Antonine Wall Research Articles

Some excavations on the line of the Antonine Wall, 1994-2001

The results of over thirty separate excavations and watching briefs along the line of the Antonine Wall are presented. The alignment and character of the frontier works and fort defences were clarified in several places. New information was obtained regarding a possible enclosure on the north side of the Wall near Auchendavy. Material includes:

Investigations of the Antonine Wall and medieval settlement at Kinneil House, Bo'ness, Falkirk

Investigations of the Antonine Wall and medieval settlement at Kinneil House, Bo'ness, Falkirk

New Light on Excavations at Bar Hill Roman fort on the Antonine Wall, 1902–05

This paper reconstructs the events surrounding the Bar Hill excavations attributed to George Macdonald and Alexander Park. Manuscripts from the Glasgow University Archives and contemporary newspaper accounts are used to supplement the published accounts and provide insights into these seminal excavations on the Roman Wall.

A Survey of the Coin Finds from the Antonine Wall

A Survey of the Coin Finds from the Antonine Wall

The Twentieth Legion and the history of the Antonine Wall reconsidered

The study of utilitarian pottery from the Antonine Wall has distinguished small numbers of locally made vessels with North African affinities at nine or ten forts. Similar vessels at Chester and others made by Legio XX at the Holt works depot, one with a potter's graffito in neo-Punic suggest the presence of North Africans. It is suggested that detachments sent from Britain to Pius' Mauretanian war of AD 146-49 may have brought North Africans back with them to Britain. At the western sector of the Antonine Wall, changes in the legionary work-stints may be linked to troop reductions for the war, as the mural barrier and Bearsden Duntocher fort interiors were still unfinished. After the conflict, Bearsden and Duntocher were each partitioned to make an annexe and their internal buildings re-planned and completed; a programme of annexe construction began at other forts, and secondary alterations were made to many existing fort interiors. All may be connected with changes in units or in the composition of the returning garrisons, now perhaps mixed and augmented with small numbers of North African troops. Possible relevant epigraphic evidence is examined.

Excavation of the Roman Temporary Camps at Dullatur, North Lanarkshire

The two camps at Dullatur (FIG. 1), near Cumbernauld, lie on a north-facing slope, some 400 m south of the Antonine Wall, between Westerwood and Croy Hill. The excavation was undertaken in 1998 by Headland Archaeology in advance of the development of the site for housing. The work was conducted in accordance with the detailed specification prepared by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service (WoSAS) on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council. The area of the development comprised two zones: one coincident with the site of the two camps and a smaller area (not illustrated) to the north-west.

Archaeological and palynological investigations on the Antonine Wall near Glasgow Bridge, Kirkintilloch

Discusses work carried out in 1992 which defined the ditch and rampart of the frontier and produced a pollen diagram outlining environmental and economic activities in the area for 500--600 years after its construction in a possibly established open landscape.

The Roman Frontier in Britain: Hadrian's Wall, The Antonine Wall and Roman Policy in the North

The Roman Frontier in Britain: Hadrian's Wall, The Antonine Wall and Roman Policy in the North

Health Care in the Roman North

Since 1856 when Sir James Simpson first asked the question ‘was the Roman army provided with medical officers?’ innumerable articles and books have been written on the subject. This paper does not intend to repeat the many points already raised concerning medicine in the Roman Empire but merely aims to assess the evidence for health care in the military zone of North Britain in the first four centuries of our era. Evidence from elsewhere in Britain and the Empire will be used only to clarify details, the geographical area covered being confined to the region north of Catterick and south of the Antonine Wall.

The Roman Frontier in Britain: Hadrian's Wall, The Antonine Wall and Roman Policy in the North By David Shotter. Pp. xvi, 176 Preston: Carnegie Publishing. 1996. Pb. £9.95.

The Roman Frontier in Britain: Hadrian's Wall, The Antonine Wall and Roman Policy in the North By David Shotter. Pp. xvi, 176 Preston: Carnegie Publishing. 1996. Pb. £9.95.

Human Impact on the Environment during the Iron Age and Romano-British Times: Palynological Evidence from Three Sites near the Antonine Wall, Great Britain

Palynological investigation of three mires near the Antonine Wall in central Scotland reveals considerable insights into human impact on vegetation prior to and during Romano-British times. The radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams suggest that at Letham Moss, Stirlingshire and Blairbech Bog, Dumbartonshire, substantial woodland clearance took place during the Iron Age. This continued into Romano-British times at Letham Moss, but at Blairbech Bog woodland regeneration occurred. At Fannyside Muir, Cumbernauld, the pollen diagram suggests that some opening of the woodland occurred during the Late Iron Age, followed by more substantial clearance during the Romano-British period. These regional pollen diagrams are compared and discussed in the light of the archaeological record and other pollen diagrams from Central Scotland, particularly those from on-site archaeological deposits which record local vegetation change.

Excavation at Kinneil fortlet on the Antonine Wall, 1980-1

Excavation at Kinneil fortlet on the Antonine Wall, 1980-1

Stream crossings on the Antonine Wall

Stream crossings on the Antonine Wall

Excavations at Inveravon on the Antonine Wall, 1991

Excavations at Inveravon on the Antonine Wall, 1991

Some excavations on the line of the Antonine Wall 1985-93

Presents the results of twenty-one excavations and watching briefs along the Wall. The alignment of the Wall and the position of fort defences were identified in several places. New information about the superstructure of the Wall, soldiers' diet, and the contemporary environment was obtained. There are specialist reports on: Botanical remains from the inner ditch' by Sheila Boardman & Camilla Dickson (653); `Plant macrofossils' by Sheila Boardman (654--5); and `Pollen analysis' by Camilla Dickson (655--6). `Appendix 1: casual finds along the Wall' edited by G B Bailey (661--3) includes notes on pottery fragments from P V Webster (661), an intaglio by M Henig (661--2), and coins by J D Bateson (663). `Appendix 2: Mungo Buchanan's account of excavations at Watling Lodge in 1894' edited by G B Bailey (664--5), `Appendix 3: analysis of rampart material Tayavalla' by R Tipping (666), and `Appendix 4: analysis of botanical remains from Kirkintilloch' by Sheila Boardman & Camilla Dickson (666--8) complete proceedings.

Signalling and the Design of the Antonine Wall

Surveys by the writer in Britain and Germany have recently revealed a consistent pattern of Roman frontier communications in which each system's minor installations were sited so as to be able to see, and thus to signal to, their nearest fort, whilst the forts themselves could be linked to form a unified chain. But, until recently, the Antonine Wall appeared so different that it seemed unlikely that it operated in the same way. Comparing the two British Walls, both share the basic framework of a rampart and ditch and the change from stone to turf construction, on the northern system, is mere detail, but differences in the garrison installations did seem to have been of operational importance. For example, the inter-fort spacings of the Antonine Wall were much shorter, varying from 1.56 to 3 Roman miles, as against 6 to 9 on Hadrian's Wall – producing 17 known (including Carriden) and several suspected forts in c. 40½ Roman miles, as opposed to 16 in 80 Roman miles on the southern Wall. Moreover, many Antonine Wall forts were too small to have held a full auxiliary unit and there seemed to be no sign of a fortlet and turret system.

The eastern terminus of the Antonine wall: 12th- or 13th-century evidence

Early modern antiquarian evidence for the terminus location.

Were There Two Antonine Occupations of Scotland?

It is generally held that Hadrian's Wall was abandoned c. A.D. 140 in favour of a heavily garrisoned Antonine Wall, then reoccupied about A.D. 158 upon withdrawal of troops from Scotland and the Antonine Wall. Almost immediately troops returned to Scotland, though the northern garrison was thinner than before. This second, brief occupation of the Antonine Wall is now most often supposed to have ended at some date early in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian's Wall then being reoccupied.

Roman Penetration in Strathclyde South of the Antonine Wall PART ONE: THE TOPOGRAPHICAL FRAMEWORK

Summary Our knowledge of the pattern of Roman occupation in SW Scotland is limited by significant gaps not least of primary sites on the littoral fringe. This article follows Keppie's forward looking review (Keppie 1993) by providing a framework for extending our knowledge through archival research, fieldwork and examination of local material. In Part One, postulated as well as established Roman roads are examined along with adjacent Roman and Romano-British sites and finds. In Part Two, the evidence presented in Part One will be assessed as to its significance for the pattern of Romanisation in Strathclyde S of the Antonine Wall.

Excavations at the Roman fort of Westerwood on the Antonine Wall, 1985–88

SummaryA series of excavations and watching briefs is described. Pipelaying within the fort in 1985–87 disturbed walling probably of the internal bath-house. Work undertaken W of the fort in 1986 preceded the laying out of a golf course: the line of the Antonine Wall, Ditch, upcast mound and the Military Way was established, and an area immediately W of the West Gate of the fort checked for the presence of extramural settlement. Postholes for timber buildings and drainage channels possibly of a cultivation system were revealed there, as well as features of mediaeval and later date. Much of the Roman pottery recovered was produced locally. This project was funded by Historic Scotland.