Roman Britain in 1914 | Page 2

and of publications, is smaller than in 1913. In
part the outbreak of war in August called off various supervisors and
not a few workmen from excavations then in progress; in one case it
prevented a proposed excavation from being begun. It also seems to
have retarded the issue of some archaeological periodicals. But the
scarcity of finds is much more due to natural causes. The most
extensive excavations of the year, those of Wroxeter and Corbridge,
yielded little; they were both concerned with remains which had to be
explored in the course of a complete uncovering of those sites but

which were not in themselves very interesting. The lesser sites, too,
were somewhat unproductive, though at least one, Traprain Law, is full
of promise for the future, and good work has been done in the
systematic examination of the fort at Ambleside and of certain
rubbish-pits in London. In one case, that of Holt (pp. 15-21), where
excavations have for the present come to an end, I have thought it well
to include a brief retrospect of the whole of a very interesting series of
finds and, aided by the kindness of the excavator, Mr. Arthur Acton of
Wrexham, to add some illustrations of notable objects which have not
yet appeared elsewhere in print.

A. RETROSPECT OF FINDS MADE IN 1914
i-xiv. FINDS RELATING TO THE ROMAN MILITARY
OCCUPATION.
(i) The exploration of the Roman-seeming earthworks in northern
Scotland which Dr. Macdonald and I began in 1913 at Ythan Wells, in
Aberdeenshire (Report for 1913, p. 7), was continued in 1914 by Dr.
Macdonald at Raedykes, otherwise called Garrison Hill, three miles
inland from Stonehaven. Here Roy saw and planned a large camp of
very irregular outline, which he took to be Roman.[1] Since his time
the ramparts have been somewhat ploughed down, but Dr. Macdonald
could trace them round, identify the six gateways, and generally
confirm Roy's plan, apart from its hill-shading. The ramparts proved to
be of two kinds: part was built solidly of earth, with a deep ditch of
Roman shape strengthened in places with clay, in front of it, while part
was roughly piled with stones and defended only by a shallow rounded
ditch. This difference seemed due to the differing nature of the ground;
ditch and rampart were slighter where attack was less easy. The
gateways were wide and provided with traverses (tituli or tutuli), as at
Ythan Wells. No small finds were secured. The general character of the
gateways and ramparts seemed to show Roman workmanship, but the
exact date within the Roman period remained doubtful. It has been
suggested that the traverses indicate Flavian rather than Antonine
fortifying. But these devices are met with in Britain at Bar Hill, which

presumably dates from about A.D. 140, and on Hadrian's Wall in
third-century work.
[Footnote 1: Antiquities, plate 50. Roy does not notice it in his text, any
more than he notices plate 51 (Ythan Wells camp). They are the two
last plates in his volume; as this was issued posthumously in 1793 (he
died in 1790), perhaps the omission is intelligible.]
(ii) Wall of Pius and its forts. At Balmuildy, north of Glasgow (see
Report for 1913, p. 10), Mr. Miller has further cleared the baths outside
the south-east corner of the fort and the adjacent ditches. The plan
which I gave last year has now to be corrected so as to show a triple
ditch between the south gate and the south-east corner and a double
ditch from the south-east corner to the east gate. This latter section of
ditch was, however, filled up at some time with clay, and the bath
planted on top of it. At presumably the same time a ditch was run out
from the south-east corner so as to enclose the bath and form an annexe;
in this annexe was found a broken altar-top with a few letters on it
(below, p. 29). Search was also made for rubbish-pits on the north side
of the fort, but without any result.
On other parts of the Wall Dr. Macdonald has gained further successes.
Evidence seems to be coming out as to the hitherto missing forts of
Kirkintilloch and Inveravon. More details have been secured of the fort
at Mumrills--fully 4-1/2 acres in area and walled with earth, not with
the turf or stone employed in the ramparts of the other forts of the Wall.
The line of the Wall from Falkirk to Inveravon, a distance of four miles,
has also been traced; it proved to be built of earth and clay, not of the
turf used in the Wall westwards. Dr. Macdonald suggests that the
eastern section of the Wall lay through heavily wooded country, where
turf was naturally awanting.
(iii) Traprain Law. Very interesting, too, are the