Soldiers' Burials at Camelon, Stirlingshire, 1922 and 1975

Abstract

On 11 January 1975 a stone cist containing two inhumation burials and a series of iron objects was found in gravel-working at the Cairnmuirs Gravel Pit, west of the Roman fort at Camelon, Stirlingshire, now in the Falkirk district of the Central Region of Scotland (NS 860810). The two boys who made the initial discovery, David Vause and Wallace Wright, took a collection of bones and ironwork home, and their parents informed Camelon constabulary. The police took the matter up with Mr. J. M. Sanderson of Falkirk Museum and he asked the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland and the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate of the Department of the Environment for assistance in excavating the grave. Because of the risk of sandfalls, the excavation of what turned out to be the burial of two soldiers accompanied by their weapons was undertaken the following day by Dr. J. Close-Brooks, National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Dr. D. J. Breeze, Department of the Environment, and Dr. J. N. G. Ritchie, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Under Scottish law, objects of archaeological importance (not necessarily of precious metal) may be claimed as Treasure Trove, and the finders appropriately rewarded; accordingly the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer claimed the weapons for the Crown and Mr. Vause and Mr. Wright have been rewarded for their prompt reporting of the cist. A second sword found by a bulldozer driver in the gravelworkings at a rather earlier date was handed over at the same time, and also claimed by the Crown. Two other deposits, one of them in a cist, were found at Camelon in 1922 on the south-east side of the site, and the opportunity has been taken here to publish new illustrations of these finds. This report comprises a discussion of the known history of the fort, a description of the excavation of the most recent cist and of the deposits found in 1922, a discussion of the mode of burial, the status of the soldiers and of the weapons, and finally a detailed description of the individual objects.