A Roman patrol passes the Pencraig standing stone on the slopes above modern day East Linton. In the distance is the oppidum, or hill fort, on Traprain Law.
The fort covered about 40 acres and must have been a veritable town although whether it was a seasonal meeting place or permanent settlement is a matter of speculation. The hill was already a place of burial by around 1500 BC, and shows evidence of occupation and signs of ramparts built after 1000 BC. These ramparts were rebuilt and re-aligned many times in the following centuries. In the 1st century the Romans traded with the Votadini, a tribe of Britons in East Lothian, and Traprain Law is generally thought to have been their capital before their descendants moved to Din Eidyn (Edinburgh Castle).