Revived Roman treasures to mark the soldiers who occupied Scotland

The replica Eastermains stone. It is one of five distance slabs carved by the Romans who occupied Scotland from around 142AD to be recreated and placed along the line of the Antonine Wall. PIC: Contributed.

Now a replica of the Eastermains stone has been placed on the line of the Antonine Wall, close to its original spot near Twechar in East Dunbartonshire.

The original distance slab sits in the Antonine Wall collection at the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University with the replica made to enhance the landscape around the UNESCO-recognised historic site and to bring the Roman occupation of Scotland to life once again.

Some 7,000 men built the Antonine Wall, which served as the most north westerly frontier of the Roman Empire, from around 142AD.

The replica Eastermains Stone is one of five distance slabs that will be created and placed close to their original locations as part of £2.1m Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project.

Patricia Weeks, Antonine Wall World Heritage Site Co-ordinator for HES, said, "Many of the original markers found along the line of the wall are on display in the Hunterian

Museum in Glasgow, but this project gives people the chance to see how they might have looked in the landscape all those centuries ago. It's a momentous achievement

and will help to bring the past back to life for local communities."

The original Eastermains stone was found at Inchbelly Bridge, to the west of Twechar in 1740.

The highly-decorative markers commemorate the completion of different lengths of the wall by different Roman legions and offers a dedication to Emperor Antoninus Pius.

The replica stone, which has been created by stonemasons Jo Crossland and Luke Batchelor, will sit in the shadow of Bar Hill, one of 16 known forts on the Antonine Wall.

Earlier this year, the Northern warriors who fought the Romans in Scotland were celebrated with a new sculpture placed on the line of the frontier.

The newly-carved distance stone flips the narrative of the occupation and represents the Iron Age people who both lived alongside the Roman soldiers and resisted them. which was then known as Caledonia.

The stone was placed at Cow Wynd in Falkirk.

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