Geophysical survey of Antonine Wall

Date 4 February 2008 - 15 February 2008

Event ID 639685

Category Recording

Type Geophysical Survey

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/639685

A series of geophysical survey techniques were employed to identify and accurately locate the Antonine Wall, any traces of the Military Way and the fortlet at Glasgow Bridge and to identify any other features which might be associated with the fortlet or the Wall. In particular it was hoped that a large scale magnetic survey across an uninterrupted stretch might prove useful in assessing whether towers/turrets were present along the line of the Rampart. The workforms part of a continuing programme of research commissioned by Historic Scotland, as part of their proposal to promote the Antonine Wall to World Heritage Status.

The Antonine Ditch has been clearly detected by both survey techniques; the magnetic response is generally uniform across the site while the resistance anomalies vary, depending on localised natural factors. Evidence for the Rampart is more tentative and intermittent, though at their most coherent, the magnetic responses suggest a partially intact base constructed of highly magnetic cobbles. The Military Way remains elusive; though a few faint trends have been identified which might represent the line of the road, natural and modern agricultural factors make this interpretation highly inconclusive. The ditches of the fortlet appear in both datasets but no obvious internal features have been detected. No anomalies that can be obviously attributed to postulated Rampart towers have been identified; the nature of these features makes them very difficult to detect by either technique, thus an absence of geophysical evidence cannot prove or disprove their presence along the Antonine Wall.

OASIS ID: gsbprosp1-43972.