View source for Inchtuthil

{{Short description|Roman fortress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name = Inchtuthil
|image =Den_arkeologiske_lämningen_av_fortet_Inchtuthill_med_kant_och_upphöjt_läge,_floden_Tay_flyter_(utanför_bild)_på_tre_sidor..jpg
|caption = Aerial photograph of the fort site
|location= [[Perth and Kinross]], [[Scotland]], UK
|pushpin_map = Scotland Perth and Kinross
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in [[Perth and Kinross]]
|gridref = {{gbmappingsmall|NO1239}}
|coordinates = {{Coord|56.541|-3.424|scale:5000|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Inchtuthil''' is the site of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Roman legion|legionary]] fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the [[River Tay]] southwest of [[Blairgowrie and Rattray|Blairgowrie]], [[Perth and Kinross]], [[Scotland]] (Roman [[Caledonia]]).

It was built in [[Anno Domini|AD]] 82 or 83 as the advance headquarters for the forces of governor [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] in his campaign against the [[Caledonians|Caledonian]] tribes. Positioned at the head of one of the main routes in and out of the [[Scottish Highlands]], it was occupied by [[Legio XX Valeria Victrix|Legion XX ''Valeria Victrix'']] and covered a total area of {{convert|21.5|ha|acre}}.{{sfn|Keppie|1984|pp=174-175}}

Construction of the large fortress would have taken two or three seasons and a temporary [[castra|camp]] was built nearby to house and protect the soldiers over the winter. Additional, smaller forts were built further north and south at the mouth of each nearby [[glen]] forming what are now referred to as the [[Glenblocker forts]].

The fort at Inchtuthil is thought to be part of the [[Glenblocker fort]]s, as well as others in Strathmore, such as Cardean and [[Stracathro]], formed a uniform system composed of several elements, the forts and watchtowers on the Roman road of the [[Gask Ridge]], the Glenblockers and the Strathmore forts. Inchtuthil as the largest military base would have functioned as the lynch-pin and the only site large enough to launch an invasion into the Highlands and beyond.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woolliscroft |first=D.J |title=The First Frontier: Rome in the North of Scotland |last2=Hoffmann |first2=B. |publisher=Tempus |year=2006}}</ref>

==Layout and garrison==
Unlike other legionary fortresses in Britain, Inchtuthil was not later built over and its layout was still largely preserved when [[Sir Ian Richmond]] excavated it between 1952 and 1965.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Roger J.A. |title=A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain |publisher=Constable, London |year=2002 |isbn=1-84119-318-6 |pages=596–598}}</ref> It is therefore notable as the site which provides the only complete plan of a legionary fortress anywhere in the Roman empire. 
Its defences consisted of a turf rampart faced with stone, with an outside ditch and gatehouses on each side, following the standard Roman plan. The legion it accommodated would have numbered 5,400 at full strength, though there would have been additional specialist troops accompanying them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flavius Vegetius |title=Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-85323-910-X |editor-last=Renatus |editor-first=N. P. Milner}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2024}}

[[File:Roman Fortress Inchtuthil - geograph.org.uk - 662961.jpg|thumb|right|View from the ground]]
Facilities included a hospital ({{lang|la|valetudinarium}}) that covered {{convert|5,000|m2}}, a workshop covering {{convert|3,500|m2}}, and 64 barrack buildings. The timber walls of these buildings have been calculated to have had a total perimeter of {{convert|7|mi}}.{{sfn|Keppie|1984|p=175}} A headquarters building containing an [[aedes (Roman)|aedes]] where the legion's colours and images of the emperor would have been kept has also been identified in the [[insula (Roman city)|insula]] in the centre of the fortress. However, it was much smaller than would be expected for a legionary fortress, and must have been of a temporary nature. The large empty insula to its east should have been the site for the [[Praetorium]], the commander's house. However, no signs of building foundations for such a large structure were found though the site had been levelled and prepared.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wacher |first=John |title=Roman Britain |publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons |year=1978 |location=London |page=40}}</ref>

Inchtuthil was only briefly occupied and was evacuated around summer AD 86 and certainly no later than early in AD 87. The reason for this was probably that [[Legio II Adiutrix|Legio II ''Adiutrix'']] had been called to [[Moesia]] from its base in [[Deva Victrix]] ([[Chester]]) to deal with a [[Dacia]]n invasion in 86 and XX ''Valeria Victrix'' was obliged to move back south to take its place. However recent archaeology has cast some doubt on this, indicating that the fortress may have been in use for considerably longer than previously thought.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

==Nail hoard==
During the excavations started by Richmond in the 1950s, a large pit was found in the summer of 1960 containing 875,400 complete iron nails (Square shaft) ranging from {{cvt|2|-|16|in|-1|disp=flip}} plus another 28 (round shaft nails) weighing {{convert|7|ST}}, together with other iron objects, including cartwheel rims weighing a combined total weight of ten tonnes. The nails and ironwork were found in a pit which was elaborately concealed. They were almost certainly buried by the Roman troops when they dismantled the fortress before departure to deny them to the [[Picts|local tribes]].

Many of the nails were sent to museums while some of the hoard was sold to the public and other interested organisations with an offer of 5 shillings for a {{cvt|7|-|10|in|-1|disp=flip}} nail and 25 shillings for a boxed set of five nails. [[David Colville & Sons]] (Iron and Steel refiners)  was given the task of sorting and storing the nails; the process of sorting, gifting and selling all complete nails was done by 1963, three years after their discovery.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=The Inchtuthil Nail Hoard |url=http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/pages/narratives/nailhoard.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222132411/http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/pages/narratives/nailhoard.asp |archive-date=2012-02-22 |access-date=2014-04-30 |website=Roman Scotland}}</ref>

The almost 2000-year-old iron nails from Inchtuthil have been used by [[atom]]ic [[scientist]]s to estimate the [[corrosion]] effects on barrels of [[nuclear waste]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=William |title=Natural Analogue Studies in the Geological Disposal of Radioactive Wastes: Waste Management |last2=Alexander |first2=Russell |last3=Chapman |first3=Neil |last4=McKinley |first4=Ian |last5=Smellie |first5=John |publisher=Pergamon |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-08-053245-5 |edition=2nd |pages=102–103}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|33em}}

==References==
* {{Cite journal |last=Angus |first=N. S. |last2=Brown |first2=G. T. |last3=Cleere |first3=H. F. |year=1962 |title=The iron nails from the Roman legionary fortress at Inchtuthil, Perthshire |journal=Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute |volume=200 |pages=956–968}}
* {{Cite book |last=Breeze |first=D. |title=Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain |publisher=Batsford |year=1982 |location=London}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Crossland |first=I. |year=2006 |title=Corrosion of iron-based alloys–evidence from nature and archaeology |journal=Crossland Report |publisher=Nirex Ltd, Harwell}}{{dubious|date=September 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=Roddy |title=Inchtuthil Nails, A hoard from the Roman Fort |publisher=Self published |year=2018}}{{self-published source|date=September 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last=Keppie |first=Lawrence |title=The making of the Roman army from Republic to Empire |date=1984 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=0-7134-3651-4 |location=London |pages=174–175}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mapelli |first=Carlo |year=2009 |title=Nails of the Roman legionary at Inchtuthil |url=http://www.aimnet.it/allpdf/pdf_pubbli/gen09/mapelli.pdf |journal=La Metallurgia Italiana}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Mattingly |first=David |year=2002 |title=Reviewed Work: Historical Map and Guide of Roman Britain by S. Esmonde Cleary |journal=Britannia |volume=33 |pages=383–384 |doi=10.2307/1558870 |isbn=9780319290293 |jstor=1558870}}
* {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=William |title=Geological disposal of radioactive wastes and natural analogues |publisher=Elsevier |year=2000 |isbn=9780080438535 |volume=2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pitts |first=L. F. |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1080750 |title=Inchtuthil. The Roman Legionary Fortress Excavations 1952-65 |last2=St. Joseph |first2=J. K. |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies |year=1985 |series=Britannia Monograph Series |volume=6 |doi=10.5284/1090329}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Shirley |first=E. A. M |year=1996 |title=The Building of the Legionary Fortress at Inchtuthil |journal=Britannia |volume=27 |pages=111–128 |doi=10.2307/527041 |jstor=527041}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shirley |first=E. A. M |title=The Construction of the Roman Legionary Fortress at Inchtuthil |publisher=Archaeopress |year=2000 |isbn=9781841710587 |series=British Archaeological Reports |volume=298}}
* {{Cite book |last=Woolliscroft |first=D. J. |title=Rome's first frontier: The Flavian occupation of northern Scotland |last2=Hoffmann |first2=B. |publisher=Stroud: The History Press |year=2006}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Inchtuthil}}
* [http://www.scran.ac.uk/packs/exhibitions/learning_materials/webs/56/Inch.htm RCAHMS/SCRAN educational site for Inchtuthil]
* [http://www.scran.ac.uk/packs/exhibitions/learning_materials/webs/56/Medical.htm#inch RCAHMS/SCRAN educational site for the medical facilities at Inchtuthil]
* [http://www.instoria.it/home/inchtuthil.htm Italian scholarly dissertation, in English, well sourced and illustrated, about Inchtuthil]
* [http://www.theromangaskproject.org/ The Roman Gask Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041212105314/http://www.roman-britain.org/military/northern_campaigns.htm romanbritain.org Northern Campaigns]

{{Scotland during the Roman Empire}}

[[Category:83]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century]]
[[Category:1st century in Scotland]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Perth and Kinross]]
[[Category:80s establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Roman legionary fortresses in Scotland]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Perth and Kinross]]