Beyond the frontier: Traprain law

Giannotta, Kristina Marie (1997) Beyond the frontier: Traprain law. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Conquest, assimilation, and acculturation are all buzz words in the modern fields of history, anthropology, archaeology and classics. The conquest and Romanization of Britain has attracted a great deal of attention particularly because it is there that the greatest amount of recent work has been done on this topic. One area of particular interest in Britain is the Borders region, where conquest and even contact was fairly sporadic. Within the Borders region, in East Lothian, remain the ruins of a hillfort dating back to the Neolithic. On this site, Traprain Law, an unprecedented amount of Roman artefacts was found. Among the finds were numerous indications of metalworking, including moulds, wasters and even crucible tongs. Due to the plethora of artefacts from Traprain, Traprain Law ought to be the centre from which scholars begin research on Romanization in Scotland and the Borders. Nevertheless, most scholars avoid detailed discussions of the site when dealing with the question of Romanization. Problematic excavation techniques and a lack of any coherent synthesis on the site gives Traprain Law a stigma. Excavations of the site by 'levels' and not habitation layers gives the sense that the artefacts are promiscuously mixed. Burley (1956) dealt with some aspects of the lack of synthesis of the artefacts by producing a category and synthesis of all the metalwork found at Traprain. However, without a context, applying this information remains problematic. This thesis investigates all the excavation reports in an attempt to clarify just what the evidence indicates about habitation at the site. Also, with the use of modern technology, a context can be applied to many of the items, by plotting all the finds from Traprain onto distribution maps. This new information is applied to the current hypotheses of Traprain in an attempt to come to a better understanding of Traprain and its place in the Borders area and the Roman world.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: Dr. Hanson.
• Keywords: Archaeology, Traprain Law site, Romans, Scotland.
• Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Supervisor's Name: Supervisor, not known
• Date of Award: 1997
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1997-71858
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 May 2019 09:31
• Last Modified: 05 Sep 2022 10:12
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71858
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71858