Archaeology Notes
Event ID 705392
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/705392
NS77NW 22 746 767
NS 746 767. Two Roman temporary camps, observed from the air by St Joseph to the S of Dullatur House, were investigated in 1975. Three sides of each camp were available for excavation, the fourth lying beneath housing. The smaller camp proved not to lie wholly within the larger (c/f the OS map of the Antonine Wall), but to be linked to it on the W. The larger camp was proved to be the earlier. The length of the SE side of the larger camp was some 213m, of the smaller 140m. The ditches of both camps were about 2.1m wide and 0.9m deep.
L J F Keppie 1975; J K St Joseph 1969
There is no trace of these camps to be seen on the ground.
Visited by OS (BS) 23 April 1975
A brief period of excavation continued in 1976. The E side and SE corner of the outer camp were located, and two of its gates recorded.
L J F Keppie and J J Walker 1976
The camps lie on a N-facing slope in regularly cultivated ground. There are no surface remains.
Sites surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (MJF) 27 May 1980
NS 746 767 Archaeological excavation of the two Roman temporary camps (NS77NW 22) at Dullatur was completed in advance of a housing development. The work comprised the complete excavation of the primary fills of the two ditches and excavation of a sample of the camp interiors. The principal objectives were to clarify the dating of the two camps and their relationship to the Antonine Wall.
The site was partially examined by Lawrence Keppie in the 1970s. The current excavations confirmed the relative chronology of the two camps, that the Outer Camp pre-dates the construction of the Inner Camp. The terminals for the S entrance were traced in the position previously defined by Keppie. The entrance was 6.5m wide. No trace of an outer traverse could be identified in a 22m long trial trench which was opened to the S of, and centred on, the entrance. No trace of the entrance or ditch terminals in the eastern side of the Outer Camp, however, could be defined in the area previously indicated by Keppie. The ditch was clearly seen to continue unbroken. On topographical, formal and other grounds it seems likely that the site of The Lane, forming the northern boundary to the development, may well preserve the position of the Outer Camp E and W entrances.
The primary outer ditch was of typical V-section profile with an ankle-breaker slot, 0.3m wide, at its base. The ditch was 1.8?2m wide and up to 1m deep. The secondary Inner Camp ditch, although of a similar width and depth, presented a more rounded profile. The ditch sediments principally consisted of naturally deposited clayey silts. These were archaeologically sterile with the exception of a few pot sherds and occasional fragments of charcoal. The ditches filled rapidly, possibly within two years of originally being cut given the evidence of natural turf-stabilisation horizons in the profile. These survived in places, particularly along the SE sector of the Outer Camp where the fall of the ditch was less pronounced than elsewhere. In the SW, W and E sectors, however, natural turf-stabilisation horizons were only present or preserved at the very top of the infilled ditch.
A near-complete Black Burnished ware pot was recovered from the primary fill of the Outer Camp ditch, just to the E of the S entrance. The base of a samian bowl was recovered from 'hillwash' at the lower E side of the Outer Camp ditch. Meanwhile, only heavily abraded sherds of both samian and Black Burnished ware were recovered from the primary fill of the Inner Camp ditch. On the basis of differential abrasion, it is considered likely that these might well derive from the original occupation of the earlier camp.
No internal features were present in the areas stripped. No trace survived of the internal rampart. Plough truncation was evident across the site.
Sponsor: North Lanarkshire Council.
C Lowe 1998
NS 746 767 The report lays out the details of the site as stated above. There is no record of any significant archaeological finds within the ditches and the report does not give a list of recommendations for any further work that is needed.
Sponsor: North Lanarkshire Council
NMRS MS/899/92 (Headland Archaeology Ltd. June 30th 1998)
These temporary camps S of Dullatur House were picked out from the air in 1961 and, in advance of projected housebuilding which did not materialise, were investigated briefly. A comprehensive exploration was undertaken in 1998, prior to housing development. This revealed a camp the size of whcih, later reduced, appeared to be up to 10.3 acres. Pottery of the Antonine period was yielded by the site, being the first dateable finds recovered from any of these camps.
A S Robertson and L Keppie 2001.
