will be on display in the Bloomberg building when it is complete in 2017. The writings found and translated thus far appear to be mainly of a business or legal nature. Having the opportunity to see the writings of those that walked in London in the first century is amazing. A walk in the past.
I had no idea they used broken down old wooden barrels coated in beeswax and a stylus to perform the writing. I thought papyrus and vellum were the methods used, which were used in that time period but apparently they had other alternatives. Perhaps they saved the good stuff for important documents? It gives us another clue into the lives of that period.
Will there be anything of us left in two thousand years? I can’t think of anything we have today that would survive for that long of period. Can you? If you were able to document something for the distant future what would it be?
Here is a link for the article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-36415563?SThisFB
So glad I stumbled across this, needless to say I spent more time on the internet than intended, so back to writing.
