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Burnswark Hill
Burnswark Hill in the Dumfreisshire region of south - westerly Scotland is thought to have been the website of an assault by Roman legion in the 2nd Century A.D. , against native tribespeople support the hilltop fort .
Today the web site comprises the clay of the hill fort and two papistical military camps , one on each side of the hilltop .
archeologist guess the camps were used by the Roman force to stage an " all - out plan of attack " on the defenders , as a punishment for their resistance to Romanic pattern .
This image picture Burnswark Hill from the north , with one of the Roman Catholic camp seeable on the slopes . [ translate the full tale on the slingback bullets ]
Sling bullets
Among the uncovering by archaeologists at the Burnswark Hill battle internet site are large acorn - shaped and lemon - shape Romanist sling bullets cast from lead , shown at the top and centre of this look-alike .
The expectant are about 1.2 in ( 3 centimeters ) long and weigh about 1 snow leopard ( 30 grams).But about 20 percent of the Romanist sling bullets found at Burnswark Hill are smaller and have been drilled with a 0.2 inch ( 5 mm ) hollow , including the two bullets at the bottom of this effigy .
John Reid , an archaeologist with the Trimontium Trust who has study the unusual sling slug , believes they were designed to make a interference in trajectory to keep foe heads down . [ Read the full story on the sling bullet ]
Excavating in Scotland
The Trimontium Trust is direct a year - long archeological investigation of Burnswark Hill in partnership with the Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service .
As well as making a detailed geophysical survey of the site , the researchers have used sensitive metal detectors to identify bury deposits of particular metal — such as the lead used in papistical sling smoke — without disturbing the undercoat . [ translate the full story on the sling bullets ]
Roman artillery
Burnswark Hill site is litter with the remains of the Roman battle against the aboriginal defenders in the hilltop fort . Among the finds are ammunition from Roman artillery weapons , such as this stone ball which may have been burn down from a ballista , or military catapult .
The researchers say the large quantities of papistic ammo see at Burnswark Hill indicates that they wanted to inflict a crushing victory over the guardian that would get off a subject matter to other rebellious tribespeople . [ Read the full story on the sling bullets ]
Roman Scorpio
This image shows a replica Roman Scorpio ( Scorpian ) crossbow , one character of small artillery weapon system used by Roman forces .
It used torsion spring made from twisted rophy to shoot iron - tipped bolts at range up to 400 yards ( 400 meters ) , and it could raise up to four deadbolt a min . Early Roman horde were equip with a contingent of 60 Scorpios that could fire a combined 240 bolts per minute at the enemy .
Roman reenactors
As well as conventional excavation at Burnswark Hill , the twelvemonth - long enquiry labor include chance for members of the populace to offer to work with archeologist as they search the website . The researchers have also reach public lectures about their finds , and local museums have host interactive exhibitions about the project .
In this image , a reenactor named Quintus usher piece of papist clayware to visitors at an subject Day at the Burnswark Hill site .
Assyrian slingers
Slings have been used since at least Neolithic times as a hunt arm , and as a weapon of state of war for G of year .
Images of military slingers are line up in several ancient cutting , include this wall fragment on display at the British Museum from the Neo - Assyrian metropolis of Nineveh , situate in what is now Iraq . Dated from the origin of the 7th 100 B.C. , it prove Assyrian slingers in action at a military blockade of the Israelite city of Lachish in 710 B.C.
Greek slings
sling were also a widely used weapon of warfare in ancient Greece , where the custom make grow of inscribing sling hummer with insulting messages . This sling bullet from the fourth century B.C. , find oneself at Athens , shows the Grecian word ΔΕΞΑΙ ( " dexai " ) in high substitute , which means " Take This . "
Later Roman Catholic catapult bullets were often engrave with slogans that invoke the names of command generals , including " For Pompey ! " and " Victory for Caesar ! "
