A survey of the written evidence for attacks by Scotti on fourth-century Roman Britain provides a historical context for the introduction of two hitherto overlooked references to Scotti in the works of Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis on Cyprus (c.a.d. 315–403). Examination of Epiphanius' Ancoratus and Panarion confirms that he inserted the ethnonym Σκόττοι into patristic source-material in the early 370s. These passages claim attention as unique testimony to the Scotti in Greek literature and the second earliest witness to this term in Roman sources. Their date prompts the conjecture that the barbarica conspiratio that beset Britain in a.d. 367–68/9 was a widely reported event even before its significance was magnified by Theodosian dynastic propaganda.

It is almost 50 years since the earthworks of Prae Wood (TL 122 068) SW of St Albans, Herts., were first examined by Sir Mortimer Wheeler. His publication (Wheeler and Wheeler 1936) only considered the northern half of the site (FIG. I). Recent survey of the Gorhambury estate and the environs of the Roman villa has revealed a more extensive system of the earthworks than that previously published, necessitating a re-appraisal of Wheeler's work. Wheeler's report considered Prae Wood as a native predecessor to Roman Verulamium and traced the development of the Belgic earthworks in Phase 2 and their subsequent abandonment in Phase 3. In this scheme, the first phase consisted of an inner dyke and Enclosure A, interpreted as broadly contemporary. The E side of the enclosure was formed by a N–S ditch approximately 65 m long and 4–5 m wide, at whose southern and northern ends were causeways.

Air reconnaissance of the county south and south-west of the Humber has recently resulted in the discovery of two defended sites of Roman date. At Kirmington, South Humberside (TA 097113), photographs taken in the dry summers of 1974–6 (PL. XIV A) have gradually enabled the outlines to be drawn of a complex pattern of cropmarks (FIG. I ), the most prominent of which show the north-western angle of the double ditches of a large four-sided enclosure. The eastern and southern sides can only be traced with difficulty, and the south-eastern corner lies under the perimeter-track of the wartime airfield; but enough can be seen to indicate that the area within the ditches covered c. 8½ acres (3·5 ha). The double ditches, which are sufficiently large and regular to be described as defences, occupy part of an area covered by the irregularly planned roads and enclosures of a settlement. The roads are shown by negative (light-coloured) cropmarks, some of which apparently cross the defences in various places, while positive (dark-coloured) marks show the ditches of many small enclosures of different shapes and sizes. The drawing greatly understates the complications of these enclosure-ditches, which were probably many times recut to judge from the frequent indistinct marks on the photographs, too faint to be planned with confidence.

Eight Roman coins were reported in 2007 to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. All the coins were late Roman issues, with the latest identified as a Gloria Romanorum type dating to A.D. 406–408. This coin is only the second of its type to be identified in Britain, and it was found outside the normal area of fifth-century coins in southern Britain, in the Hadrian's Wall corridor. The finding of the group with its late coin begs the question of how many more fifth-century Roman issues may be as yet undiscovered or misidentified in Britain.

Phallic imagery occurred throughout the Roman world and is most commonly found on small portable items such as amulets and pendants, and on buildings and structures. This paper details three Romano-British instances of phallic carvings found on millstones and one on a rotary quern. It assesses the style and positioning of the carvings in relation to the functional operation of the stones, reviews their contexts of recovery geographically and chronologically and considers the likely symbolism and meaning of the carvings.

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.