Hidden beneath a Scottish whisky distillery, archaeologists have uncovered a treasure that enhances our understanding of ancient Britain’s most turbulent frontier. A single, exquisite Roman brooch – buried not as lost jewelry but as a sacred offering – reveals a dramatic tale of conflict, conquest, and cultural exchange that unfolded beyond Hadrian’s Wall nearly 2,000 years ago. This remarkable artifact, likely stripped from a Roman soldier’s cloak in battle or obtained through clandestine trade, was so precious to Iron Age Britons that they chose to bury it as protection for their fortified home. The discovery challenges what we thought we knew about how native Scottish communities interacted with the mighty Roman Empire, suggesting these “barbarian” peoples were far more sophisticated in their cultural practices and military prowess than Roman historians ever admitted.
GUARD Archaeology’s excavations at the Curragh site in 2020 revealed a substantial timber roundhouse surrounded by a wooden palisade, likely belonging to a wealthy Iron Age farming household. What made this discovery extraordinary was not just the settlement itself, but the Roman brooch found buried as a foundation deposit within the palisade’s foundation trench. The brooch, dating to the late second century AD, was of distinctly Roman military origin, typically found along the empire’s borders in eastern Gaul, Switzerland, and the Rhineland.