stirling-1963-vol-1/05_143

Transcription

No. 122 -- ROMAN MONUMENTS -- No. 122

[Plan Inserted]
Fig. 46. Camelon: Roman forts (A and B), temporary camps (C-G) and burials (H and J) (all No. 122);
K native fort (No. 82)

ever, be no doubt that the primary function of each of
the successive forts at Camelon was to guard the river
crossing, and thereby to control the southern end of the
narrow corridor between the Campsie-Gargunnock hills
and the Forth estuary which, in early times, constituted
the only practicable land route between the S. of Scotland
and Strathmore. The strategic importance of the bridge-
head is strikingly illustrated by the fact that the Romans
found it necessary to establish a garrison here not only
under the fluid conditions of the Flavian occupation,
but also during the Antonine period, in spite of the
proximity of the site to the Antonine Wall.
The forts themselves have suffered severely from
the construction of a railway-line, and the erection of
foundries, as well as from cultivation, and today virtually
no remains are visible on the surface. Nevertheless, much
has been learned about them from extensive excavations
carried out in 1899-1900, ¹ while air-photographs taken
within recent years for the Cambridge University
Committee for Aerial Photography have furnished
additional details, and have also disclosed the presence,
in the immediate vicinity, of the three temporary camps
described below, and of a native fort which is the subject
of a separate article (No. 82).

THE FORTS (Figs. 46 and 47). The plan produced
by the excavators of 1899-1900 (Fig. 47) shows
two adjacent enclosures lying N. and S. and termed
respectively "North Camp" and "South Camp". The
northernmost enclosure, which, apart from its SW.
corner, is still in open ground, is patently an auxiliary
fort. Almost square on plan, it measures internally 530 ft.
from E. to W. by 490 ft. from N. to S. and contains an
area of nearly 6 acres. Excavation revealed that the
rampart, 41 ft. in thickness, was composed of turf, sand,
gravel and clay, and in many cases was underpinned with
stone at both the front and the back. It is reported to
have been faced externally with puddled clay. On the
S. and W. sides there were two ditches, and on the
W. half of the N. side one only: no ditches were found
round the remainder of the circuit. The four gates were
of timber, but their plans were not determined: three

1 P.S.A.S., xxxv (1900-1), 329-417.

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