Dun
Temporary Camp (Roman), Samian (Pottery)(Roman)
Site Name Dun
Classification Temporary Camp (Roman), Samian (Pottery)(Roman)
Canmore ID 35673
Site Number NO65NE 21
NGR NO 6890 5959
NGR Description Centred on NO 6890 5959
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/35673
- Council Angus
- Parish Dun
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO65NE 21 centred 6890 5959.
(NO 6890 5959) Roman Camp (Site), Dun: Air photographs show a small enclosure measuring 545 ft E-W by 660 ft (8 acres in area), with rounded corners and two gates, one each in the E and W sides. Identification as a Roman camp was confirmed by the V-shaped ditch exposed in two trial sections, one of which yielded a piece of late 1st century Samian ware near the bottom of the silt filling.
J K St Joseph 1973.
This camp was threatened in 1990 by a replacement of the gas main along the A935 which cuts through the centre of the camp. Two areas were excavated along the line of the new pipe, where it would pass through the camp ditch. The east camp ditch proved to have already been disturbed by existing gas and water mains in this area. A section of the west ditch was excavated. It had an "ankle breaker" profile, V-shaped with a square slot along the bottom, and had rapidly silted after cutting before being deliberately backfilled.
Sponsors: HBM; British Gas.
I M Rogers 1990c.
Field Visit (April 1978)
Dun NO 688 595 NO65NE 21
A small Roman temporary camp covering an area of about 3.2ha has been identified as a cropmark on level ground above the N fringe of the Montrose Basin. A piece of late 1st century samian ware was found near the bottom of the ditch-fill.
RCAHMS 1978, visited April 1978
(St Joseph 1973, 225)
Publication Account (17 December 2011)
This camp, situated on level ground on the north side of the Montrose Basin, was first discovered by St Joseph from the air through cropmarks in 1970 (1973: 225). It measures about 185m from NN W to SSE by around 160m transversely, enclosing 2.8ha (7 acres). An entrance gap protected by a titulus is visible towards the south end of the ENE side, and there is a corresponding break in the opposite side.
St Joseph placed trenches on the SSE and WSW sides in 1970, recording that the ditch was 2.3m wide and 1.2m deep. A small piece of samian recovered from these excavations was dated to ad 70–90 (1973: 225). Further excavations were made by Rogers in 1990, in advance of the replacement of a gas main alongside the road. These recorded that the ditch was V-shaped, and measured up to 1.5m wide and about 1m deep. The excavators noted that the ditch had silted rapidly (Rogers 1993: 287–8).
R H Jones
