“They turn up in the strangest places…” New narratives of the Roman Conquest in Scotland through chance finds

The impact of Rome on the lands which would one day becomes Scotland should not be understated. While the Roman invasion of Scotland was not as comprehensive as their conquest of the rest of Great Britain, too much of the focus on Roman activity in and around Scotland focuses on the two barriers set between Scotland and the Empire, Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall. Much of this is due to the paucity of evidence which has traditionally appeared of Roman activity in the rest of Scotland, but this is changing massively with the recent explosion in interest in metal detecting, more and more chance finds are coming up from Shetland in the north down to the traditional home of Scottish Roman activity in the Scottish Borders.

This talk presents the evidence which can often be overlooked of chance finds which have come through the Treasure Trove system in the last twenty years, and suggests new narratives to enrich our understanding of Roman activity in throughout their invasion and settlement of Great Britain, its effect on the peoples of what is now Scotland, and the interaction of local peoples with the cultures and material cultures of the invaders on their doorstep