• Date: c.AD 122–38
• Material: Mixed
• Place found: Road next to the principia (headquarters building) when the fort occupied the site

This chest of Roman armour, weapons and personal items, discovered in 1964, is an amazing time capsule offering an insight into life at Corbridge. The most famous part of the hoard is the armour, of a type called lorica segmentata, which allowed archaeologists to reconstruct a suit for the first time. The iron from the armour and weapons has allowed organics such as leather and rope to survive as mineralised traces, a rarity from this site.

• Date: 2nd to 3rd century AD
• Material: Stone (board), ceramic (shaker and counters), bone (shaker, dice and counters)
• Place found: Various

Gaming was a popular pastime, particularly among soldiers. At Corbridge parts of at least five stone gaming boards have been found, together with hundreds of counters. Purpose-made counters are usually in bone and glass, while broken pottery was used to create more ad hoc pieces. Dice were usually made from bone, and mirror modern examples in their design.

• Date: 3rd century AD
• Material: Sandstone
• Place found: Reused as a kerb stone for a late level of the Stanegate road, immediately south of Site XI

Corbridge has altars and dedications to a wide range of deities, who originated from all over the Empire. This altar is a prime example of the hybrid nature of Roman religion, with Brigantia (a Celtic goddess) being linked with Jupiter Dolichenus (a Syrian sky god) and Juno Caelestis (his consort). The army helped to spread the worship of eastern gods such as Dolichenus and Caelestis.

On the right-hand side of the altar is a Cupid holding a sickle and on the left is a crowned Genius (a spirit).

• Date: 3rd century AD
• Material: Ceramic
• Place found: Rectangular building set onto the south of the Stanegate, opposite Site XI

Everyday items were often decorated with religious or symbolic images in the Roman period. This pottery fragment shows a male figure holding tongs and a hammer. The tongs are holding something, which rests on an anvil. The figure depicted is thought to be a blacksmith god – not a surprising choice for the residents of Corbridge, considering the density of manufacture in the town.

• Date: 3rd century AD
• Material: Sandstone
• Place found: Reused as a floor slab in the east granary

Sol, the god of the sun, was worshipped all over the Empire, and he can be seen on coins as well as sculpture. This particular relief is unusual in its style: Sol is shown with large lips, a square nose and wide eyes, not at all normal for a Classical deity. The sculptor of this piece has mixed Celtic styles with a Classical subject.

• Date: 3rd to 4th century AD
• Material: Ceramic

This large, almost complete grey pot is adorned with a male bearded face with prominent ears. Facepots – pots decorated with faces or heads – are found across Roman Britain but their meaning and function are not fully understood. While sharing similarities, each pot is unique, reflecting the free-form way the decoration is added to the vessels.

• Date: 3rd century AD
• Material: Ceramic
• Place found: In a rubbish pit within the west range of Site XI

This almost complete vessel has ornate decoration representing a hunt, with a dog chasing a rabbit. Hunting was a popular pastime for the Romans and it would have been a leisure activity of the soldiers based at Corbridge.

Pots of this type are found all over Roman Britain and were used as tableware rather than cooking vessels. They were made in the Lower Nene Valley, Cambridgeshire. 

• Date: Late 1st to early 2nd century AD
• Material: Glass
• Place found: Temple III B68

The Romans learnt to make glass from the Egyptians and glassware spread across Europe through them. The ornate detail on the handle of this flagon and the delicacy of the design would not be out of place in a modern gallery. It is remarkable, given the thinness of the vessel, that it has survived so well after more than 1,800 years in the ground.

• Date: Late 3rd to early 4th century AD
• Material: Sandstone
• Place found: In a late level of the main east–west street, south of Site XI

Corbridge had a dual nature, with soldiers and civilians living alongside each other. The increasing presence of non-military personnel is represented by small finds, but also by the poignant tombstones of children. This example shows Vellibia playing with her favourite ball, having ‘lived most happily four years and 64 days’.

• Date: 4th century AD
• Material: Gold
• Place found: North-east corner of Site XI

Each of the 16 facets of this ring contains one letter, with a leaf stop dividing the two Greek words ΠΟΛΕΜΙΟΥ ΦΙΛΤΡΟΝ (meaning ‘the love-token of Polemius’). The Romans used Greek for magical incantations and spells, so it may be that this ring was being used as a charm to help Polemius in his search for love.

• Date: Mid 2nd century AD
• Material: Copper alloy and enamel
• Place found: A cremation burial north-east of the town

Vases like this were probably used for perfume or oil. Vases of this hexagonal form are rare finds in Britain, and indeed across the Empire, with only around 25 known. Their distribution is concentrated in Britain, but a few have been found in Germany and even one on the Black Sea.

Decorated with ornate enamel patterns, the vase would have had a handle and lid, now missing.

• Date: Late 1st to early 2nd century AD
• Material: Copper alloy and silver

This lid from a small copper alloy inkwell is decorated with three bands of floral design inlaid with silver. Metal inkwells are rare in Roman Britain, and this is the only example of this design which has been found outside the London area. The Romans brought literacy to Britain and with that came a new material culture of inkwells, pens, styli and tablets.