Bearsden: A Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall

Description

With contributions by Lindsay Allason-Jones, Donald Bailey, Mike Baillie, Iain Banks, Paul Bidwell, Sjoerd Bohncke, Susan Chalmers, G. H. Collins, Anne Crone, Alex Croom, Brenda Dickinson, Camilla Dickson, James H. Dickson, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Dennis Gallagher, Geoff Gaunt, Rikke D. Giles, Mark Gillings, Katharine Hartley, Martin Henig, Andrew Jones, Lawrence Keppie, John Locke, Euan MacKie, Frances McLaren, Ian Máté, Jef Maytom, Michael J. Moore, G. C. Morgan, Jennifer Price, Sian Rees, Anne S. Robertson, Jackaline Robertson, Adam T. Welfare and David F. Williams The demolition of Victorian villas in the 1970s led to the excavation of the Roman fort at Bearsden, near Glasgow, on the Antonine Wall, and the discovery of a Roman bath-house and latrine. The bath-house is the tip of an archaeological iceberg. Over ten seasons a substantial portion of the Roman fort was examined and its history traced. Of particular importance was the discovery of sewage from the latrine which provided intimate details about the life of the soldiers at Bearsden, including their diet and hygiene. The Roman fort contained two barrack-blocks. Analysis of the distribution of pottery within each buildings suggests that food was prepared, cooked and eaten in these barracks rooms. The bath-house produced fragments of large bowls. But were they used for drinking wine, holding fruit and nuts remains of which were found in the bath-house or as chamber pots? The fort also contained two large stone granaries as well as timber storehouses. The soldiers had a varied diet which included wheat and barley, probably used in baking bread and making porridge, as well as various wild fruits and nuts. More exotic food such as coriander and figs were imported from the continent. Food remains in cooking pots demonstrated that durum or macaroni wheat was used at Bearsden. The soldiers suffered from both whipworm and roundworm and had fleas. Moss found in the sewage was probably used by the soldiers in cleaning themselves after using the latrine. List of illustrations List of tables Preface Acknowledgements List of contributors Abstract Summary Chapter 1 The Structure of the Report Chapter 2 Previous Accounts Chapter 3 The Excavations 3.1 Topography and geology of the site 3.2 The Fort 3.2.1 The defences 3.2.2 The ditches 3.2.3 The rampart 3.2.4 Internal roads 3.2.5 Drains and gulleys 3.2.6 Open spaces 3.2.7 Internal buildings 3.3 The Annexe 3.3.1 The bath-house 3.3.2 The latrine 3.3.3 The annexe of the bath-house 3.4 Extra Mural Activity 3.5 Resistivity survey Chapter 4 Soils 4.1 The West rampart 4.2 Soil samples from buildings Chapter 5 Stone 5.1 Analysis 5.2 The stone objects 5.2.1 Inscribed and sculptured stones 5.2.2 Voussoir stones 5.2.3 Bath-house furniture 5.2.4 Worked building stones 5.2.5 Slabbing, flooring and paving 5.2.6 Miscellaneous 5.3 The Milling stones 5.3.1 Introduction 5.3.2 Catalogue 5.3.3 Discussion 5.4 The Flint flake Chapter 6 Brick and tile 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Types 6.3 Signature marks Chapter 7 Pottery 7.1 Samian ware 7.1.1 Introduction 7.1.2 Catalogue 7.2 The Coarse ware 7.2.1 Introduction 7.2.2 Fabrics 7.2.3 Catalogue 7.3 Mortaria 7.3.1 Summary 7.3.2 Methodology 7.3.3 Quantification 7.3.4 Mortarium fabrics 7.3.5 Catalogue of stamped mortaria 7.3.6 Final comments 7.3.7 Catalogue of mortaria found at Bearsden arranged in fabrics 7.4 Scientific analysis of the pottery 7.4.1 Heavy mineral analysis of black-burnished ware 7.4.2 Petrographical examination of pottery 7.4.3 Geological report on trituration 'grit' in mortaria fragments 7.4.4 Chemical and petrological analysis of local oxidised ware 7.5 'Native' pot 7.6 Lamp 7.7 Amphorae 7.8 Discussion of pottery 7.8.1 Vessel types and character of the assemblage 7.8.2 Local production 7.8.3 Distribution 7.8.4 Pottery supply systems 7.8.5 Origins of the British potters working at Bearsden 7.8.6 Pottery of North-African style Chapter 8 Mortar Analysis Chapter 9 Glass 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Catalogue 9.2.1 Vessels 9.2.2 Window glass 9.2.3 Object Chapter 10 The Intaglios 10.1 Catalogue 10.2 The 'shrimp' Chapter 11 Metalwork 11.1 Copper alloy 11.2 Lead 11.3 Iron 11.3.1 Weapons 11.3.2 Tools and implements 11.3.3 Structural items 11.3.4 Strappings and sheeting 11.3.5 Transport 11.3.6 Footwear 11.3.7 Nails 11.3.8 Miscellaneous Chapter 12 Coins Chapter 13 Plant remains 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Outer east annexe ditch 13.2.1 Macroscopic plant remains 13.2.2 Macroscopic plant remains from pollen samples 13.2.3 Outer east annexe ditch: pollen analyses 13.2.4 Origin of cultivated plants and the evidence for hay 13.2.5 Processing the crops 13.3 Depression south of building 7 13.3.1 Macroscopic plant remains 13.3.2 Pollen analysis 13.4 Inner west ditch 13.4.1 Macroscopic plant remains 13.4.2 Pollen analyses 13.5 Middle west ditch 13.5.1 Macroscopic plant remains 13.5.2 Pollen analyses 13.6 Outer west ditch 13.7 South ditch 13.7.1 Macroscopic plant remains 13.7.2 Pollen analysis 13.8 Rampart turves 13.8.1 East annexe rampart 13.8.2 East fort rampart 13.8.3 Macroscopic plant remains 13.8.4 Pollen analysis 13.9 Wood, charcoal and other burnt plant remains 13.9.1 Outer east annexe ditch 13.9.2 Inner west ditch 13.9.3 Middle west ditch 13.9.4 Ramparts 13.9.5 Charcoal associated with buildings in the northern part of the fort 13.9.6 Charcoal associated with buildings in the southern part of the fort 13.9.7 Bath-house 13.9.8 Latrine 13.9.9 Conclusion 13.10 Interpretation of pollen analyses 13.11 The woodland around Bearsden 13.12 The plant communities 13.13 Comparison with other sites 13.13.1 Pollen analyses 13.13.2 Macroscopic plant remains 13.14 Summary of the plant remains 13.15 Future work Appendix 1 Notes on the identifications Appendix 2 Determining the thermal history of the bran with electron spin resonance spectroscopy Addendum Chapter 14 Infrared analysis of charred material adhering to potsherds 14.1 The use of infrared analysis 14.2 What is the character of archaeological char? 14.3 Chemical analysis of the Bearsden char 14.4 How can we interpret the Bearsden wheats? Chapter 15 Dendrochronology Chapter 16 Bones Chapter 17 Insect remains 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Analysis 17.2.1 East annexe ditch 17.2.2 Inner west ditch 17.2.3 Middle west ditch 17.2.4 Outer west ditch 17.2.5 South ditch 17.2.6 Depression in fort 17.2.7 Building 7 17.3 General implications of grain-beetles 17.4 Climatological implications of the fauna Chapter 18 Parasitological investigations of the East annexe ditch 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Analysis 18.3 Discussion Chapter 19 Leather 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Catalogue Chapter 20 Reconstruction drawings Chapter 21 Discussion 21.1 The site before the Romans 21.2 The Antonine wall 21.3 The Fort 21.3.1 The fort platform 21.3.2 Measurements 21.3.3 The defences 21.3.4 The roads 21.3.5 The stone buildings 21.3.6 The timber buildings 21.3.7 The identification buildings 21.4 The annexe 21.4.1 The bath-house 21.4.2 Latrine 21.5 The planning of the fort and annexe 21.6 The unit based at Bearsden 21.7 The building of the fort and annexe 21.8 The date of occupation 21.9 The history of the site 21.10 The civil settlement 21.11 Life in the fort 21.11.1 Introduction to the distribution of artefacts 21.11.2 The small finds assemblage 21.11.3 Weapons and clothing 21.11.4 Tools 21.11.5 Cooking, eating and drinking 21.11.6 Comments on the distribution of artefacts 21.11.7 Diet 21.11.8 Hygiene and relaxation 21.12 Supply 21.13 The end of the fort 21.14 Summary of the history of the fort 21.15 Some wider implications Chapter 22 Conclusions Bibliography Index