A Roman Dig

Linda Moyes

Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with history and archaeology and love going round ancient monuments and sites. Despite completing a course on archaeology I still felt that something was missing, the chance to get my hands dirty digging up the past.

If I lived in England then the opportunity to do this would be plentiful but it is not quite so easy in Scotland. However, a chance remark by a friend put me in touch with the archaeologist for Perth & Kinross and I discovered that he was looking for volunteers to help with the Roman Gask Project. For those wondering what this is, and, yes I did too at first, it was an excavation run by a University down south to uncover the remains of Roman forts and camps in the Crieff area. Being further north than Antonines wall and built some 70 years earlier, it really was one of the earliest known frontiers for Roman soldiers and this was the Universitys third year of digging at a site beside Innerpeffray Library. Not being put off by the fact they were looking for volunteers able to commit themselves for a week at a time I phoned Mr Strachan. When I explained that I could only manage a weekend, he sounded doubtful.

Most places are taken up and I dont know if they would accept you for only a weekend.

Oh, please, I pleaded. I have wanted to do this for years and there is no-where suitable nearer home.

Twenty minutes later, he gave in and gave me the name of the professor in charge and directions to the site.

The weekend arrived and, saying goodbye to husband and children, I drove north, arriving at a cottage and small car park. Looking around I couldnt see anyone so wandered off in the direction of some woods, as I could hear the vague sound of voices. The trees were on a slight rise hiding a narrow cutting and that is where everyone was, some kneeling in the dirt others standing in small groups, talking.

Hello! I shouted, I am here to volunteer.

A man wearing a large felt hat, a bit like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark, turned and walked towards me, proffering a large, mud encrusted hand.

I am Dr Woolliscroft, dump your stuff beside that tree and come and join us.

He explained that the cutting was thought to date from Roman times, might contain a road leading from the forts to the nearby river and they were trying to see if anything was left of the surface, Roman roads being known for their durability unlike the roads of today.

I was shown how to carefully scrape earth from the bottom of the ditch and then handed my own bucket and scraper. It was hard, hot work but gradually some rough cobbles appeared and after a couple of hours we stood back to have a look. It was absolutely amazing. There before us was a cobbled surface with two distinct wheel ruts. To think no one had seen this for hundreds and hundreds of years. Roman roads were roughly the width of a railway track and this one measured up beautifully. It would have been in use long after the Romans left and possibly right through to late medieval times.

During the lunch break, I sat in awe of the Professor, staff members and volunteers. He would be asked a question and would answer it with great knowledge and authority. I plucked up the courage to show him a stone artefact I had picked up outside Maeshowe. Ha, ha, perhaps it was a missing arrowhead? Alas, no, it was just a piece of oddly shaped stone, but I have kept it as a memento of that weekend.

After lunch we returned to the dig and I got back to work, wearing the latest accessory for budding archaeologists, knee pads. After a few minutes I decided to ask a question.

Erm, has anything significant been found?

No, not yet.

In triumph, I pointed to a dark piece of material in the ditch.

So what is that?

Professor Walters jumped down to have a close look and after a few seconds announced that it was a piece of medieval green glazed pottery. I was both stunned and delighted that I, a mere beginner, was the first to uncover an ancient artefact. Had it fallen off a merchants cart? I know, it was only a bit of pottery, but hey, I felt like I had struck gold. As a reward, I was asked if I would like to draw a reconstruction of the road as it may have looked in Roman Times. Look out Time Team, here I come!

It was a fantastic day and whetted my appetite for more hands on archaeology. And a wee note for my husband; sorry about the uneven bit of grass in the garden, my daughter and I tried to stage our own excavation and you might prefer us to stick to professional ones in future.