356 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 



SECTION H— ANTHROPOLOGY. 



(For references to the publication elsewhere of communications entered in the 

 following list of transactions, see p. 433.) 



Thursday, September 1. 



Mr. K. G-. Collingwood. — Roman Signal Stations on the Yorkshire Coast. 



A considerable number of small Roman forts exist on the Yorkshire coast, all 

 situated on high commanding ground such as Scarborough Castle Hill, Filey Brigg, &c, 

 and each consisting of a stone rampart and ditch enclosing a strong central foundation 

 evidently intended to support a tower. These fortified towers, several of which have 

 been dug in the last 15 or 20 years, are signal-stations of a type evolved by a 

 continuous process from a light wooden signalling-turret used in the early Imperial 

 age ; as time went on, the system of signalling developed and the signal-stations 

 became more massive and partook more of the character of miniature forts. These 

 Yorkshire specimens are of unusual interest as evidence of the measures taken in the 

 late fourth century a.d. to secure Britain against the piratical raids of Saxons and 

 other tribes. They belong to the latest phase in the Roman occupation of Britain, 

 and there seem to be references to them in the literature of the period. Five stations 

 have been discovered, reaching from Scarborough to Saltburn ; it is highly probable 

 that there were many others, some awaiting discovery, some doubtless destroyed by 

 coastal erosion. In at least one case — Scarborough — the Roman site is curiously 

 complicated by prehistoric remains below it and mediaeval above. 



Mr. S. N. Miller. — Roman York : The excavations of 1925-26. 



Most of the excavation has been done within the east corner of the fortress near 

 Monk Bar. There has been a little supplementary digging in the Museum Gardens, by 

 permission of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The total area so far excavated 

 is small, and the conclusions it indicates are therefore to be regarded as provisional. 



Remains have been discovered of the clay rampart and wooden barracks of the 

 original legionary fortress, which seems to have been established c. 71-74, in the 

 governorship of Petilius Cerialis. The clay rampart was later replaced by a stone 

 wall with an earth backing, probably c. 104-108, in Trajan's reign, and the first stone 

 tower at the east corner would seem to date to that period. There is evidence to 

 suggest that the tower and wall had to be repaired early in Hadrian's reign as the 

 result of a destruction which may have had some connection with the disappearance 

 of the Ninth Legion and its replacement by the Sixth. This, however, requires 

 confirmation, and here valuable evidence may be given by the series of interval towers, 

 the sites of which can now be laid down round the circuit of the defences as the result 

 of the fortunate discovery of a well-preserved example between the east corner of the 

 fortress and Monk Bar. Whether or not the fortress suffered a disaster towards the 

 end of Trajan's reign, it now seems certain that extensive damage was done in the 

 serious trouble which broke out early in the reign of Commodus and led to the 

 abandonment of Scotland (c. 182). During the lengthy period of restoration that 

 followed the damage done at York was repaired, and the wall and east corner tower 

 as then reconstructed can now be seen near Monk Bar still standing to a height of 

 15 feet. 



The supplementary excavations in the Museum Gardens, besides helping to clear 

 up the mterior plan of the Multangular Tower, have proved that that bastion and the 

 adjacent length of wall form one homogeneous structure, dating to the opening 

 years of the fourth century, when Constantius was in Britain. How far this late 

 reconstruction extended backwards from the river front is still to determine. So far 

 there is no proof of any fourth-century occupation within the east corner, and it is 

 just possible that the fortress may have been reduced in size. It is hoped that further 

 excavation will enable the fourth-century defences to be traced, and throw light 

 upon York and kindred fortresses as they existed under the military system represented 

 by the Notitia Dignitatum. 



Mr. I. A. Richmond. — The Roman Camps at Cawthorn. 



These excavations, reported to the Association at Southampton in 1925, have since 

 been continued for two months, in 1926. The results were the complete recovery of 



