Exploring the Antonine Wall with Terrestrial Remote Sensing is a synthesis of geophysical survey from a variety of projects over the last twenty years and is an important addition to other recent excavation-based publications (including Bearsden, Croy Hill and Falkirk district). The application of non-invasive, less resource-intensive investigative programmes by a range of agents have allowed the authors to present a more all-encompassing view of the frontier monument. While this could be a recipe for inconsistency, their expertise in presenting and interpreting the data has resulted in a clear, accessible read filled with new insights.
The main research programmes covered are those conducted around and following the bid for UNESCO World Heritage status for the Antonine Wall by Historic Environment Scotland (HES, previously Historic Scotland), and the EU Culture 2000 project The Frontiers of the Roman Empire undertaken by Glasgow University and GSB Prospection. A further major contribution comes from HES’s five-year project to address pressing research and management issues as well as develop the archaeological team’s survey capabilities. Work by commercial archaeology companies is also included. The result is the investigation of a range of different elements of the linear barrier, from forts and annexes to road and ditches, with good coverage along the Wall’s length. A minor gripe is that the overview map of the survey work could be clearer, perhaps divided into east and west regions or by chapter to allow more detail to be shown. While the book is easy to navigate by geography, it is not quite as easy by feature (e.g. the Military Way) — an index might also have helped with this.
Ch. 1 is an introduction to the Antonine Wall and previous non-invasive investigations, including survey, aerial photography and fieldwalking, which provides a good summary for both experts and the general reader. The aims are clearly stated and the methodologies laid out accessibly so that the technical nature of the methods and equipment involved never overwhelm the reader.
From this starting point, Chs 2–7 follow the Antonine Wall from west to east, with each surveyed site given a brief introduction, including an overview of previous investigation, then the background to the new survey and the findings. The results are presented with clear labelling and explanation of the survey images and a description of any issues encountered. The implications of the results are then discussed with reference to the site as a whole and the research questions. A final discussion chapter, helpfully structured by different elements of the Wall and its landscape, is key to bringing together the mass of new information and for making sense of the implications for the Antonine Wall as a functioning frontier system. The authors’ familiarity with the Wall and wider Roman military archaeology is vital in this interpretation and makes for a clear, compelling read.
Many important results have been gained in a range of areas. Understanding of less well-defined elements of the Wall such as the Military Way has been enhanced at several locations, both in defining its potential course, such as between Glasgow Bridge and Westermains, or at Inveravon, and in its relationship to and impact on forts such as Westerwood, where it can be argued the positioning of the west gate was influenced by the pre-existing line of the road. This feeds into the debate over the building sequence for the Wall, alongside other discoveries such as the ditches north of the rampart at Mumrills, suggesting that the fort pre-dated the building of the Wall.
The important discovery of fortlets at Carleith, Castlehill and Bonnyside is set beside fresh understanding of previously known fortlets such as Glasgow Bridge. This bringing together of previous investigation with the newer surveys is a particular strength of the book. Extensively excavated forts such as Balmuildy can still throw up new features and information, such as the ascensus in the south-east corner and the eastern limits of the annexe. The work at Rough Castle has shed light on pre-Roman settlement in the vicinity, previously lacking, and hints at the impact on local populations. At the same site, the discovery of potential furnaces in the annexe gives a suggestion of daily lives on the Roman side; perhaps one of the more disappointing elements of the survey (through no fault of the authors) is the inconclusive nature of the evidence relating to extramural settlements such as vici.
It is no mean feat to take disparate survey results collected over two decades, for a variety of differing research purposes, and transform them into a coherent, usable publication, but Exploring the Antonine Wall with Terrestrial Remote Sensing manages this and more, presenting a highly readable account that greatly enhances our understanding of the frontier. It shows what can be achieved when legacy data is combined with new research to achieve fresh aims, while also serving to highlight how much the Antonine Wall still has to contribute to our understanding of the military landscape in northern Britain, posing new questions as well as tantalising with features yet to be unearthed.
