stirling-1963-vol-1/05_146

Transcription

No. 122 -- ROMAN MONUMENTS -- No. 122
been sunk below Roman ground level at the time of
construction. ¹ This accounts for the comparatively good
state of preservation of the remains, but also makes it no
longer possible to argue that the buildings in question
must necessarily be pre-Antonine, although the fact
that they are alined differently suggests that they belong
to different periods. Secondly, none of the 1st-century
relics from Camelon was specifically associated, as far
as we know, with any of the stone buildings in the "South
Camp". ² And thirdly, although the lines of the oblique
ditches are only tentatively sketched in on the original
survey, running across the SW. corner of the "South
Camp", they are not in alinement with building XVIII.
Most of Macdonald's difficulties can in fact be avoided
if it is assumed that the stone buildings in the "South
Camp" are not Agricolan, but represent extra-mural
buildings associated with one or more Antonine forts.
In this way the principal structural remains uncovered
in 1899-1900 could be plausibly interpreted as follows.
(i) An early work, probably an Agricolan fort, denoted
by the ditches which were believed to have run across
the SW. corner of the "South Camp". (ii) A later Flavian
fort having the general outline of the "South Camp" and
not less than 8 acres in extent. The third and fourth
ditches on the E. and S. sides of the "South Camp" and
the two streets shown on the plan may be tentatively
assigned to this fort. (iii) An Antonine fort, partly over-
lying the Flavian fort ³ and having two annexes, the
southernmost of which incorporated the rest of the
Flavian fort. To the latter annexe may be ascribed a
number of stone buildings found in the area including
a bath-house (XVII) lying athwart a Flavian street, ⁴ and
another building which may have been the bath-house
of a different Antonine period or perhaps a rest-house
(mansio) for official travellers. ⁵ Whether the wattle-and-
daub structures recorded from the same area represent
the huts of the Antonine canabae or the internal buildings
of the Flavian fort is, however, quite uncertain. In
conclusion, it must be emphasised that the foregoing
interpretation is entirely inferential, since the excavators
of 1899-1900 kept no record of the precise find-spots of
the many relics from the site. Amongst these relics may be
mentioned a great deal of pottery of both the Flavian
and Antonine periods, several enamelled fibulae and a
fragment of a votive lantern. ⁶ The latest of the 56
identified coins found on the site is a first brass of
Faustina II, ⁷ and the only inscribed stone of any
significance is a building stone of the Twentieth Legion
reading XX V(aleria) V(ictrix) F(ecit) ⁸ which was
discovered in the bath-house (XVII). ⁹

THE TEMPORARY CAMPS (Fig. 46). In addition to the
permanent forts at Camelon, traces have been observed
on air-photographs of the buried remains of five
temporary camps, each defended by a slight ditch and
rampart, in which troops were quartered in leather
tents for short periods when engaged in campaigning or
on engineering works in the district. The remains are as
follows: (i) An almost rectangular camp (C) measuring
1560 ft. by 1250 ft. on level ground immediately SW. of
Lochlands farmhouse (856815). Aerial photography ¹⁰
shows three of the four rounded corners of the ditch
together with a gateway defended by a traverse (tutulus)
in the NW. side: several other portions of the ditch were
located by probing on the date of visit. ¹¹ (ii) A consider-
able portion of a smaller camp (D) measuring 290 ft.
from N. to S. by a minimum of 480 ft. from E. to W.,
within the triangle of railway lines immediately W. of
Carmuirs East Junction (858810). ¹² The work has been
subdivided at some time, probably to make a smaller
camp, by drawing a rampart and ditch across it from N.
to S. at a distance of about 230 ft. from the W. side. ¹³
The crop-marks are not sufficiently distinct to show
the positions of any entrances into this camp. (iii) The
NW. corner of a camp (E) in Field 1859. immediately
to the S. of Camp D (857810). ¹⁴ Traces of what may have
been the N. side of this camp can be seen intermittently
in Field 1832 on other National Survey prints, ¹⁵ and
C.U.C.A.P. photographs ¹⁶ reveal faint indications of a
possible continuation of the W. side of the camp, and
of the beginning of the SW. corner, in Field 1800 on the
S. side of the Glasgow Road. If these markings all belong
to the same work, as has been assumed on the plan, it
would appear to have been comparable in size to Camp C,
measuring 1450 ft. from N. to S. by not less than 1200 ft.
transversely. (iv) A smaller camp (F) on the S. side of
the Glasgow Road which has now been entirely covered
by a housing estate (858806). The photographs ¹⁷ show
clearly the whole of the W. side, with a medial gateway
protected by a tutulus, together with stretches of the
adjacent N. and S. sides, each with a gate and tutulus.

1 This interpretation was confirmed on 29th April 1958,
when it was discovered that in a bunker of the Falkirk Golf
Course, situated 30 yds. NE. of building XVII and well
within the so-called Agricolan fort, the undisturbed subsoil is
only 2 ft. below the present surface.
2 It is perhaps worth noting in this connection that a coin
of Hadrian was found with one of Nero in disturbed soil outside
the N. wall of building XVIII (P.S.A.S., loc. cit., 373).
3 A close analogy is provided by Birrens where the later fort
impinges on the Flavian forts (J.R.S., xli (1951), 57).
4 It is significant that the excavators found no trace of a
bath-house inside the North (Antonine) Fort.
5 It is impossible to subscribe to Macdonald's identification
of this structure as the commandant's house (praetorium) of an
Agricolan fort. An extra-mural building, on the other hand,
need not necessarily be alined with the contemporary buildings
within the fort.
6 P.S.A.S., lxx (1935-6), 390.
7 P.S.A.S., lxxxiv (1949-50), list II facing p. 160.
8 P.S.A.S., xxxv (1900-1, 376; Ephemeris Epigraphica, ix,
1246.
9 The sculptured stone described in P.S.A.S., xxxvi (1901-
1902), 606-10, is a modern forgery.
10 Nos. DN 16-22 in the C.U.C.A.P.
11 See P.S.A.S., lxxxix (1955-6), 336-9 and fig. 7.
12 National Survey air-photographs CPE/SCOT/UK 256,
5227-8 and 540/801, 3044-5.
13 Compare Bagraw Camp, Northumberland (History of
Northumberland, xv, 120 and fig. 32).
14 National Survey air-photographs CPR/SCOT/UK 256,
5227-8.
15 540/801, 3044-5.
16 Nos. DH 25-8.
17 Nos. DH 25-8 in the C.U.C.A.P.

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