What started as a four-week rescue excavation ahead of a housing development in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden in 1973, intended to test the survival of the Roman fort known from antiquarian records, was rapidly extended when the remains of a well-preserved bath-house were uncovered. The excavation eventually became a ten-year programme of work, reported on comprehensively in this handsome, lavishly illustrated and very reasonably priced volume.

After brief introductory matter explaining the format of the report and outlining previous knowledge of the fort, there follows a sixty-nine-page consideration of the structural evidence, which maintains a careful separation between description and interpretation. This is extensively illustrated with detailed plans, whose location in relation to the fort is clearly indicated. Though these plans are perhaps a little over-schematic for those with an interest in structural detail, the visual record is further enhanced by a large number of colour photographs. Sadly, however, the colour graphic of the resistivity survey has shrunk to little more than an icon. The bulk of the report (230 pages) is devoted to the description and analysis of the environmental and artefactual material recovered. The volume is then completed with seventy-four pages of discussion and conclusions, illustrated with a number of comparative and overall site plans (the latter showing the distribution of glass and pottery types), and is further enhanced by a range of specially commissioned reconstruction drawings.

The area of the fort available for examination was greatly constrained as it was crossed by a modern road with large Victorian villas on either side, some still in private ownership. Landscaped gardens and tree preservation orders further restricted access. This had a detrimental impact on what was available to be examined, the state of its survival and, therefore, the excavator’s ability to reconstruct the overall plan. Nonetheless, it was possible to deduce that the original intention was to build a normal-sized (1.48ha) auxiliary fort that was subdivided during its construction to create a small (0.95ha) fort with an annexe to the east. This might be taken to support current questioning of the long-accepted model for the planning and construction of the Antonine Wall, though the excavator favours the view that the fort was a secondary addition to the system.

Apart from the bath-house, the only other stone buildings were two granaries, one on each side of the presumed location of the via principalis. This is unusual, for in all other forts on the Wall the buildings in the central range are predominantly stone-built. Construction using wooden uprights in individual post-holes further increased the difficulty of identifying the plan and function of the structures. Sufficient elements of a courtyard building were recognised to suggest that it was probably the headquarters building, centrally located within the original, larger fort enclosure. An adjacent structure was tentatively identified as a storehouse, but no other coherent plans were recoverable in the southern half of the fort. In the northern half, two probable barrack blocks were recognised, each provided with only eight contubernia, along with three other long, narrow buildings of uncertain function.

Accordingly, despite the excavator’s best efforts, the overall plan of the fort cannot be reconstructed with confidence and the estimation of the likely garrison remains highly speculative. A cavalry presence is suggested, but none of the potential accommodation buildings was provided with the pits or drains that are now recognised as the hallmarks of stable-barracks and, given the extremely limited recovery of barley and the complete absence of horse gear, no other evidence supports the presence of horses. Whether the large cache of unusual, unused arrowheads from the western ditch has any bearing on the nature of the garrison is not considered.

Analysis of the waterlogged sewage deposits from the latrine associated with the bath-house provided data of international significance concerning the soldiers’ diet, with an emphasis on the consumption of wheat, and indicated that the troops had suffered from internal parasites. The presence of grain beetles in the east annexe ditch suggests not only the disposal of infested grain, but that it was imported from some distance away. The characterisation of distinctive pottery fabrics and the identification of probable wasters indicate the local production of much of the coarseware. One mortarium potter, Sarrius, known to have workshops in England, was producing his wares at Bearsden, probably in conjunction with others. The presence of potters working in a North African tradition is also strongly apparent, though whether this indicates troop transfers from that area or changes in the supply system remains a matter of debate. Thus, analysis of the artefacts and ecofacts offers a range of important insights, particularly into military supply systems.