Some Excavations on the Line of the Antonine Wall, 1957-80

Proc Antiqc So Scot, 111, 1981, 229-247 Some excavations on the line of the Antonine Wall, 1957-80 L J F Keppie* and D J Breezef with contributions by James Barber, G Finlayson, N McCord, I Maclvor FranceJ , s MurrayScobieH J H WalkeJ J J ,C , d an r Wilkes ABSTRACT Repor smal5 1 f lto excavation foud san r watching brief definitioe sth whicWale o t th d f lhn o le lin e in thre informatioew placene d san n concernin structuree gth , buildin histor d Wale gan th f ly o elsewhere . seee particularn b I applo nt w no y fuln onle th ca :l y, ditche widt ovem th centrae 2 f h1 th r,o l sector; a demarcation line in the stone base has been detected; the rampart at Tollpark underwent major repair an duniquea inexplicabled an , , stone platfor attaches m basewa e th d.o t INTRODUCTION Parts i and ii are numbered separately, each list running in geographical order from E to W, as in an earlier paper published in these Proceedings, which reported on similar work carried out between 197 197d 3an 6 (Keppie 1976, 61-80) orden .I helo rt p differentiat separate eth e entrien so numbere th (fi p , g1) ma se relatinth placee pargo t ar circla i t n di e whila en thosi e parn ear i i i t square. Copieoriginae th f o s l reports, together with supportingd documentationan 7 1- , i s no f o , ii, 3-12 are held in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, together with the small finds from Garnhall, Westerwood and Carleith, with copies of the documentation in the National Monuments Record for Scotland. The records and finds from nos ii, 1 and 2 are in Falkirk Museum. This paper completes the publication of all such excavations on the line of the Antonine Wall sponsore Scottise th y db h Development Department Ancient Monuments Branchs it r o , predecessors, up to 1980. (i) 1957-69 Edite Daviy db dBreezJ e followine Th g seven excavations were carrie t betweedou n 195reques e 196d th 7 an t 9a f o t Inspectorate th Ancienf eo t Monuments, actin Ministrbehale n go th f o f Workf y succeso s it r so - sorsreporte Th . s wer producel eal d promptl havd yan e since lai departmentan no l files. However, t seemi s appropriat publiso et reporte hth thes s a l includ yal e evidence relatin linee th , o gstruct - ture or history of the Antonine Wall. The reports have been edited to exclude extraneous matter, Hunteria* n Museum, Universit f Glasgowyo . (AncienD SD t t Monuments), 3-11 Melvill Edinburgh, eSt . 230 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1981 E ANTONINTH E WALL Antonine Th FI G1 e Wall: locatio excavationf no watchind san g briefs numbere Th . circlen si s refe paro t r , i t thos squaren ei paro st . ii t such as the cost of the week's work at Bar Hill (23 shillings). A note in brackets at the end of each entry directs attentio lateno t r relevant materia provider lo s informatio latee th rn nhistoro e th f yo site. 1 BeancrosslDollhouse (NGR NS 925795 and 929794) McCorN d Earl Antonin e 196n vicinitye i th line th f 5 maith a eo n i f yo t n e cu draiWal s nlwa (Macdonald 1934, 116; Robertson 1979,46-7 vallew lo yPolmonte f juso th n )tW i . Although these work t inte scu o th accepted line of the Wall, the contractors did not detect any trace of ditch or wall. The area was further roadaffectew cuttine ne th , a whicy f db go h destroye dstretc a suppose e th f ho e Walde th th lin n f i l eo Beancross/Dollhouse area shorA . t excavatio undertakes nwa tracee y Aprith n nan i f f so i le 196se o 5t Wall could be found in the areas which remained unaffected by the digging of the drain but which would t throug proposee cu th e b y hb d roadpossiblo Tw . e areas were available, which include supposee dth d Walle betweeline th f eon ,o n Beancros Polmone th d san othe te Dollhousef Burno th d rE an , , where eth ground begin riso st Cadger' o et s Brae botn I . h case aree sth a availabl restrictes ewa narroa o dt w strip drainw draie ne th betwee,e nth line f havin th eo roa e d nth dan g encroached upo acceptee nth d linf eo the Wall particularly in the eastern of the two areas. In both areas trenches were cut across the available traco spacen t e bu ,whateve founds negative wa r Th . e naturresulte th especialls f eo swa ye cleath n i r western area, wher etrenca t righmh2 cu dee s t mapacros S pWalwa e O linth showe s ;e f a lsth e th o n no sectioe th n herconsistentls ewa y barre structuralf no wentt cu e traces dowth d nan , into quite clean heavy clay. Althoug positivo hn e conclusion drawe b n nsca from these results t migh,i regardee tb distinca s da t possibility that the accepted line of the Antonine Wall is not entirely accurate in the stretch between Polmont hill and Mumrills. (Th Antonine linth f eo e Wall immediatel Beancrosf o yS confirmes swa d durin gwatchina g brief in June 1973 (Keppie 1976Wale th line f l,th e o betwee63) t shouldebu , W e nth f Cadger' hero rd ean s Brae, where Macdonald foun stone dth e bas 191n ei 3 (Macdonald 1915, 135) wliicd confirmes an , hwa d by excavation in the next field to the E in 1960 (Steer 1961, 323), remains uncertain. DJB). 2 Tollpark 770777S (N ) I Maclvor lande Th Tollpar f owneCumbernaulse o w th no y de b kar d Development Corporation aree s .aTh i zoned by the Corporation for industry, and in order to lay out their sites the Corporation desired to know KEPPIE AND BREEZE: ANTONINE WALL, 1957-80 | 231 Romae limite th th f so n antiquities Corporatioe Th . n wishe establiso dt supplha coolinf yo g water rfo the industrial zone, and to erect a water tower on the high ground known as Hag Knowe. The Corporation's proposals required excavation to establish the line of the Military Way and to determine the nature of remaine Knowg th Ha n eso itself. Military Way Sections were taken across the presumed line of the Military Way as shown in aerial photographs in the possession of the Ordnance Survey. These sections were made on each of the hedge lines in the lands of Tollpark, where the line of the Military Way is seen on the aerial photographs to be dissociated from the line of present tracks. In the two easterly trenches a scatter of stones was observed at a depth of about 15 cm below the surface firmo N . cobblin sees gnwa here onld an ,yligh a t scatte stonef supposee ro seeth s n snwa o d line further to the W. The supposition must be that the Military Way has been scattered by ploughing, and thastone-scattee th t r appears more clearlaeriae th n ly o photograph s tha t doeni excavationsn si . Rampart sectio A acrosg du rampar e wid -n3s 1 m sth ewa t nea tentative th r watee eth sitr refo tower kerbe cobblind Th . san rampare th f go t were found, traverse culverta y db cobbline Th . s gwa covered by about 60 cm of turfwork in good preservation. The turfwork showed the same marked colour distinctions that were found in 1957-9 on the rampart at Rough Castle (Maclvor et al 1979, 100). There were only abou f plougo t 1m 5c h soil abov distince eth t line f turfso . But the section also revealed a feature which had not hitherto been noted on the line of the Wall. ramparkerbe e th Th f so t were about 4-4 apart2m standare ,th d ramparwidte th f ho t foundatione th o T . S of the kerbs was a line of large undressed stones forming a face 76 cm to the S of the S face of the rampart blockind an , culverte entre th g th southerl e o yt Th . y lin f stoneeo places m levec a swa t 0 da 3 l higher than the level of the setting of the S kerb and stood on top of a mass of tumbled turfwork which in turn lay above a black turf line presumably contemporary with the laying of the kerbs. The turfwork of the rampart ran up to the southerly line. The southerly line of kerbs indicates a drastic rebuilding of the turfwork of the Wall. The continuity of turf lines from the southerly line northwards over the body of the rampart cobbling suggests a major demolition of the rampart structure. The tumbled turfwork on which the southerly line of stones stands suggests destruction or at least collapse of the rampart turfwork, and argues against the incompletion of turfwore th rampare th firse f th ko t n stagi t f buildingeo . 3 Tollpark 770777S (N ) J J Wilkes Trial excavations were undertake Septemben ni r 196 discoveo 4t r further information aboue th t additional ker bAntonine alonsidth S f e o gth e Wall locate earlien a n di r section (abov 231)ep .

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