Mapping Britain’s Distant Past

12 August 2011

Two newly-revised guides to Ancient and Roman Britain have been released as part of the Ordnance Survey (OS) Historical Map series.

The series has been produced by the OS as part of a collaborative project with RCAHMS, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), and English Heritage. Data gathered from RCAHMS monument records and from field survey and aerial photography, has been used to provide the maps with up-to-date details of selected ancient and Roman archaeological sites in Scotland.

Locations included in the map of Ancient Britain range from Stone Age chambered tombs and Pictish stones to burial sites of the early Middle Ages. A timeline of British historical events accompanies details of key sites including Stonehenge, Caerleon, and Neolithic Orkney. The map of Roman Britain provides a comprehensive overview of the extent of the Roman occupation, including marking out the route of the Antonine Wall that ran across central Scotland – once the Empire’s north western frontier – and showing the locations of camps, forts, villas, temples and spas. The Roman influence on Britain is also seen in roads that are still used to this day, defined on the map alongside recorded Roman place names.

Detailed information on all of the Scottish sites featured on the maps can be accessed via RCAHMS searchable online database, Canmore.