Pickaxe

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This iron pickaxe is from the site of the Roman fort at Newstead in Roxburghshire. It is of a type known as a pioneer's axe or dolabra, and was used by soldiers between 80 and 100 AD to dig ditches or clear scrub.

The axe has a broad blade at one end, tapering to a pointed pick at the other. There is a central hold for the shaft. The axe is stamped.

Roman soldiers were builders as well as fighters. On the march, they built temporary ramparts and ditches around their camps. Once an area had been conquered, the army built forts and permanent barracks of wood or stone.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-036-901-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.FRA 225
• Date: Between 80 and 100 AD
  
• Material: Iron
  Axe, pioneer's / dolabra
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Axe, pioneer's / dolabra
  
• Subject:
• Who: Newstead Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Roxburghshire, Melrose, Newstead
  
• Event:
• Description: Roman iron dolabra or pioneer's axe from Newstead
  
• References:
  • Curle, J. A Roman frontier post and its people: the fort of Newstead. Glasgow: MacLehose, 1911, p. 278, Pl. LVII, 1. 
• Translations:
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