excavations in 1914 and continued them until 1923, finding layers of fragmentary stone and timber houses under the turf. Traprain Law Treasure In 1919, Alexander Ormiston Curle recovered a hoard of silver plate. The hoard is known as the Traprain Treasure, or Traprain Law Treasure. Consisting of over of sliced-up Roman-era silver, the discovery was made in a pit within the boundary of the settlement earlier uncovered. Four Gallic coins were discovered with the hoard; one of the emperor Valens (reigned 364–378), three of Arcadius (reigned 383–408) and one of Honorius (reigned 393–423), which dates the find to some point in the fifth century AD after the Romans had left Britain. The quality of some of the items suggests that they may have come from as far afield as Rome, Ravenna, or possibly Antioch or Constantinople. Most objects had been crushed and hacked to pieces, and only some were left intact. A great deal of the find was table silver, but there were also early Christian items and remnants from a Roman officer's uniform. It had originally been thought that the objects had been brought back from a raid abroad, as the objects had been split up ready for division. Later finds such as the Mildenhall Treasure found at Mildenhall, Suffolk and the Hoxne Hoard from Suffolk, showed that silverware of this nature was certainly in use in Roman Britain. A further suggestion is that it had been brought back on a raid by the Votadini across Hadrian's Wall. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the silver was in payment for mercenary service to protect weaker tribes from the inroads of the Scots, Picts, and Angles, the silver being split up as bullion due to lack of adequate coinage. Further excavations were made in 1939 by Cruden and in 1947 by Bersu. The collection was restored where appropriate and sent to the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh and now is in the care of the National Museum of Scotland. Folklore In legend, Traprain Law was the cliff from which Thenaw, the mother of Saint Mungo, was thrown when her father, King Lot or Leudonus, discovered she was pregnant by Owain mab Urien. Saved by divine providence, she was transported by boat to Saint Serf's community in Culross, where she gave birth to Kentigern, later also known as Mungo. Geodesy Up to 1891 Traprain Law was the origin (meridian) of