ROB SANDS AND JONATHAN A.

HORN

BRING ME THREE LARGE BEERS: WOODEN TANKARDS AT

ROMAN VINDOLANDA

Summary. This paper presents, and places in context, two tankard staves and
part of a lathe-turned tankard base, all made from yew wood (Taxus baccata),
identified as part of a review of over 1500 wooden small finds from the Roman fort
of Vindolanda. These were originally part of large, skilfully produced, communal
drinking vessels of a type that has recently been the subject of a major review.
Wooden tankards of this type are currently considered to be at their earliest a Late
Iron Age phenomenon but one which extends well into the Roman period and
which has, so far, been recognized predominantly within Britain. The three
elements, found at Vindolanda, must have derived from three separate vessels
and come from different periods within the site. This paper explores, adds to
and amplifies current thinking on the construction, use and discard of these
vessels and, in particular, considers how the tankards were perceived within the
context of a Roman fort.

INTRODUCTION

Vindolanda is situated approximately half way between modern Carlisle to the west and
modern Newcastle to the east and approximately 1.4 km south of Hadrian’s Wall. The modern name
for the site is Chesterholm; however, since the recovery of wooden writing tablets it has more
commonly been referred to by the name found in the contemporary correspondence and military
reports (Birley 2002, 2009). As part of a review of over 1500 wooden small finds from the site,
two staves and part of a lathe-turned base all made from yew wood (Taxus baccata) have been
identified as deriving from three different wooden tankards.
Wooden tankards were arguably significant, but archaeologically under-represented,
drinking vessels predominantly of Late Iron Age and Romano-British Britain. These were not
mundane items but large, skilfully constructed objects, consisting of a stave-built frame with
copper-alloy fittings and including, in some cases, ornate handles with coloured glass or enamel.
Where species identification has been conducted, and verified, yew wood (Taxus baccata) has been
used for the staves and the bases. They vary somewhat in size but are often slightly wider than they
are deep, with a mean internal depth and diameter of the surviving complete examples (n = 10) of
approximately 13 cm x 15 cm, giving a capacity of around 2.3 litres (4 imperial pints). These would
have been heavy when full and it is likely that they were held in both hands, with fingers passing
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through the handle loop for additional support (Corcoran 1952, 87–8; Horn 2015b, 312). Evidence
for these vessels survives in a variety of contexts including Iron Age settlements, shrines, Romano-
British sites and hoards. The discoveries from Vindolanda are part of a broader pattern, with 22
other examples from Roman military sites and 14 from what might be regarded as civilian sites
(Horn 2015b).
Corcoran conducted the first targeted research on these objects identifying 25 examples, 17
of which were represented only by handles and eight with wood surviving (Corcoran 1952,
96–101). Tankards were also the focus of a short paper by Webster (1975) in which he drew
parallels with the Iron Age ceramic tankards of Durotrigian and Severn Valley wares. Tankards have
most recently been the subject of a major review by one of the authors (JH) who, in addition to an
in-depth discussion of the type and their chronology, has increased the total number now known to
139, predominantly represented by surviving metal fittings (Horn 2015b). They have a wide
distribution across Britain but with a higher number being found in the southern regions of England
and Wales (see Fig. 1). Two examples are known from Ireland. Tankards are rare finds in a
European context, with only six so far identified. Current evidence would therefore suggest that,
despite an early example found in northern Italy at Ornavasso (Graue 1974), this was a vessel form
arising in Britain. As a type they have a relatively restricted period of production and use, between
c.75 BC and c.AD 200 (Horn 2015b, 328).
Differential survival inevitably means that the wooden parts of the tankards are far less
prevalent than the metal fittings. However, since the publication of Corcoran’s 1952 paper four
additional complete tankards have been recovered: Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland
(O’Neill 2002; Raftery 1984, 223–5), Langstone, Newport, Wales (Worrell 2009, 285–7),
Corbridge, Northumberland, England (Allason-Jones and Bishop 1988) and Cromwell,
Nottinghamshire, England (Horn 2015a). In addition, some individual staves and stave fragments
have been discovered, most recently associated with Roman material on the promontory fort at
Drumanagh, Co. Dublin, Ireland (Cahill Wilson 2014, 28). An opportunity to examine these (RS)
demonstrated that, despite being in a fragmentary condition, the remains of at least one tankard stave
survive. The fragments are constructed from yew wood and retain thin strips of metal inserted into
their ends, which form a multiple-banded sinusoidal pattern that would have run around the base of
the vessel (Stuijts, pers. comm.). This is a feature that is prominent in both the tankard from
Carrickfergus (O’Neill 2002, fig. 1) and that from Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, North Wales (Corcoran
1952, pl. XII).

THE TANKARD COMPONENTS FROM VINDOLANDA

Vindolanda’s wooden tankards fit within the range of surviving examples from other parts
of Britain and Ireland (see Table 1). Extrapolating from the proportions of surviving examples, the
smaller of the two staves from Vindolanda represents a tankard that could have held up to 1.24 litres
(2.17 imperial pints).
Object 1218 (Fig. 2) is from a ditch context dated to period VI (c.AD 130–c.AD 165), when
the fort was quite probably garrisoned by the Second Cohort of Nervians (Birley 2009, 91–107); this
auxiliary unit was originally recruited from an area of northern Gaul. The stave is neatly shaped from
a tangentially split piece of yew. It tapers internally to the lip, starting just above the middle of the
body. It also tapers from the lower edge of the basal groove to the bottom of the stave. The basal
groove is cleanly executed and narrow, with its upper edge slightly overhanging its lower one.

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Figure 1
Distribution of the known examples of tankards and handles, including those from Vindolanda.

Two holes are apparent on the outer surface, one just above the basal groove and the other just above
the centre. Neither penetrates the stave and it is reasonable to assume that these would have held
further metalwork sheeting or bands in place; however, there is no discoloration or differential wear
evident from the presence of such material. Object 1218 is narrow and straight sided. This implies

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TABLE 1
Wooden tankards and tankard parts in Britain compared with the new finds from Vindolanda (dimensions in centimetres)

Site diam Type Context Country County Height Diam Internal height Internal diam

Aylesford Tankard Burial England Kent ?17.8 ?20.3 – –

Bartlow Tankard Burial England Cambridgeshire ?11.4 ?5.1 – –
Carrickfergus Tankard Bog Ireland Antrim 13.7 14.7 11.7 13.2
Corbridge Tankard Chest England Northumberland 15.9 17.5 13.9 16
Cromwell Tankard Stray find England Nottinghamshire 15 15.5 13 14
Elvedon Tankard Burial England Suffolk – 12.7 – –
Langstone Tankard Bog Wales Newport 15.0 15.0 13 15
Pentuan Tankard Stream England Cornwall 15.3 15.3 13.3 14.5
Prestatyn Stave Roman site Wales Denbighshire – – – –
Shapwick Tankard Peat bog England Somerset 13.8 15.2 12.4 14.4
Thames Tankard River England London 14.6 17.1 12.1 16.3
Trawsfynydd Tankard Bog/fen Wales Gwynedd 14.2 18.3 12.2 14.9
Vindolanda (1218) Stave VI Ditch England Northumberland 12.0 N/A 10.7 N/A
Vindolanda (1254) Stave IV England Northumberland 14.0 N/A 12.7 N/A
Vindolanda (RS004) Base Unknown England Northumberland N/A 12.0 N/A –
Welwyn Tankard Burial England Hertfordshire ?20.3 ?20.3 – –

Figure 2
W1218. Yew wood tankard stave (Taxus baccata) – photo. R. Sands.

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that the vessel is also straight sided and would be similar in form to the majority of the wooden
examples found with the exception of Trawsfynydd and Carrickfergus, which both have a distinctly
concave shape to the body. There is a score mark on the outer surface, just below the upper edge,
that would have received a thin metal sheet, curled around the lip of the vessel (Fig. 3). This is seen
on other tankards that have both the metalwork and the wood surviving. A good example is the
vessel from Langstone, which in addition to two wide copper-alloy bands running around the body
also has a strip of copper-alloy around the lip (Worrell 2009, 287, Fig. 2). A similar arrangement is
seen on the Pentuan vessel from Cornwall and is described by Corcoran as having, in addition to
three narrow bands of metal around its centre, an ‘overlap of bronze at [the] rim curved on [the]
outer edge and one inch deep’ (Corcoran 1952, 96, pl. IX). The rolled edge would appear to fit in
a shallow groove just below the outer edge of the lip. The lip is also covered on the Shapwick vessel
(Earwood 1993, 174, fig. 110); however, in this case, the whole vessel is covered in a sheet of metal
with a separate, but abutting, metal covering to the lip that is pinned to the vessel on the interior.
Object 1254 (Fig. 4) was found in room II of period IV (c.AD 105–c.AD 120) within a
building interpreted as a barracks block (Birley 2009, 94–5). During this period, the fort was
predominantly garrisoned by the First Cohort of Tungarians, a unit that was recruited from northern
Gaul probably from an area around the Middle Meuse, within modern-day Belgium (Birley 2002,
45). It is a radially split tankard stave and is wider than 1218. The basal groove is wider and deeper,
but like 1218 there is a clear incised line just below the lip and it is also proposed that this vessel had
a metal covering over the lip. It tapers from approximately two-thirds of the way up the stave to the
lip. There is no discoloration or wear marks on the outer surface that would demonstrate the
presence of metal banding. As can be seen from 1218, this does not imply that no metalwork was
present, and evidence from all other such objects found would suggest that metal bindings of some
description would be expected.
The third object is part of a finely turned, tangentially converted, tankard base (Fig. 5) that
unfortunately lacks the original find number and its original context is currently unknown. The flat

Figure 3
Schematic representation of the placement of the components in a tankard.

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Figure 4
W1254. Yew wood tankard stave (Taxus baccata) – photo. R. Sands.

surface would have sat in the interior of the vessel and slight discoloration is still apparent where the
edge was received into the basal groove. The item has been turned to leave two decorative ridges
close to the outer edge and one defining a smaller circle close to the centre. Right in the middle there
is a circular depression, which would have been the location of the turning centre. Turned bases have
been observed on other tankards, notably the complete tankards from Carrickfergus (O’Neill 2002,
fig. 1), Shapwick (Earwood 1993, fig. 47) and Trawsfynydd (Allen 1896, fig. 1). Both the
Trawsfynydd and the Carrickfergus examples have a perforation at the very centre of the base,
which would have required some form of sealing before use (see discussion in Horn 2015b, 313).
In all of the other tankard examples, the ornamentation is bolder and more extensive than that shown
on the Vindolanda base. Not all of the surviving wooden examples have turned bases; the recent find
from Langstone, for example, has a flat base with no ornamentation and no obvious signs of turning.
However, the conversion of the base is, like that from Vindolanda, tangential and has a number of
small knots across its surface, and would have had a pleasing look.

PRODUCTION AND WOOD USE

A high level of woodworking, and metalworking, skill went into producing these vessels
and required what might be thought of as cross-generational craft memory; they were not in this
sense ‘everyday’ items that could be knocked together on an as-needs basis. Exactly where these
tankards were being manufactured is, currently, impossible to determine, but given their distribution
they were certainly being produced within Britain. They can also be seen within the context of the

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Figure 5
RS004. Turned tankard base (Taxus baccata) – photo. R. Sands. Note that the image shows outer surface (top), cross section
(middle) and inner surface (bottom).

skill base required to construct a range of stave-built items with copper-alloy mounts that emerge in
the Later Iron Age in both Britain and Europe (Hunter 2006, 100).
A tantalizing direct glimpse that coopering activities were being undertaken within Britain
at particular sites is provided by identification of what has been interpreted as a cooper’s tool, known
as a croze, for fashioning the groove on a stave-built vessel, commonly termed the croze groove on
modern barrels. Three such items have been found on Romano-British sites; one of these is around
4 cm wide, with a curved edge that would have been suitable for cutting the croze on a small stave-
built vessel (Hedges and Wait 1987, fig. 1.3). Two similar finds have recently been found in a hoard
of broad Romano-British date at Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees (Willis and Carne 2013, SFs
112.6, 112.7). It is also worth noting that there is evidence of coopering skills being directly
practised at Vindolanda. The casks arriving at the fort were recycled, probably on a regular and
systematic basis, to make cut-down coopered containers. In undertaking this task, the woodworkers
at the fort were not simply cutting the barrels in half but were utilizing all parts of the staves. Into
these cut-down sections they were incising completely new grooves in which modified or new bases
were inserted.
Formal identification of the wood used in the production of tankards has not been
systematic. The Trawsfynydd tankard, for example, had been commented upon on a few occasions
before Boon had it formally identified as being made of yew (Boon 1962, 347). On other occasions,
it is clear that identifications have been made only on the basis of visual assessment or assumption.

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The stave from Prestatyn, for example, was originally identified as being made of oak (Newstead
1938, 186, figs. 5, 7), but was subsequently identified as yew (Boon 1978, 619, footnote 3). As part
of recent analytical work undertaken for a dating programme on Iron Age and Early Roman
metalwork in Britain, the tankard from the Thames at Kew and the Pentuan tankard were both
recorded as being made from yew (Garrow et al. 2009). The tankard from Langstone has been
formally identified as being made of yew (Nigel Nayling, pers. comm.). Although formal
identification has been variable, there is a clear indication that the choice of yew was a core part
of the identity of these objects.

CHOOSING YEW

Selecting yew is a considered, deliberate and repeated choice and one that contrasts with
the predominant use of fir (Abies alba) or larch/spruce (Larix decidua/Picea sp.) for the imported
coopered vessels at Vindolanda. Aesthetically, yew is a very attractive wood. The importance of
its colour arguably played a role in establishing the effect of the finished object (see Giles 2007,
72–4 for a discussion of colour in the context of Celtic Art). Yew wood can range from the pale
white, occasionally almost light blue, of the sapwood, to the red of the heartwood, passing through
a more orangey hue. The red/orange colour would predominate in most uses of the wood and would
have complemented the colour of the copper-alloy. The beauty of the wood colour would clearly be
on display on the external surface of the tankards, such as that from Carrickfergus. On other
examples, the entire outer surface is covered by metal: Kew (Earwood 1993, fig. 46), Elvedon
(Haverfield 1906, fig. 2), Trawsfynydd (Allen 1896, fig. 1), Shapwick (Earwood 1993, fig. 47)
and Cromwell (Horn 2015a). In these cases, only the base and the interior would have shown off
the wood’s grain and colour. While the aesthetic appeal of the base would have been shown off
to others when a drink was raised, the covering of so much of the wood surface in some of these
tankards suggests that the choice of yew wood in production extended beyond the visual aesthetic.
Yew has been given many spiritual and symbolic associations (e.g. Cortés et al. 2000;
Bevan-Jones 2002; Hageneder 2011). The genesis of these associations will always rely in large part
on speculation but certain traits of the yew tree are worth noting. It is long lived, has distinct
regenerative properties and produces a bright red fruiting body that can be present through the
winter months in northern climes. It is also apparent that the specific choice of yew in the production
of stave-built containers, such as buckets, is a consistent pattern, particularly for high-value items,
during other periods in Britain and Ireland (e.g. Comey 2003; Comey 2010; Comey 2013; Cook
2004).
Despite being a good structural, aesthetic and symbolic choice, yew has been, and still is,
regarded as toxic. While the bright red arils are not poisonous, there is no doubt that the needles and
the seeds are potentially lethal (Shanker et al. 2002). Many reference works and papers discuss the
wood as equally toxic (e.g. Deforce and Bastiaens 2007, 226; Uzquiano et al. 2015, 230) but it is far
less clear whether this is also a significant health risk. Certainly there is a general understanding,
both amongst modern-day woodworkers and amongst Classical authors, that the wood can be
harmful. In this regard, the lines from Pliny the Elder’s work Natural History are often quoted: ‘even
wine-flasks for travellers made of its wood in Gaul are known to have caused death’ (Book
XVI, xx, 420–1), an observation, incidentally, written only a few years before the first
occupation at Vindolanda. Work by Kite and colleagues has explored whether the heartwood
of common yew contains basic taxoids that could cause health problems (Kite et al. 2013).

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As part of this work, tests were undertaken to ascertain whether certain foodstuffs could absorb
toxoids from the wood (Kite et al. 2013, 26–7). Basic taxoids were detected, of which one was
identified as 2’β-deacetoxyaustrospicatine. Although this belongs to the same group of taxoids
as taxine B, the taxine that has been shown to have the greatest cardiotoxic effects (Wilson et al.
2001, 180), its toxicity is not yet known and consequently it is not yet possible to determine
the effect of the observed quantities (Kite et al. 2013, 27). Although it is clear that the wood will
in some way alter the liquid stored within, it is also clear that since at least later prehistory, yew
has repeatedly been used for containers that held liquids and potentially other foodstuffs. Given
this to be the case, it would seem reasonable to conclude that it was not fatal during the everyday
use of such vessels. It is, however, possible that, while non-fatal, the ingestion of liquid from these
containers had an effect, and that this was part of the reason for the choice of yew wood. Mild
toxicity might add to the overall impression of a feast or a gathering (for an ethnographic example
of such effects, see Eves 1996, 272–3). While not suggesting that the tankards were containers
that produced a ‘repugnant’ beverage, there is further research to be done to assess properly
whether there was a more subtle health risk, or indeed other effect, caused by drinking from
yew wood vessels.

FUNCTION AND MEANING

Although there is no proof positive of exactly what was drunk from the vessels at
Vindolanda, or indeed from those on other sites, a primary connection with beer drinking is
commonly suggested. It is currently understood that such beer would not include hops and therefore
had both a reduced shelf life and a different taste relative to later beers (Cool 2006, 141). That some
beer at this time was flavoured with other materials has been suggested in discussions of spouted
strainers, used to remove material that had been used for flavouring (Sealey 1999). In the context
of the Vindolanda finds, it is worth emphasizing that beer is a beverage that has a direct importance
for those at the fort over the period during which the tankards were in use. Reference to beer,
including on-site production, is relatively regularly found on the writing tablets. From period II there
is a reference to a ‘maltster’ (Bowman and Thomas 2003, 102, Tablet 646). On Tablet 628, found on
the bonfire site of period III (c.AD 100–5), decurion Masculus writes to Flavius Cerialis, the prefect
at Vindolanda, stating that ‘My fellow soldiers have no beer. Please order some to be sent’
(Bowman and Thomas 2003, 85). Tablet 482, found in room VII of a period III structure, seems
to make reference to the tasting of beer (Birley 2009, 77) and it is also during this period that
mention is made of ‘the brewer’ Atrectus (Birley 2009, 82). References to beer provision continue
to be made in period IV, the levels from which stave 1254 was recovered. One account (Tablet 187)
makes two mentions of a metretes, approximately 50 pints, of cervesa, translated as ‘celtic beer’, in
December 110 and February 111, obtained, respectively, through two individuals named Audax and
Gracilis (Birley 2002, 103). The taste for beer was clearly important at Vindolanda and may also
have helped to preserve ethnic distinctiveness amongst auxiliary units, such as the Batavians and
Tungarians (see also Matthew 2015).
The mechanisms and importance of feasting and communal drinking in developing and
maintaining social relations within an Iron Age context have been well articulated (e.g. Dietler
1990, 1999; Arnold 1999; Pitts 2005a; Van der Veen 2007). Pitts, in particular, notes the importance
of communal drinking in the context of Late Iron Age southern Britain and draws attention to larger
pottery forms, such as butt-beakers and girth-beakers, amongst Gallo-Belgic vessel suites, as

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evidence of this (Pitts 2005a, 148). These types are referred to as ‘tankard forms’ and their frequency
of occurrence, and their proposed association with beer, are used by Pitts to develop arguments
which suggest that ‘wine consumption represented only the highest status end of a wider and more
socially inclusive practice of alcohol consumption across the whole region in the LPRIA [Late Pre-
Roman Iron Age]’ (Pitts 2005b, 59). While pottery forms clearly predominate in the record, and are
therefore ideal for the statistical approaches used by Pitts, it is worth noting that wooden tankards
potentially fulfil a similar role and have also been found in assemblages that can be interpreted as
having supported the display of largesse, and therefore status, through commensal practices.
Although the wooden tankards can be seen within the context of formal commensal
practices, should we see the biographies of the tankards at Vindolanda as having the same
trajectory? It is perhaps easy to overplay the special nature of these objects, because of their obvious
craft and production values and their appearance in what can be regarded as special contexts.
Although we are considering only one, albeit under-represented, artefact type, this is part of a
broader discussion about the fluid and complex nature of the meaning of things across the Roman
Empire (Versluys 2014, 17). The items from Vindolanda are chance survivals that result from casual
discard. The items are from different periods of the occupation of the site and, significantly, this
strongly suggests that many more of these items were probably present but do not survive. The
survival of complete examples is inevitably rare; they will be most likely to survive when
deliberately buried and only then when the conditions of burial are such that the organic material
does not degrade. In other situations, even when wet conditions persist, the staves, metal elements
and bases are likely to get separated either naturally or deliberately. At Vindolanda, we know that
there were at least three tankards but have not as yet recognized any metal fittings, which might
reasonably be expected to have survived more readily, as indeed the evidence from elsewhere,
including other Roman military sites, suggests.
The context of tankard use and the way they may have been regarded at Vindolanda is
arguably different from the context of use, perception and recognition implied by pre-conquest
finds, such as that from grave 1 at Welwyn Garden City (Stead 1967) or even post-conquest burials
such as that at Bartlow Hills (Gage 1834). By contrast, within or around the Roman fort at
Vindolanda, it might be tempting to see the use of the tankards simply in terms of ‘out-of-hours
drinking among the garrison’ (Cahill Wilson 2014, 23). However, these vessels clearly fit within
a broader range of material culture that is found both within Iron Age and Roman contexts. Hunter
discusses this in the context of metalwork and identities in the northern British Iron Age and
questions how we can interpret such material that seems equally ‘at home’ in both contexts (Hunter
2007, 292). He suggests that ‘on an Iron Age settlement, a beaded torc or a knobbed terret meant
“local”: when consigned to the earth in a hoard it was a statement of local identity. On a Roman fort,
it also meant “local”, but a different kind of local: here local was Roman frontier culture. Thus in the
south of the province, it may well have been seen as “soldier” or “frontier”, not “Celt” or
“barbarian”. The same material could be perceived differently by different users and read differently
by different observers’ (Hunter 2007, 292–3). Furthermore, particularly in the context of auxiliary
garrisons, it is arguable that, although the specific framing of the event might be different, the act
of alcohol provision, the associated reinforcement of communal bonds that it can imply and the
issues that it may have provoked mean that the tankards were fulfilling a similar basic role.
In conclusion, the recognition of the three tankards at Vindolanda needs to be considered
not only in the context of a broader discussion of this archaeological type (Horn 2015b) but also
as individual objects with life histories. Who originally commissioned them and who owned them
within the context of the fort are tantalizing questions but difficult to answer. However, it is argued

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here that, despite the limited material remains, they formed a significant and integral part of social
interactions during the first few phases of occupation at Vindolanda. Drinking from these communal
vessels helped to cement the bonds between fellow soldiers, reinforcing the sense of a band of
brothers. During these times, toasts were raised to successful campaigns and fallen comrades, talk
was had, memories evoked, deals were made, games were played, scores were settled, money
was lent and borrowed, and the ebb and flow of life at the fort was played out.

Acknowledgments
First and foremost thanks go to the Vindolanda Trust for access to the material, their continued
support and for many interesting, enjoyable and useful conversations: in particular, Robin Birley and Patricia
Birley for allowing access to the material in the first instance and latterly Andrew Birley and Barbara Birley for
their continued support and further insights into the archaeology at Vindolanda. Comments on this paper by
Anthony Birley were greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Justin Blake and the rest of the team at Vindolanda
for making the research visits to the site such a pleasure. Thanks to Ingelise Stuijts, Discovery Programme, and
Mary Cahill and Carol Smith, National Museum of Ireland, for both discussions about and access to the
wooden material from Drumannagh. Thanks also to my co-author, Johnny Horn, for agreeing to contribute
to the paper and being generous with his own work and time. Drafts of this paper have been read by colleagues,
Gabriel Cooney, Mel Giles, Angela McAteer, Tadhg O’Keefe and Graeme Warren, and we thank them for
their constructive and thoughtful advice. Finally, thanks go to Jon Hather for initiating the examination of
the wooden small finds, for wood identifications and for consistent support and discussion. Recent support
of the UCD College of Social Sciences and Law Research Fund is gratefully acknowledged.

(RS) UCD School of Archaeology

University College Dublin
Belfield Campus
Dublin
IRELAND
E-mail: robert.sands@ucd.ie

(RAH) School of History, Classics & Archaeology

William Robertson Wing
Old Medical School
Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG
UK

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