Elginhaugh

The primary role of the fort was probably to guard the nearby ford where Dere Street, a vitally important north-south Roman route, crossed the river North Esk, a tributary of the River Esk, Lothian. Thus it served as a garrison post (castellum) as part of the more permanent consolidation of Roman control in Scotland during and immediately after the campaigns of Gnaeus Julius Agricola. The fort’s occupation is closely dated to c. AD 79-87 by associated coin evidence, including a foundation hoard from the principia (headquarters building). There is also unique evidence that the site continued to function as a collection centre for animals after the garrison had departed: the interior of the…

The Elginhaugh coin hoard is a group of 45 denarii which provides the terminus post quem dating of AD 77-78 for the construction of the fort and was argued by the excavators to represent a foundation deposit for the Principia. The validity of this dating has recently been called into question by David Woolliscroft, who argues that the coin hoard is unsuitable for this purpose as only 21 of the 45 coins in the hoard were actually found in a single, stacked deposit - of these, the latest was dated to AD 71. The dating of AD 77-78 comes from a single coin closely associated with the hoard, but not securely from within it.