Last week, archeologists, along with around 30 volunteers, excavated an area at the University of Stirling in the bid to find the medieval road walked by Wallace and Andrew de Moray‘s – usually known as Murray – army on the morning of their decisive battle against the English.
The four-day excavation at a sunken causeway sealed within an 18th-century estate coincided with the anniversary of the battle and provided three key discoveries, including around 300 artefacts belonging to a major Bronze Age settlement.
Archaeologist Dr Murray Cook, who was in charge of the excavation, explained that the first main discovery was a road which was abandoned around 1750.
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“We think the road was established by David the First in the 12th century, so with this substantial cutting, it looks like it was literally the last phase of the road,” Cook said.
“So either 17th or early 18th century, and it’s a substantial engineered road. It looks like a military road.”
At the tail end of the 15-meter trench, and in the final hours of the last day of the dig, the team were able to unearth what they were hoping to discover, a 12th-century road which Dr Cook believes is the one walked by Wallace.
He explained that the 12th-century road was “completely covered” during the construction of the newer 18th-century road, but is delighted to have discovered a small part of it.
“Then underneath all of that is this massive Bronze Age settlement as well, it’s just quite mind-blowing,” Dr Cook said.
Although they were unable to locate any structures from the believed settlement, volunteers found around 300 pieces of quartz in the top soil, the layer of ground that is removed to create the trenches for excavations.
“They’re just there in the topsoil, they never get destroyed, they’re just floating about,” Dr Cook explained.
“They were there before both roads, and they’re still there because you can’t destroy quarts really, you need to kind of quarry it up.”
Dr Cook explained the quartz found would be used for “all the things you would imagine” needed for a settlement in the Bronze Age.
This included cores which would be used to strike the tools from, waste rubbish left over from making tools, along with some tools, including blades used for scraping and cutting things.
“Everybody’s always amazed they’re handling 3000, 4000-year-old tools in their hands,” he said.
“I know we’re looking for Wallace, we’re looking for medieval, but it always helps to find something and I mean, honestly, I’ve never recovered this much quartz from a site, so there’s something very substantial here.”
Dr Cook said that due to finding a substantial amount of quartz along with the 12th-century road, it gives him and his team of volunteers a good reason to come back and excavate the area once again to find out more about Stirling’s past.
It is hoped that the 12th-century road will help lead archaeologists to the camp which Wallace set up prior to the battle in 1297.
If historians know where the Scots camped, they may be able to understand how the battle unfolded, how far Wallace had to travel, what his line of sight was, and where he could have planned to retreat to if needed.
The battle was an important victory during the Wars of Independence, as it showed that the Scots could beat the English, given the correct place and time.
