Velunia (or Veluniate) was a Roman auxiliary fort situated at the eastern end of the Antonine Wall system, near modern Carriden on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Active during the Antonine occupation of Scotland (c. AD 142–162), it guarded the wall's eastern terminus and the approach from the Forth, though it sits slightly detached from the curtain itself.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As the easternmost fort of the Antonine Wall complex, Velunia controlled maritime access to the frontier via the Forth estuary, likely functioning in concert with the wall's terminus at Bridgeness. An altar found here dedicated by the vikani consistentes castello Veluniate is the only epigraphic attestation of a vicus (civilian settlement) attached to an Antonine Wall fort, and it preserves the fort's Roman name.
The fort was identified through aerial photography by St Joseph in 1945, revealing a roughly 1.6-hectare enclosure with multiple ditches; it has seen only limited excavation. The most important find remains the 1956 vicus altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, while geophysical survey has indicated extramural settlement traces, but the interior buildings are largely unexplored.
Velunia (or Veluniate) was a Roman auxiliary fort situated at the eastern end of the Antonine Wall system, near modern Carriden on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Velunia(te) is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Kinneil (4.8 km), Inveravon (7.5 km), Mumrills (10.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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