Cities, villages, fortresses - Thurgau - Eschenz / Schaffhausen - Stein am Rhein (Tasgetium) - The writing tablets

Introduction The settlement The baths Commerce

The writing tablets Religion The fortress Burials

In the settlement 58 writing tablets (five complete) were found among rubbish. Many such tablets, "letters", were found in Vindonissa (Windisch AG). The wooden tablets were originally covered with a wax layer in which text was written with an implement called stilus. Sometimes the writer pushed the stilus so hard that text was also written in the wood. On the outside the address was written with ink or scratched directly in the wood.

Some of the writing tablets. Photo: Brem et al. 2012, Abb. 171.

Below are two examples of addresses. The first was written with a stilus. The letter had to be delivered to a certain Maturus. The second was written with ink. It contains the name of the city Augusta Raurica (Augst BL). This may have been the place of residence of the sender rather than the recipient. The archaeological context provides a date for both letters in the middle of the first century.

MATVRO DAB IS	To Maturus give (the letter).
W. 0.134, h. 0.058. Photo: Brem-Steiner-Kesselring 1999, Abb. 10. EDCS-14800130; Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 707.2.

C[---]             BAR BRAV     RICA	C[---]             Barb, from Raurica.
W. 0.132, h. 0.046. Photo: Brem et al. 2005, Abb. 162. EDCS-66100021; Kolb et al. 2022, nr. 707.1.

Introduction The settlement The baths Commerce

The writing tablets Religion The fortress Burials

[16-Jan-2024]