Robin Birley (archaeologist)
Encyclopedia
Vindolanda
Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth...
, and now heads the Vindolanda research committee. The son of Eric Birley
Eric Birley
Eric Barff Birley , was a British historian and archaeologist, particularly associated with the excavation of the forts of Hadrian's Wall, notably at Vindolanda. He was born in Eccles, Lancashire, England, on 12 January 1906...
(his family home was thus the Chesterholm Museum at Vindolanda), he worked as a Royal Marine and then a teacher before giving this up to run the Vindolanda Trust and excavate the site. He was educated at Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
. He has over 50 years of excavation experience on that site (as well as directing numerous other excavations at other sites such as Housesteads), over thirty of which have been as director of the Vindolanda Trust (he is one of its founding members).
Birley is perhaps best known for his discovery in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s of the first Vindolanda writing tablets
Vindolanda tablets
The Vindolanda tablets are "the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain". They are also probably our best source of information about life on Hadrian's Wall. Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd...
to be excavated. He is also responsible for the excavations of most of the remains visible on the site today.
His books include Garrison Life on the Roman Frontier, Hadrian's Wall - A Personal Guide and The Best of Hadrian's Wall, as well as joint publication of the most recent series of research reports.
Birley was interviewed for the 2003
2003 in television
The year 2003 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2003.For the American TV schedule, see: 2003-04 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
documentary Our Top Ten Treasures
Our Top Ten Treasures
Our Top Ten Treasures was a 2003 special episode of the BBC Television series Meet the Ancestors which profiled the ten most important treasures unearthed in Britain, as voted for by a panel of experts from the British Museum.-Production:...
presented by Adam Hart-Davis
Adam Hart-Davis
Adam John Hart-Davis is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster, well-known in the UK for presenting the BBC television series Local Heroes and What the Romans Did for Us, the latter spawning several spin-off series involving the Victorians, the Tudors, the Stuarts,...
.
He, his second wife Patricia Birley
Patricia Birley
Patricia Birley is the director of the Vindolanda Trust. Patricia is the wife of Robin Birley and the mother of Andrew Birley, who are archaeologists at the site of Roman Vindolanda in Northumberland. Patricia Birley took over the directorship of the Trust from Robin Birley.-External links:*...
, and their son Andrew Birley
Andrew Birley
Andrew Robin Birley is the Director of Excavations on the site of Vindolanda and the son of Robin Birley and grandson of Eric Birley, who founded the department of Archaeology at Durham University...
(another archaeologist) work for the registered charity the Vindolanda Trust, which runs the site.