Discovery of 410 wooden tablets gives glimpse into life of London's first Romans (ed)

Daily Mail ^ | Jun 1, 2016 | Ryan O'Hare

[Ray76]

An archaeological dig has turned up the earliest known handwritten documents in Britain among hundreds of Roman waxed writing tablets.

Some 410 wooden tablets have been discovered, 87 of which have been deciphered to reveal names, events, business and legal dealings and evidence of someone practising writing the alphabet and numerals.

With only 19 legible tablets previously known from London, the find from the first decades of Roman rule in Britain provides a wealth of new information about the city's earliest Romans.

[Ray76]

Hahaaha!

[wideminded]

It’s lucky someone noticed these weren’t just some random pieces of wood.

[spokeshave]

We in big trouble if it is part of a Dilithium Crystal repair guide.

[bunkerhill7]

An archaeological dig in Hillary`s basement has turned up the earliest known Clinton handwritten documents: “Some 410 wooden tablets have been discovered, 87 of which have been deciphered to reveal names of Bill`s mistresses, staged events, crooked business and illegal dealings and evidence of someone practising writing the government alphabet and numeral codes on an unauthorized private tablet.

[TXnMA]

Heads up! (Includes some interesting “slider” displays...)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks rdl6989, umgud, and TXnMA! These are in addition to the Vindolanda tablets, which were dug up from one of the old forts along Hadrian's Wall.

Irrelevant sidebar -- in the past couple of weeks, I was told (in person, not on the internet, weird, eh?) some howlers about how the "Scots" (that is, the pre-Scottish, Roman-era inhabitants of Roman-era Caledonia, which is now basically Scotland) managed to fight off the Romans. Such tales are clearly imaginary in origin. Caledonia had nothing of much value, and there were serious concerns to deal with on the continent.

Also, there's a so-far-unexcavated site north of Dublin, Ireland, which appears to have been a Roman fortified settlement, probably a trading post and method of communication with the local tribes, similar to what the Romans did on other of their frontiers. Surviving information from the Romans implies that there was at least a Julius-Caesar-like reconn-in-force in Ireland during the 1st century.

[BenLurkin]

No those stories are real. Passed down for generations about how the Lurkins of yore painted themselves blue and fought the Romans so hard it took Hadrian’s wall to stop them.

Moral of the story: Build that wall!

[COBOL2Java]

LUCIUS QUNTILLIUS I UNFRIEND YOU

[Pelham]

“Well start rewriting your history London to chronicle the Muslim conquest”

And a voluntary conquest at that. England committing suicide.

[Bigg Red]

Really cool! Thanks for the ping.

[SunkenCiv]

;’) Obviously I “Pict” the wrong FReeper... ;’)

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure, and a big thank you goes out to the many who have contributed topics to GGG over the month of May and into June thus far, you've done great work!

[knarf]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3619586/Earliest-handwritten-notepads-unearthed-London-Discovery-410-wooden-tablets-provides-glimpse-life-city-s-earliest-Romans.html

[dsc]

Back in about aught-two or aught-three, I told a limey cow-orker that the day would come when England would bitterly regret its failure to expel the muzzies.

He became furious with me.

Wonder how he feels about that now, thirteen or fourteen years later.

[Pelham]

Enoch Powell was a prophet. Ask your Brit friend what he thinks of Powell now.

[dsc]

“Ask your Brit friend what he thinks of Powell now.”

I’m pleased to report that we lost touch when I changed jobs.

[BroJoeK]

BenLurkin: "Moral of the story: Build that wall!"

Roman history begins with a wall, and an abject lesson that walls are only as good as the military force there to defend it.
As indeed they found again centuries later once the army withdrew from Britain.

[gleeaikin]

Weren’t those pre-Scottish folk the Picts? I have just finished reading “The Seven Daughters of Eve” which describe how various branches of European origin peoples wandered around and where they ended up.

[Pelham]

“The Picts were a tribal confederation of peoples who lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval periods. They are thought to have been ethnolinguistically Celtic.”

[SunkenCiv]

They were -- "P-Celts", rather than the Scoti who were "Q-Celts", IOW, more closely related to the Welsh and Cornish.