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Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her series of essays on the human need to craft objects from the materials available to us, visiting Vindolanda on Hadrian’s Wall, once the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The layers of occupation at the fort have sealed the earliest deposits, creating the unique, anaerobic conditions needed to preserve organic remains for nearly 2000 years. This includes Roman leather - from shoes to tent panels, boxing gloves to horse gear. These objects offer us extraordinary views into everyday life at the fort, revealing details about the families who lived there. Rose finds out how a team of experts are experimenting with new techniques to understand Roman leatherwork, and how this is shaping our broader view of the Roman world.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they’re crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby
Produced by Mark Smalley
A Reduced Listening production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby