15 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Volunteer archaeologists discovered a 1900-year-old silver military decoration in Vindolanda

Volunteer archaeologists have discovered a 1900-year-old military decoration (Phalera) that was awarded to distinguished soldiers and troops in the Roman army in Vindolanda, in northern England.

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. Roman Vindolanda Fort is one of Europe’s most important Roman archaeological sites and situated on the Stanegate Road.

The site itself is made up of nine forts that are built on top of each other. Soldiers from all over the Roman Empire were stationed here, including Belgium, Germany, and France. The visible stone fort dates from the third century and includes the fort walls, the headquarters building, the Commanding Officer’s house, granaries, and barracks. The extramural settlement’s ruins can be found just outside the fort’s walls. A main street is lined with houses, shops, a tavern, and a bathhouse.

Photo: The Vindolanda Trust

Excavations take place on the site every year and attract hundreds of volunteers from all over the world. Recent excavations on the floor of a barracks building uncovered a silver phalera disk, which Roman soldiers wore on their breastplates during parades.

The silver military decoration bearing the head of Medusa, a monster in the form of a woman with snakes for hair, the very sight of which would turn a person to stone. Medusa, also known as Gorgo in Greek mythology, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, who were generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The head of Medusa was carved in relief on the silver phalera unearthed in the Vindolanda. The head of Medusa also functions as a kind of apotropaic symbol, that is, as a protector.

Volunteer archaeologists have also found during this season’s excavations, a spearhead, a copper alloy spoon, a stamped mortarium rim, Samian pottery, a melon bead, an enameled bow brooch, a copper alloy scabbard chape (the protective fitting at the bottom of a scabbard or sheath for a dagger), and a well preserved wooden bath clog.

The discovery was shared on the Vindolanda Trust Twitter account.

Related Articles

Poland’s oldest copper axe discovered in the Lublin region

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

A copper axe from the 4th to 3rd millennium BC identified with the Trypillia culture was found in the Horodło...

Ancient City Cistern Found Near Croatia’s Iconic Fountain

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

An island-speckled coastline and ancient walled towns place Croatia among the world’s best-beauty cities. But there’s even more to this...

A still life fresco discovered in new excavations of Pompeii Regio IX

28 June 2023

28 June 2023

Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Pompeii have uncovered a gorgeous still-life fresco depicting a platter covered in food and...

A 2,000-year-old monumental Roman villa Found Under a Seaside May Be Pliny the Elder’s house

23 January 2024

23 January 2024

Researchers have discovered the remnants of a massive Roman villa thought to have ties to Pliny the Elder while working...

Young Maya Maize God’s Severed Head found in Palenque

4 June 2022

4 June 2022

Archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), an approximately 1,300-year-old sculpture of the head of the Young...

A large stone monument depicting the goddess Ishtar has been unearthed in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud

26 June 2023

26 June 2023

Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, working with an Iraqi excavation team, have unearthed a...

The Lost Georgian King: Archaeologists Discover the Tomb of Ashot the Great Beneath Gevhernik Fortress

8 October 2025

8 October 2025

High in the misty mountains of northeastern Türkiye, where emerald valleys carve through the rugged Artvin landscape, an ancient fortress...

La Tène-Era Woman’s Grave Filled with Opulent Bronze Jewelry Unearthed in the Czech Republic

3 September 2025

3 September 2025

Rescue excavations along the planned D7 highway, between the towns of Knovíz and Slaný, approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Prague,...

Hidden Archaeological Treasures from Cologne Cathedral

25 January 2024

25 January 2024

An area of around 4,000 square meters (43,055 square feet) is being discovered beneath the Cologne Cathedral, the largest Gothic...

A Rare Bilingual Inscription Discovered in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Province

28 June 2024

28 June 2024

Saudi Arabia’s Heritage Commission announced the discovery of a rare bilingual inscription in the village of Alqan in the Tabuk...

In Peru, Archaeologists Discovered an Ancient Dance Floor that can Imitate Rumbling of Thunder

21 July 2023

21 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient “sounding” dance floor in Peru that was designed to create a drum-like sound when stepped...

Declassified CIA Satellite Spy Program Reveals Lost Ancient Roman Forts

26 October 2023

26 October 2023

Archaeologists have discovered “massive” ancient Roman forts that redraw the borders of the ancient empire using images from a declassified...

Assyriologist solves archaeological mystery from 700 BC in Khorsabad, Iraq

7 May 2024

7 May 2024

A new interpretation of a set of temple symbols that have puzzled scholars for more than a century has been...

Maya city Tikal put today’s urban gardens to shame

26 June 2021

26 June 2021

The Maya civilization was known for its achievements in art, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and calendar systems. Tikal, the ancient Maya...

The Entire Genome Of 35,000-Year-Old Skull From Romania Sequenced “Peştera Muierii 1”

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

Researchers have successfully sequenced the whole genome from the skull of Peştera Muierii 1, women who lived in today’s Romania...