Distinguished archaeologist and school master in Scotland

Born: January 19, 1935;

Died: August 29, 2018

DR Robin Birley, who has died aged 83, was an archaeologist of international renown. In 1973 he and his team unearthed the Vindolanda Tablets at the Roman fort in Northumberland. This pioneering work threw fresh light on the conditions experienced by Roman soldiers and the tablets were recognised as the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain. The even older Bloomberg Tablets were discovered in the City of London in 2003. Dr Birley’s scholarship was widely admired by colleagues and he wrote on the Vindolanda site and Hadrian’s Wall and appeared in the 2003 BBCTV series Our Top Ten Treasures.

At Vindolanda Dr Birley dug up fragments of artefacts such as wooden writing tablets and over 160 boxwood combs. He later carefully studied his find and realised he had discovered manuscripts in hieroglyphics of immense historical significance. After further research they were authenticated as documents written by soldiers and their families serving at one of the Roman Empire’s major northerly frontiers almost 2,000 years ago.

At the beginning of his career Dr Birley was a school master at Strathallan and Gordonstoun. At both schools he led archaeological digs with the pupils and he is credited with encouraging Prince Charles to read archaeology at Cambridge.

Robin Edgar Birley was the eldest son of Eric Birley, a lecturer at Durham University and a noted archaeologist. He was brought up at the family home, Chesterholm near Hexham, next to Vindolanda and in his youth was introduced to archaeology as the site was regularly visited by archaeologists. He attended Clifton College, did his national service with the Royal Marines where he served in the Commando Unit. He then read history at Brasenose College, Oxford.

His first position was as a history master in the early 1950s at Strathallan where he was a regular visitor to the nearby Carpow fortress. Dr Birley, and many of the school’s pupils, carried out extensive excavations which are situated at a strategic site where the Tay and the Earn merge. They established there was the remains of a Roman settlement and evidence of a granary. Dr Birley reported the finds to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

He then joined the staff at Gordonstoun where he is fondly remembered – the Gordonstoun Association has a note from a former pupil, “An inspiring and enthusiastic history teacher.” He made a significant discovery of a Pictish Cross when what is now RAF Lossiemouth extended a runway. The cross slab in sandstone and other stones were sent to Gordonstoun where Dr Birley immediately recognised the Pictish Cross: it is now in the Elgin Museum.

It was those successful excavations that Dr Birley initiated with boys from both schools that inspired him to run archaeological courses, many years later, for young people at Vindolanda. Many students would return annually as volunteers.

After the break-up of his first marriage in 1968 Dr Birley joined Alnwick College of Education as a senior lecturer where he met and married Patricia Burnham in 1971. They moved back to be close to Vindolanda and Dr Birley became the founding director and one of the first trustees of the Vindolanda Trust to protect the site. The family house became a museum which has dramatically expanded over the years.

Vindolanda – a pre-Hadrianic Roman fort incorporated into Hadrian's defences when the Wall was built in AD 122 - was the scene of Dr Birley's most outstanding find. He unearthed the Vindolanda Tablets – slivers of wood written on in ink, over 2,000 years old with requests for food and warm socks, and a few references to the "wretched little Brits". In one letter a mother writes that she is sending underwear because her son was so near Scotland. The tablets are now all in the British Museum.

Future finds at Vindolanda, all scrupulously curated by Dr Birley, were so well preserved that he could read them without the aid of infrared photography. He was a born enthusiast and had the wonderful ability to balance high academic scholarship with bringing Roman history vividly to life.

The Vindolanda Trust has paid tribute to his outstanding work. “Robin was an inspirational and generous leader with boundless energy who encouraged thousands of wonderful volunteers from all walks of life to join him in his excavations at Vindolanda for over 30 years.”

Dr Birley remained closely in touch with the digging at Vindolanda and was delighted when, days before his death, Roman horse shoes were discovered. He was devoted to his family and Northumberland serving on many local councils; he was also a keen supporter of the Labour Party and music lover – ranging from classical to Abba.

Dr Birley is survived by his second wife, two children from that marriage and three by his first marriage to Angela Caldicott.

ALASDAIR STEVEN