A new Roman fort discovered in Scotland along the Antonine Wall
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The Antonine Wall, also known as Vallum Antonini to the Romans, was a turf fortress on stone foundations that was constructed by the Romans between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth across what is now Scotland's Central Belt.
It was meant to replace Hadrian's Wall to the south and was constructed around 20 years later. While it was garrisoned, it served as the Roman Empire's northernmost boundary defense.
Now, archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a "lost" second-century Roman fort in western Scotland, as part of an ill-fated attempt to extend the empire's rule over the entire country, as per LiveScience.
According to Historic Environment Scotland(HES), the fort was one of up to 41 defensive constructions built along the Antonine Wall, a fortification of mostly earthworks and timber that ran for around 40 miles (65 kilometers) across Scotland at its narrowest point.
In an effort to surpass his predecessor Hadrian, who had constructed the fortress known as Hadrian's Wall some 100 miles (160 km) to the south, the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the wall to be completed in A.D. 142.
"Antoninus Pius was effectively a bureaucrat," historian and archaeologist John Reid told Live Science. "He had no military experience, and we think he was looking for a win that he could pretty much guarantee against the exotic Caledonian people."
They used gradiometry
According to the statement, new technology has made it possible for HES's archaeological survey team to locate the fortlet's buried remnants after previous digs to find it were unsuccessful. Robert Sibbald, an antiquarian, mentioned the fortlet in a 1707 entry. He claimed to have seen one at Carleith Farm. In the 1970s and 1980s, excavation crews searched for it, but they were unable to pinpoint its precise site.
Gradiometry, a geophysical surveying technology, has now been used by the survey team to look beneath the earth without the need for excavation. Gradiometry uses minute variations in the earth's magnetic field to find ancient features that would otherwise be hidden beneath the surface of the ground.
This method proved successful in locating the fortlet's stone base, which is still hidden beneath the ground. Turf would have been placed on top of this base to create a rampart that was about 2 meters high.
The discovery was revealed on World Heritage Day (18 April), a day dedicated to celebrating cultural heritage worldwide. One of Scotland's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites is the Antonine Wall.
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