Nearly 2,000-year-old 'souvenir cup' found in Spain names Hadrian's Wall's eastern forts - study
By Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post, May 7, 2026
A bronze cup dated to the second century CE found near Berlanga de Duero, Spain may have been a souvenir brought to the region by a Roman soldier who'd served at Hadrian's Wall, according to a new study published in the journal Britannia.
The cup, named the "Berlanga Cup” after the nearby town, is one of five similar vessels - themselves coined "Hadrian’s Wall Cups” - and is the first one to feature inscriptions of the eastern forts and military camps stationed along the wall.
"The 'Berlanga Cup' is exceptional not only because it is one of the best-preserved 'Wall cups'," said Susana de Luis Mariño of the National Archaeological Museum. "But because it is the only one bearing inscriptions referring to military camps in the eastern section of the Wall: Cilurnum [Chesters], Onno [Halton Chesters], Vindobala [Rudchester], and Condercum [Benwell]."
The cup is decorated with red, green, turquoise, and blue enamel, all arranged in geometric patterns, including fish scales and tower motifs that are believed to represent Hadrian's Wall itself.
Chemical analysis of the metal, carried out using portable X-ray fluorescence and lead isotope testing at Durham University, showed that the cup was made up of a bronze alloy mixed with zinc and lead, most likely from mines located in northern England or Wales.
Cup may have belonged to Hispanic Roman soldier
"The craftsmanship and materials used in these cups tell us they were prestige objects, most likely made to order as gifts or awards for the military elite who had served on Hadrian's Wall, the most distant frontier of the empire," explained Jesús García Sánchez, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida (IAM).
"In fact," he added, "Most researchers, ourselves included, agree in interpreting them as a souvenir or memento of the Wall.”
According to the study, the cup is believed to have most likely belonged to a member of the Cohors I Celtiberorum, a Roman auxiliary regiment recruited from the Celtiberian (north-central) region of Spain, who served at Hadrian's Wall during the second century.
Additionally, an archaeological survey carried out on the field where the cup was found using ground-penetrating radar revealed the remains of a Roman settlement dating to the first to fourth centuries CE - which may have been the home of the cup's owner.
The "Berlanga Cup" are now being held at the Numantine Museum of Soria in Spain.
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