Excavation

Date 2 March 2009 - 20 March 2009

Event ID 603393

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/603393

NT 3215 6740 An excavation was undertaken 2–20 March 2009 prior to building work at the Melville Gate Data Centre. The Centre is on the site of a Roman fort known as Elginhaugh, which was identified and partially excavated in the 1980s. The annexe of the fort had not been fully investigated and results from an evaluation carried out in 2007 suggested that elements of the annexe survived in the footprint of the proposed development.

An excavation of the remaining area of the annexe revealed a series of ditches and a post-built gateway. Other previously unknown features included a well, a putative roadside building and ditches subdividing the interior of

the annexe. A coin of the Emperor Trajan (AD 97–117) was discovered in the backfill of an enclosure ditch, a decade later in date than any previous coin found in the annexe or fort.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Report: Midlothian SMR and RCAHMS

Funder: Royal Bank of Scotland Group

Candy Hatherley – Headland Archaeology Ltd