In September, 1966, an

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5 ANNE S. ROBERTSON, D LITT THE ROMAN CAMP(S) ON HILLSIDE FARM, DUNBLANE, PERTHSHIRE This paper is published with the aid of a grantfrom H.M.Treasury In September, 1966, an emergency excavation was begun, on behalfof the Ministry of Public Building and Works, on the site of what appeared to be two Roman camps, one inside the other, on Hillside Farm, Dunblane, Perthshire (NN ), before housing developments engulfed the site. In September- October, 1967, the excavation was brought to a successful and rather unexpected conclusion. In the latter season, Miss F. Pearce and Mr P. Bristow, Assistants in the Huntcrian Museum, took part for varying periods. The camps were observed from the air in 1945 by DrJ. K. S. St. Joseph. They lie on the south-west outskirts of Dunblane, 3 miles north of the Forth and 7 miles south-west of the Roman complex at Ardoch. The highest part of the site is at about 370 feet above sea level, but it slopes gently down from the centre to almost 300 feet O.D. at the sides. An outline plan of the camps appeared in Antiquity XXV (1951), 95 f. This shows a smaller camp inside a larger camp. The camps had part of their west side in common, and each had four entrances, of which the west entrance was common to both camps. On aerial photographs, traverses appeared to have been present at the west and east entrances of the smaller camp. for two and a half Trenching and probing weeks in September, 1966, and for a similar period in late September to October, 1967, succeeded in tracing the precise outline of both camps, and in locating the exact position of the entrances (four to each camp, but with the west entrance common to both camps). A traverse was found outside the common west entrance, but repeated attempts, both in 1966 and 1967, failed to discover a traverse outside the east entrance of either the smaller camp or the larger camp (Fig. i). The subsoil over parts of the site was of clay, and of rock over other parts. The outlines of the camps were located by sectioning the ditches which had enclosed them, and since for long distances the ditches had been cut out of solid rock and had later silted up with soft earth, it was possible to probe for the ditches^ between sections cut through them. The rockcut ditch was a most impressive sight. The outer camp proved to have measured about 1,220 feet from north to south, and about the same from east to west. (The northsouth axis lies in fact slightly west of north). Its area was therefore about 34 enclosing ditch was about 6 feet wide and not more than 3 feet deep. It approximated V-shapc. The north and south to a entrances were 40 feet wide and the cast and west entrances were 35 to 36 fect wide. They were not the north and south entrances acres. Its centrally placed, being opposite one another, but considerably east of centre, and the west and east entrances being opposite one another, but considerably north of centre. The ditches came to rather bluntly rounded ends on cither side of each entrance, with no hint of clavicular ending. Outside the west entrance, at a distance of 35 feet from it, there was a traverse or tutulus, 35 feet long. No tutulus was found at any other entrance. The inner camp measured about 650 feet from north to south, and 1,040 from east to west. Its area was about 15 acres. Like the outer camp it had ditches about 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, mainly rock-cut, and approximating to a V-shapc. In the north, south and cast sides ofthe small camp there were entrances, 22 to 24 feet wide, exactly opposite those in the corresponding sides of the large camp. The ditches of the inner camp also had blunted ends at the entrances. No tutuli were found. 35

6 A possible post-hole was discovered at the south entrance. The west side of the inner camp was formed by the west side of the outer camp for a length of about 650 feet, and the west entrance of the outer camp served as the west entrance of the inner camp too. The coincidence between the west sides and west entrances of inner and outer camps, the related north, south and east entrances of the two camps, and the exact resemblance between the ditches of outer and inner camps, all suggested that they were contemporary, or nearly so. The filling of all ditches, it was also observed, was the same natural silting. This suggestion was confirmed when an area was opened up near the supposed junction of the south ditch of the inner camp with the west ditch. The south ditch ran (common) towards the common west ditch, but had never made junction with it. Instead, the south ditch curved round to a narrow ending about 3 feet away from the common west the north ditch of the inner ditch. Presumably camp had also stopped short of the common west ditch. It is evident that the inner camp had never had an independent existence of its own, since there was a short gap in its ditch at its south-west corner (and presumably also at its north-west corner). The outer camp, with its four entrances, must have been constructed first. Then a smaller enclave was delimited its west side co- inside the large camp with incident with part of the west side of the large camp. Although the newly cut north, cast and south ditches of the inner camp were of exactly the same shape and dimensions as those of the outer camp, the south ditch (and presumably the north ditch) was not allowed to run into the west ditch of the outer camp, but was stopped short of it. Entrance gaps left were in the north, east and south ditches of the inner camp, exactly opposite the corresponding entrances in the outer camp. The west entrance of the outer camp served as the west entrance to the inner camp, and was provided with a traverse or tutulus, apparently because it gave most immediate access to the inner camp. No traverses or tutuli were found, in spite of repeated probing, at any other entrance. Since the inner camp had never had an independent existence, it did not need tutuli at any other entrance. The few trenches carried into the interior of the outer and inner camps failed to dis- traces of structures, nor were there cover any any finds other than mediaeval green-glazed ware, and recent crockery. In the absence of datable Roman finds, it can only be concluded that at some time within the Roman period in Scotland, either in the Flavian or Antoninc period (or less probably Sevcran period) the large Dunblane camp of about 34 acres was laid out in a most commanding position with a wide outlook in all directions, and probably within a short distance of a Roman road. Afterwards, perhaps not very long afterwards, an inner enclosure was laid out, attached to the west side of the outer camp, with a common west entrance, and other entrances related to those in the outer camp. Small enclosures attached to larger camps (of about 63 acres in area) have been observed by Dr St. Joseph at Ardoch, Innerpcffray, Broomhill (Forteviot), Kirkbuddo and Battlcdykcs- Keithock(1>. However, except for the Innerpcffray camps, in each case the small enclosure, though attached one by having side in common with the large camp, lay to the outside of the large camp. Dr St. Joseph has suggested that the small attached enclosure may have been occupied by a small holding-garrison. It may be that such 'linked' camps were members of a series, and dated to the same period. At Dunblane, the only site so far where 'linked' camps have been excavated, no dating material was recovered. In view of the apparent absence of structural remains either in the inner camp or in that part of the outer camp which lay outside the inner camp, it can only be concluded that the inner camp was delimited from the outer as camp an enclosure reserved for some special purpose, or some particular section of the unit responsible for the construction of the camps. "> JRS LV (1965),