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The Roman Temporary Camp at Dunning, Perthshire: Evidence from two Recent Excavations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

A.J. Dunwell  and
L.J.F. Keppie
A.J. Dunwell
Affiliation:
Centre for Field Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
L.J.F. Keppie
Affiliation:
Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow
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Extract

Recent years have seen excavation at two points on the perimeter of the Roman temporary camp at Dunning. The first excavation, in spring 1988, adjacent to the known northern entrance to the camp, was conducted by Dr Lawrence Keppie of the Hunterian Museum, on behalf of Historic Scotland, in advance of pipe-laying by British Gas Scotland. In autumn 1992 excavation of the western entrance to the Roman camp was directed by Andrew Dunwell of the Centre for Field Archaeology, in advance of a housing development by A. & J. Stephen (Builders) Ltd of Perth. The projects were funded by Historic Scotland and A. & J. Stephen (Builders) Ltd respectively.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 26 , November 1995 , pp. 51 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © A.J. Dunwell and L.J.F. Keppie 1995. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 O.G.S. Crawford, Topography of Roman Scotland North of the Antonine Wall (1949), 59.

2 Feachem, R.W., Antiquity xliv (1970), 121–4.Google Scholar

3 Joseph, J.K.S. St, JRS lxiii (1973), 218–19.Google Scholar

4 St Joseph, op. cit. (note 3), 219–20. The pottery was identified by B. Hartley.

5 St Joseph, op. cit. (note 3), 221.

6 e.g. W.S. Hanson, Agricola and the Conquest of the North (1987) and G.S. Maxwell, A Battle Lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius (1989). Both contain recent evaluations of these arguments.

7 Cited by Frere, S.S. in Britannia xx (1989), 269–70.Google Scholar

8 J.K.S. St Joseph, pers. comm.

9 Joseph, J.K.S. St, Britannia i (1970), 176–7, where the possibility of further examples identified on aerial photographs is mentioned, but for which confirmation by excavation is necessary.Google Scholar

10 Macfarlane, W., Geographical Collections Relating to Scotland I (1748), 121, ed. A. Mitchell (1906). The origin of the ‘trench’ as a military camp is there recognised, but is misidentified as being a medieval construction.Google Scholar

11 Eleven sherds (joining) of a BB2 bowl in a fine, hard reddish/grey fabric with a dark grey core, with many tiny quartzite grains. The surface, both inside and out, has been burnished to a smooth but dull black finish, with grey patches on the interior. There are no indications of a diagonal lattice finish. Traces of a black encrustation still adhere in places, mainly below the rim. The vessel is a bowl (c. 200 mm diameter, 4–5 mm thickness) with gently sloping sides with a slight outward bulge, a distinct rolled rim, and a marked carination just at the base. All breaks appear to be fresh with no indication of wear or erosion. In places the surface has broken off in small sheets, separating entirely from the core.

12 J.P. Gillam, Types of Roman Coarse Pottery Vessels in Northern Britain (2nd edn, 1968), 23, 63.

13 Steer, K.A., PSAS xciv (1961), 118, nos 38–42.Google Scholar

14 Thomas, G.D., PSAS cxviii (1988), 139–76, nos 1.99 and I.III.Google Scholar

15 Maclvor, I., Thomas, M.C. and Breeze, D.J., PSAS cx (1980), 255.Google Scholar

16 This section of the report was written by one of the authors (AJD).

17 Hanson, W.S., PSAS cix (1978), 143.Google Scholar

18 Despite widespread enquiry the current whereabouts of this sherd could unfortunately not be determined.

19 The unprovable assumption underlying the following discussion is that the presence of the pottery does reflect Roman military occupation of the camps at Dunning and Abernethy, as opposed to, for example, native activity.

20 J.K.S. St Joseph, pers. comm.

21 The time gap between the original cut and recut of the perimeter ditch cannot be estimated simply from the depth of fill present between the two. The dangers of such inferences are highlighted by previous dating of the two intercutting camps at Ythan Wells, the amount of silting which formed in the earlier camp ditch prior to its deliberate infilling with the construction of the later camp here being in question. St Joseph, op. cit. (note 10), 177, suggested Flavian and Severan dates for the two camps, whereas later, op. cit. (note 3), 232, both camps were suggested as Flavian on the basis of the same evidence. In both cases it was recognised that the time interval between the camps could not be judged by the depth of silt present, as its rate of formation was inestimable. (This example was previously cited by Hanson, op. cit. (note 6), 131.)

22 Hanson, op. cit (note 17), 141–2.