Burnswark: A Roman Siege of an Indigenous Hilltop Centre? 

Project summary

This project will use advanced remote sensing technologies to investigate Burnswark Hill in Dumfries and Galloway, one of Scotland’s most significant Iron Age and Roman archaeological landscapes. Combining drone-based LiDAR, thermal and multispectral imaging, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar and geophysical survey, the research will produce the first comprehensive map of the hillfort and its associated Roman camps. The resulting evidence will help determine whether Burnswark was the site of a Roman siege, a military training ground, or a more complex settlement, providing new insights into Iron Age communities and Roman expansion into northern Britain.

The findings will address a long-standing archaeological debate while establishing a methodological model for the application of advanced digital survey techniques to complex heritage sites. The project will create valuable open-access datasets and visualisations to support future research, heritage management and public interpretation, raise the profile of Burnswark’s internationally important archaeology, and provide hands-on training in cutting-edge digital methods for the next generation of archaeological researchers.