1,600-Year-Old Roman Guardian Sculpture Unearthed at Vindolanda

On June 16, 2026, a 1.5-foot-tall sandstone statue representing a Genius—a Roman spirit of protection—was unearthed by Dr. Andrew Birley, who oversees excavations at Vindolanda. This statue, likely part of a household shrine, features a cornucopia and a patera and was found beneath the floor of a fourth-century barrack. Vindolanda, established around 85 CE in northern England south of Hadrian's Wall, is renowned for the Vindolanda Tablets, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain. Notably, Birley is the third generation of his family involved in excavating this site, following his grandfather's work that began in the 1930s. The statue is currently undergoing conservation for exhibition at the museum on-site.