Excavations on the estate of Meikleour, Perthshire, 1939

Abstract

A fortification on the Black Hill is re-interpreted as a Roman signal tower on the basis of further excavation. The tower is placed in a curious position. It does not, as might be expected, face Inchtuthil, three miles away. Its immediate objective is two isolated gaps or passages in a large linear earthwork, which runs across the plain some 500 yards away at the nearest point. The earthwork is known as the Cleaven Dyke. This was partly excavated and interpreted as a Roman limes or border defence.