Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 November 2011
The Roman fort at Mollins lies at about 75 m above sea level, on the south bank of the Luggie Water, a major tributary of the River Kelvin (FIG. I). The site (National Grid reference NS 714 719) lies on the side of a small ridge, and faces northwards over gently undulating ground. The substratum is glacial till and, although the site is moderately well drained, under natural conditions the broad flood plain of the Luggie Water, which borders onto the northern edge of the fort, would have been formerly very poorly drained.
The archaeological site comprises a Roman fort which was probably built and later deliberately demolished during the Agricolan campaigns around a.d. 80 to 90.
1 Hanson, W. S. and Maxwell, G. S., Britannia xi (1980), 43–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 W. S. Hanson, pers. comm.
3 W. E. Boyd, ‘Environmental change and Iron Age land management in the area of the Antonine Wall, central Scotland: a summary’, Glasgow Arch. Journ. forthcoming; idem, ‘Palaeobotanical report on the samples from the archaeological excavations of the Roman fort at Bar Hill, on the Antonine Wall’, Glasgow Arch. Journ. forthcoming.
4 Faegri, K. and Iversen, J., Textbook of pollen analysis (1975).Google Scholar
5 op. cit. (note 4).
6 Moore, P. D. and Webb, J. A., An illustrated guide to pollen analysis (1978).Google Scholar
7 Godwin, H., The history of the British flora (1956).Google Scholar
8 Körber-Grohne, U., ‘Bestimmungsschlüssel für subfossile Juncus-samen und Gramineen-fruchte’, Probleme der Kustenforschung in sudlichen Nordseegebiet vii (1964).Google Scholar
9 Smith, A. J. E., The moss flora of Britain and Ireland (1978).Google Scholar
10 Jane, F. W., The structure of wood (1970), 392.Google Scholar
11 Dimbleby, G. W., ‘Soil pollen distribution in relation to organic layers’, Soil organic matter. Rep. no. 3 Welsh soils discussion group (1962), 49–51Google Scholar; Dimbleby, G. W. and Evans, J. G., Journ. Arch. Science i (1974), 117–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12 Dimbleby, G. W., Journ. Soil Science xii (1961), 1–11; idem, op. cit. (note 11); idem, Proc. R. Soc. B., 161, (1965), 355–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13 G. W. Dimbleby and J. G. Evans, op. cit. (note 11); Keatinge, T. H., Boreas xii (1983), 1–12.Google Scholar
14 McVean, D. N. and Ratcliffe, D. A., Plant communities of the Scottish Highlands. Monographs of the Nature Conservancy (1962)Google Scholar; Birks, H. J. B. in Shotton, F. W. (ed.), British Quaternary Studies: recent advances (1977), 119–35.Google Scholar
15 Pollen of Corylus avellana and Myrica gale, two unrelated species, is very similar, and their separate identification is unreliable (Edwards, K. J., Pollen Spores xxiii (1981), 205–18). For this reason, the pollen is referred to as ‘Coryloid’. This, of course, poses many problems, largely because Coryloid pollen is a very common component in the British fossil pollen flora, and also because both species are widespread. They have, however, different ecological requirements and on ecological grounds it is considered that Corylus is probably represented at Mollins. However, the text references to ‘possibly Corylus’ reflect the uncertainty.Google Scholar
16 Scottish Arch. Forum xii (1980), 93–113.Google Scholar
17 Boyd, unpub. data.
18 cf. Turner, J., Proc. R. Soc. London, B, 161 (1965), 348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19 Tinsley, H. M. and Smith, R. T., New Phytol. lxxiii (1974), 547–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20 cf. Boyd, W. E., ‘Prehistoric hedges: Roman Iron Age hedges from Bar Hill,’ Scottish Arch. Review iii (1984), 32–4.Google Scholar
21 Boyd, W. E. in Fieller, N. J. R., Gilbertson, D. D. and Ralph, N. C. A. (eds.), Palaeoenvironmental investigation: research design, methods and interpretation, B.A.R. (1984); idem, op. cit. (note 3).Google Scholar
22 ibid.
23 D. E. Robinson, Report on samples submitted for botanical analysis from the excavation of the Roman fort at Croy Hill, Central Region (unpub.)
24 Newell, P. J., Britannia xiv (1983), 227–43.Google Scholar
25 C. A. and J. H. Dickson, Report on the plant remains from the archaeological excavations at Bearsden Roman fort (forthcoming).
26 Richmond, I. A., Arch. Ael.4 xiii (1935), 170–98Google Scholar; Arch. Ael.4 xiv (1937), 129–50Google Scholar; Simpson, F. G. and Richmond, I. A., Arch. Ael.4 xix (1941), 1–43Google Scholar; Roberts, B. K. et al. , in Birks, H. J. B. and West, R. G. (eds.), Quaternary Plant Ecology (1973), 207–21Google Scholar; Bartley, D. D. et al. . New Phytol. lxxvii (1976), 437–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Donaldson, A. M. and Turner, J., Journ. Biogeogr. iv (1977), 25–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Balaam, N., Britannia ix (1978), 19–57Google Scholar; Chambers, C., New Phytol. lxxx (1978), 273–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Davies, G. and Turner, J., New Phytol. lxxxii (1979), 783–804CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Turner, J., Journ. Arch. Science vi (1979), 285–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar