Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-t27h7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-23T10:49:59.618Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

2. SCOTLAND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2025

Fraser Hunter
Fraser Hunter*
Affiliation:
[email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Type
Roman Britain in 2023
Information
Britannia , Volume 55 , November 2024 , pp. 323 - 327
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

NORTH OF THE ANTONINE WALL

SHETLAND

(1) Aith (HU 44 30): metal-detectingFootnote 11 produced an unusual copper-alloy strip-bow brooch (fig. 1). The near-flat, broad bow with narrow knobbed arms flanking the hinge for the pin has so far defied ready parallel among standard types, though various characteristics find first-century comparanda.Footnote 12

FIG. 1. The Aith brooch. (© Crown Copyright)

PERTH AND KINROSS

(1) Meigle (NO 2883 4453): extensive excavationFootnote 13 of an unenclosed Iron Age roundhouse settlement with a substantial souterrain produced a number of Roman finds, including sherds of samian ware and the mortar and grinder of a cosmetic set, the first from an Iron Age site in Scotland.

THE ANTONINE WALL

EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE

(1) Kirkintilloch, Peel Park (NS 65109 73994): magnetometer surveyFootnote 14 within Peel Park located a feature likely to be the fort's western rampart or intervallum road.Footnote 15 Medieval structures appear to have removed all traces of the northern part of the fort.

FALKIRK

(1) Seabegs Wood (NS 81362 79294): ground-penetrating radar surveyFootnote 16 clarified the structures identified in previous workFootnote 17 between the Wall and the Military Way; they seem to be orientated on a post-Roman trackway.

(2) Falkirk, South Pleasance (NS 8859 7975): expansion of a previously excavated areaFootnote 18 to the west of Falkirk fort revealed a fourth ditch on this south-west side. This was soon backfilled, with a large aisled building erected over it represented by two rows of posts and associated surfaces (figs 2 and 3). Previous work had revealed an iron-working furnace set within this. The sequence suggests the fort was initially laid out with enhanced defences, some of which were backfilled when the western annexe was constructed.Footnote 19

FIG. 2. Plan of the 2017 and 2023 trenches at Falkirk, South Pleasance. (Drawn by Geoff Bailey)

FIG. 3. Reconstruction of the building at Falkirk, South Pleasance. (Drawn by Geoff Bailey)

SOUTH OF THE ANTONINE WALL

EAST LOTHIAN

(1) Inveresk, a) Kirk Park (NT 3407 7195): a complete granite lower rotary quernstone and some coarse ware and samian (one stamped) were foundFootnote 20 in a geological test-pit excavated south-west of the fort.

b) Lewisvale Park (NT 34978 72076): geophysical surveyFootnote 21 using a range of techniques revealed the line of the aqueduct,Footnote 22 two large enclosures with a trackway between them, and a series of other enclosures (fig. 4). One is square with a central square building reminiscent of a mausoleum. Survey around the excavated MithraeumFootnote 23 showed that it was longer than recognised on excavation (around 12–14 m), resulting in a more typical ground plan.

FIG. 4. Gradiometer survey at Inveresk, Lewisvale Park. (© Historic Environment Scotland)

SCOTTISH BORDERS

(1) Easter Happrew (NT 19 40): metal-detecting in the vicinity of the fort complex uncovered an Iron Age linch pin and seven coins, the datable ones all late first century.Footnote 24

(2) Bemersyde Hill (NT 5990 3440): excavationFootnote 25 within the larger of two later prehistoric enclosures revealed a trumpet brooch and a small sherd of fineware.Footnote 26

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

For supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X24000424

References

11 Claimed as Treasure Trove and allocated to Shetland Museum. Length 46 mm.

12 Other stray finds of Roman items allocated through Treasure Trove in 2023 were a headstud brooch fragment from near Liff, Angus, with trumpet motifs surrounding the headstud (D. Mackreth, Brooches in late Iron Age and Roman Britain (2011), 107 type 5b), a Polden Hill brooch found near Kincaple, Fife (ibid., 72 type CD PH 4a), another from Ayton, Scottish Borders (ibid., same type), a fragmentary enamelled headstud brooch from Currochs, Perth & Kinross (ibid,, 106 type 3a), and a Roman or early Medieval polyhedral-headed pin from Kinnaber, Angus. A kräftig-profilierte brooch said to have been found in the vicinity of Invergowrie (Perth and Kinross) is an unusual find for Scotland, and in the absence of supporting detail on the findspot it is not certainly an ancient loss. For details of all, see Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 2023.

13 Directed by C. MacIver of AOC Archaeology for Campion Homes.

14 By N. Hannon and H. Blake of Historic Environment Scotland.

15 For which, see A.S. Robertson and L. Keppie, The Antonine Wall. A Handbook to Scotland's Roman Frontier (6th edn, 2015), 98–9.

16 By N. Hannon and H. Blake of Historic Environment Scotland; Dr Hannon sent details.

17 Britannia 54 (2023), 339.

18 G. Bailey, The Antonine Wall in the Falkirk District (2021), 484–92.

19 Excavations were led for Falkirk Local History Society by G. Bailey, who sent a full report.

20 By L. Cavanagh. Allocated to National Museums Scotland via Treasure Trove.

21 By N. Hannon and H. Blake of Historic Environment Scotland. Dr Hannon sent plots and discussed the results.

22 Journal of Roman Studies 56 (1966), 199; 57 (1967), 176.

23 Hunter, F., Henig, M.. Sauer, E., and Gooder, J., ‘Mithras in Scotland: a Mithraeum at Inveresk (East Lothian)’, Britannia 47 (2016), 119–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Four copper-alloy coins (Flavian as, as of Domitian, three unidentified) and two denarii (Nero, Vespasian). Allocated to Peebles Museum via Treasure Trove.

25 By T. Romankiewicz, A. Lawrence, and S. Campbell for the Universities of Edinburgh and Bern and the Trimontium Trust. The site had seen previous investigation as part of the Newstead Environs Project; J.S. Dent in F. Hunter and L. Keppie (eds), A Roman Frontier Post and Its People: Newstead 1911–2011 (2012), 216.

26 Few stray finds associated with Roman sites were reported this year, the only instance being a trumpet brooch found south of Port Seton (East Lothian) in an area of known later prehistoric activity; Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 2023.

Figure 0

FIG. 1. The Aith brooch. (© Crown Copyright)

Figure 1

FIG. 2. Plan of the 2017 and 2023 trenches at Falkirk, South Pleasance. (Drawn by Geoff Bailey)

Figure 2

FIG. 3. Reconstruction of the building at Falkirk, South Pleasance. (Drawn by Geoff Bailey)

Figure 3

FIG. 4. Gradiometer survey at Inveresk, Lewisvale Park. (© Historic Environment Scotland)

Supplementary material: File

Hunter supplementary material

Hunter supplementary material
Download Hunter supplementary material(File)
File 23.4 KB