Elginhaugh

Elginbaugh is the most completely excavated timber-built auxiliary fort in the Roman Empire. The excavator tells two interrelated stories: the processes involved in the discovery, excavation and interpretation of the evidence from the site and the nature of life on the furthest northern frontier of the Roman Empire in late first century AD. We learn how the fort, garrisoned for less than a decade, fits into the Roman conquest and occupation of Scotland; how it was built and maintained; and about the range of buildings found inside. We are shown how the evidence demonstrates that the garrison, at first thought to be entirely infantry, was in fact cavalry, with the troopers living alongside their horses. We see how the extensive excavation within the fort annexe helps reaffirm the function of these attached enclosures as being military rather than for civilian occupation. We learn about the nature and quality of daily life: what the soldiers ate and how they spent their time. Finally, we see the impact of the military presence on the environment and the local population, and how the site continued to function as a centre for taxation in kind even after the garrison had departed.