Date published: 17.07.25

This research season the Vindolanda Archaeological Leather Project has been working to understand the processes of leatherworking on site. Cheyenne Eversole-Spina, a PhD candidate from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, takes the lead and tells you here a bit about one of the fascinating objects in the museum—Atto’s Workbench.

Who is “Atto,” and what can the work bench tell us about his life and occupation? This blog explores the leatherworker “Atto” and the information his workbench can provide to archaeologists researching Roman leatherwork at Vindolanda. 

“Atto’s” Workbench, W-1994-1304. 

If you walk into the Wooden Underworld gallery in the Vindolanda museum, you will find “Atto’s” workbench on display. Once you approach the tabletop, the first thing you notice is the very prominent “ATTO” carved in the middle. Surrounding the letters, the remaining space is covered in semi-circular punch marks, teardrop cuts, knife cuts, and round indentations left behind by tools used to make and finish leather objects. The tabletop dates to ca. 105-120 CE, providing a date range for when “Atto” was living and working at the fort. 

The workbench provides information regarding the tools this craftsman used to make, assemble, and finish leather objects.  If you look closely, the table is covered in circles, semi-circles, teardrop marks, and knife cuts. These marks were likely made by punches and knives, similar to those used today. The frequency of the marks and the shapes on the workbench indicate these tools were frequently used by “Atto”. While it is difficult to determine what exactly “Atto” was making, the circles and the semi-circles are common shapes found on Roman footwear. Other tools that would have been essential for his profession are awls, scrapers, and needles. All of which have been found archaeologically at Vindolanda. In conjunction with the tools, we also have the leather pieces that were cut off during the process of producing a leather item. Even some of the scraps and offcuts can give us an idea of what he was making, such as footwear.   

So, what of “Atto” himself? It is nearly impossible to know about the personal life of “Atto” simply by studying his workbench. However, the object can provide other useful information about where he’s from. If we do a deep dive into his name, we can hypothesize something about his potential origin. Atto is a common name found epigraphically in the regions of Gallia Belgica and Upper Germany. This identification is rather interesting since we know auxiliary units stationed at Vindolanda consisted of people who came from different regions across Europe, and especially the northwest. What’s even more interesting is that the Ninth Cohort of Batavians and the First Cohort of Tungrians, who came from Germania Inferior and Gallia Belgica, were stationed at Vindolanda around the same time the workbench is dated. 

Since the workbench was found in the fort, Atto was likely a soldier who spent his time off-duty working as a leatherworker. The Vindolanda tablets may suggest this inclination. Vindolanda Tablet 155 is a daily duty roster, posted on the 25th of April, designating men to work in specific workshops in the fort. Written in the roster, 12 men were directed to work as shoemakers and others as tentmakers. While it was important for soldiers to always be prepared and ready for conquest, making and repairing leather items was also vital for the success of the military. 

Leatherworking awl, SF-3640.

A potential leather cutting knife, SF-3355.

Shoe offcut and scraps, L-1988-2231.

Atto’s workbench is a monumental find that humanizes the individual leatherworker, which we rarely find anywhere else. Shoemakers have more of a presence in antiquity than other types of leatherworkers because of their frequency on funerary monuments and in Greek and Roman literature. However, Atto’s workbench is a direct connection to the leatherworker himself and tells a story that Cheyenne plans to uncover more fully within her PhD dissertation. Exploring further the world of Atto, the tools he used, and the space in which he worked at Vindolanda. Finding leatherworking spaces in the Roman world is difficult because leather doesn’t typically survive in most archaeological environments. The tools, on the other hand, do survive in many archaeological contexts and may be the key to unlocking the world of Atto at other sites in the Roman Empire.

Listen to an audio description of Atto's worktop, this description is designed for anyone who cannot see the accompanying images. We’ll guide you through the appearance, layout, materials, and key features of the worktop to help you build a vivid mental picture of this fascinating historical artefact.