Top Five Archaeological Sites and Discoveries in East and West Dunbartonshire

These areas were once home to prehistoric water dwellings, an early historic kingdom’s capital, and Scotland’s largest glass factory.

Today, East and West Dunbartonshire are teeming with stories from Scotland’s past.

Prehistoric Burials at Knappers Quarry 

In 1933 a prehistoric site was discovered during sand quarrying at Kilbowie in West Dunbartonshire. 

During the first period of investigation, site workers and local archaeologist and collector J. M. Davidson FSAScot located Late Neolithic objects, Grooved Ware potsherds, dozens of Early Bronze Age inhumations (burials) and cremated human remains, and more. 

But it was an investigation at the site a few years later by archaeologist and collector Ludovic McLellan Mann FSAScot that captured the public’s imagination.  

Mann discovered a timber setting made up of a series of concentric stake-defined circles and, without much evidence, described the site as a “druidic temple” that celebrated the victory of light over darkness. This led newspapers to refer to the site as “a miniature Scottish Stonehenge in Wood” and “the Westminster Abbey of Druid times”. 

Reassessment of the site in the early 1980s by Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Fellows Dr Graham Ritchie and Helen Adamson suggest that the circular features were not the remains of “a druidic temple” but were more likely associated with one or more Early Bronze Age burial mounds. 

Despite the large-scale press attention at the time, we sadly only have a fragmented record of what was found during McLellan Mann’s excavation, partly due to the outbreak of World War Two. However according to Prof Gordon Noble FSAScot, “the site included some interesting finds other than the stake-built enclosure”. 

These include rare examples of Neolithic cist burials (one containing cremated remains, a complete early Neolithic pottery vessel and a flint knife) and another containing a flint adze (an axe-like tool) imported from England and a stone decorated with a cup-mark. 

The site was eventually buried to make way for the Great Western Road but serves as a reminder of why recording and publishing discoveries found during urbanisation and development – which is how most archaeology happens – is so important.

Cochno Stone

The Cochno Stone in Faifley, West Dunbartonshire is one of the largest and most significant examples of prehistoric rock art in the UK. 

Dating back to 3,000 BC (over 5,000 years ago), it’s a domed outcrop boasting over 100 markings spread across an area almost 100m squared. It’s one of over a dozen rock-art sites in the area, but by far the biggest. 

According to Dr Kenny Brophy FSAScot, it was first identified and recorded in the late 19th century by James Harvey, John Bruce and William Donnelly. The site then “became something of a tourist attraction after Ludovic McLellan Mann FSAScot painted the surface of the stone with oil paints in 1937. The prehistoric symbols (and natural marks) were painted white and green, and Mann covered the stone with an elaborate yellow, blue and red grid based on megalithic measurements and cosmological tales of his own devising. This led to the site being scheduled — given legal protection — immediately.” 

But it’s not just the prehistoric markings which are of interest to archaeologists. The site has also attracted modern graffiti from the last 200 years. As more visitors came to the site, and urbanisation brought big populations to the area, so the Cochno Stone became an increasing focus for new markings – graffiti – with names, initials and dates scraped onto the surface of the stone. 

After decades of trying to manage the site, finally it was decided to bury the stone for its protection in 1965. Since then, excavations and survey work by the University of Glasgow – described in this recorded lecture from Dr Brophy – have continued to uncover more information about the Cochno Stone.

Erskine Crannog

While Scotland is home to the remains of hundreds of crannogs (prehistoric water dwellings), Erskine is one of the few crannogs found in estuaries in Scotland that have been investigated.

First noticed in 1977, it was investigated in 1985 by the University of Glasgow. Due to the tidal murky waters of the Clyde, excavation (either above ground or underwater) was not possible, so archaeologists had to use other methods.

Supported by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (who coordinate Dig It!), the team arranged for an air/sea rescue helicopter to take aerial photographs of the site to create a plan generated by photogrammetry. The Society also funded radiocarbon dating analysis on the remaining timbers at the crannog site.

These radiocarbon dates, along with further sampling in 2018, suggest the crannog was built between 400 BC and 50 BC (around 2,075 to 2,425 years ago) and probably within the period 330–215 BC, potentially with timbers re-used from earlier structures. The structure may have also been abandoned and then reoccupied for periods throughout the Iron Age. Analysis of the timbers also showed signs of mooring rings or tow holes, probably for tying up small boats.

Since no excavation was undertaken, there was little in the way of finds recovery. However, the team did come across a broken upper stone of a disc quern, used for grinding grain to make flour. This type had three handled sockets and is the oldest of its kind according to the late Prof Euan Mackie FSAScot.

Despite being partially exposed at low tide and therefore visible to hundreds of people daily as they cross the Erskine Bridge in West Dunbartonshire, this crannog is relatively unknown. Keep an eye out for it next time you cross the bridge. 

Bearsden Roman Fort

The Antonine Wall is a 40-mile stretch of fortification built by the Roman army around AD 142 (around 1,900 years ago) across Scotland’s Central Belt, with 16 known forts stationed along its length. 

The best examples of stone structures from this period along the entire Antonine Wall can be seen within a modern housing estate in East Dunbartonshire. Visitors today can still see the stone remains of the fort’s bath house – made up of seven rooms – which were discovered in the early 1970s by builders working on the nearby housing development. 

Many of the forts along the Antonine Wall were explored by antiquarians in the centuries prior to 1900 (which you can read more about in this free e-book), but Bearsden is unique in that it’s the only fort to experience major excavations after World War Two. 

The results of these excavations tell us who was stationed there and what their life was like. Analysis of pottery, for example, has suggested that it was one of several Antonine Wall forts with recognisable African cooking practices, and it’s possible that at least some of the soldiers stationed here were either from North Africa or had been previously stationed there. 

Scientific analysis of sewage deposits within the outer ditch also indicates that at least some of the soldiers suffered from roundworm and whipworm, and that the diet was primarily vegetarian: including barley, wheat, figs, raspberries, coriander, opium poppy seeds, celery and bramble.

Many other artefacts have been found at or near the site, including a building stone or distance slab inscribed by the men of the 20th Legion which marked the length of the Antonine Wall section built by their legion.  

Ongoing research by Dr Louisa Campbell FSAScot has found that some of these carved stone monuments, including the Summerston Stone found near Bearsden, were once brightly painted. According to Dr Campbell: “These sculptures are propaganda tools used by Rome to demonstrate their power over these and other indigenous groups, it helps the Empire control their frontiers and it has different meanings to different audiences.”

You can see the Summerston Stone and many other distance slabs from the Antonine Wall in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. 

Dumbarton Castle Rock

Sitting on a volcanic plug of basalt overlooking the town of Dumbarton, Castle Rock has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. 

In the early medieval period, the summit was known as Alt Clut, an important seat of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, which was made up of parts of what is now southern Scotland and North West England. 

In 1974-5 small-scale excavations were carried out at Castle Rock by the University of Glasgow, under the direction of the late Prof Leslie Alcock FSAScot. He was able to bring together historical, archaeological and radiocarbon methods of dating to produce a historical account of Alt Clut. 

Early Alt Clut

In AD 731, the scholar Bede wrote about a fortress at Alt Clut and Alcock suggested that this structure was identified through his fieldwork. 

Excavations revealed a timber-and-rubble defence overlooking the narrow strip of land which links Dumbarton Rock to the mainland. Radiocarbon dating suggested that this feature was most likely built somewhere between AD 600 and AD 650 (around 1,400 years ago). 

It’s believed this was a revetted terrace (covered with stone) or fighting platform, built as a means of controlling the only landward approach to the island. Alcock’s team also found that at some point, this feature was completely destroyed by fire. 

Interestingly, they also uncovered objects considered to be older than the timber-and-rubble rampart, including fragments of glass vessels made on the Continent, as well as the northernmost examples of imported Mediterranean amphorae (a tall jar or jug with two handles and a narrow neck) datable to about AD 470-600 (around 1,500 years ago). 

This early material tells us that Castle Rock was already occupied before the defences mentioned in Bede’s text were built.

Viking Siege

In AD 870, the Irish-based Viking kings Amlaíb Conung and Ímar successfully laid siege to Dumbarton Rock. The fortress fell in four months, after its water supply failed. The kings are recorded to have returned to Ireland the following year with 200 ships and a host of British, English and Pictish captives. 

The excavations in the 1970s found intriguing evidence which could be connected to the siege, including a glass bangle set in a lead matrix. The bangle is an Irish type probably from around the 7th or later centuries, whereas the lead matrix is almost certainly a weight. The setting of ornamental fragments in lead weights as has been done with this bangle is a characteristically Viking style. 

They also found an iron pommel-bar for a Viking sword of a type very common between AD 850-900, which would fit perfectly with the date of the siege. 

Prof Alcock said: “the activities of [the Viking kings] in 870 seem clearly to be represented by the sword pommel-bar and by the lead weight, especially since the ornamental bangle fragment is of Irish origin” and “…the destruction of the timber-and-rubble rampart by fire may also reasonably be attributed to the activities of the two Vikings”.

Dumbarton Glassworks

Established in 1777, Dumbarton Glassworks was the most influential glassworks in Britain from 1800 to the 1830s. From 1814-1826, they produced over 90% of all approved glass made in Scotland and more than a third of glass purchased in England. 

At its height, the glassworks employed about 300 men who, with their wives and children, comprised about a third of the local population.

Sand, kelp and coal were the essential components of many processes required in glassmaking, which occurred in a range of buildings and yards on a site of six acres. The glasshouses themselves, a distinct cone shape, dominated the town.

The company initially produced bottles but expanded into crown glass manufacture for windows, with records showing that the company exported half a million kilos in November 1815 alone.

Excavations on High Street and College Street in Dumbarton in 1971 and 1972 found a wealth of glass, from both wine bottles and windows, which is thought to have originated from the glassworks.

By 1850, the glassworks had ceased to be a profitable business. Cheaper imports flooded the markets and the works were sold to Alexander Denny who cleared the site to build his engineering works.

If you’d like to keep reading, dive into the Dig It! article on nearby Renfrewshire.

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Header Image: Dumbarton Castle (© Bob Shand, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)