Ebchester; all the forts probably got the tegulae from the same place in Grimescar Wood near Huddersfield. History Prehistoric There is no evidence that a prehistoric settlement occupied the site before the arrival of the Romans. However, Stone Age activity has been recorded in the area. Two Mesolithic flints and a flint flake as well as a Neolithic scraper have been discovered. A shard of late Bronze Age pottery has also been found in situ. Although the area was in the territory of the Celtic tribe Brigantes, it may have been under the control of the Setantii, a sub-tribe of the Brigantes, when the Romans took control from the ancient Britons. Roman Construction of Mamucium started around AD 79 during the campaigns of General Julius Agricola against the Brigantes after a treaty failed. Excavations show the fort had three main phases of construction: first AD 79, second around AD 160, and third in AD 200. The first phase of the fort was built from turf and timber. Mamucium's dimensions indicate it was to be garrisoned by a cohort, about 500 infantry. These troops were not Roman citizens but foreign auxiliaries who had joined the Roman army. By the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, a civilian settlement (called a vicus) had grown up around the fort. Around AD 90, the fort's ramparts were strengthened. This might be because Mamucium and the Roman fort at Slack – which neighboured Castleshaw – superseded the fort at Castleshaw in the 120s. Mamucium was demolished some time around AD 140. Although the first vicus grew rapidly in the early 2nd century, it was abandoned some time between 120 and 160 – broadly coinciding with the demolition of the fort – before it was re-inhabited when the fort was rebuilt. The second phase was built around the year 160. Although it was again of turf and timber construction, it was larger than the previous fort, measuring to accommodate extra granaries (horrea). Around 200, the gatehouses of the fort were rebuilt in stone and the walls surrounding the fort were given a stone facing. The concentration of furnaces in sheds in part of the vicus associated with the fort has been described as an "industrial estate", which would have been the first in Manchester. Mamucium was included in the Antonine Itinerary, a 3rd-century register of roads throughout the Roman Empire. This and inscriptions on and repairs