Unearthed treasures on show at City excavation
15/03/06
(Originally published 15 March 2006 )
Historical artefacts that have been unearthed during the ongoing archaeological dig at Aberdeen's Kirk of St Nicholas have been put on display in the church.
A new viewing window has also been created at ground floor level, to give visitors the chance to watch the experts at work from a new angle.
The team of archaeologists, who have come to Aberdeen from countries including Egypt and Spain as well as the UK, are being led by Aberdeen City Council's Assistant Archaeologist Alison Cameron.
They are excavating the East Kirk of St Nicholas in the hope of finding the remains of a 12th-century church.
The many items that have been uncovered so far include skeletons and gravestones, alongside smaller finds like buttons, a necklace and an ornate medieval jug handle.
The team has also been uncovering a stone vault in the north-east corner of the excavation area, which it is assumed would have once been accessed through one of the now blocked doorways in the 15th-century St Mary's Chapel - which now houses the Third World shop off Correction Wynd.
Judith Stones, Aberdeen City Council's Keeper of Archaeology, said: "A closed-off vault is in itself intriguing, but work last week has made it even more so. As the dig has become deeper alongside the vault, it's possible for us to see that one side of it has been roughly breached at some point in the past.
"Soon it will be possible to see what the vault contains, which is very exciting for everyone!"
The archaeologists recently found some fascinating gravestones.
One commemorates an Alex Paterson, who died in 1679. The stone describes him as a son of another Alexander Paterson, 'Armorer'.
The other stone records the death in 1640 of Andrew Melville, who is described as 'MR' (Master) Music, and was Master of the Song School within the grounds of St Nicholas Church.
Another key find was a wooden coffin with a group of three copper coins stuck to its surface.
Stewart Thain, the City Council's expert on coins, believes these are "small change" from the 17th-century, but this will be confirmed after conservation at Aberdeen's Marischal Museum.
A skeleton which was discovered a couple of weeks ago will be sent to the University of Glasgow - along with all the others that are uncovered - so the bones can be fully examined.
However, it is thought that the person was only an adolescent when they died, and initial examination of the remains show that they suffered from a chronic systemic infection which affected the upper and lower limbs as well as the skull - which may have been syphilis.
The support trenches which are being dug are now 1.3metres deep and contractors are moving into the church this week to fill the trenches with concrete to support beams that will hold up the Gallery.
This will enable the removal of the 19th-century East Kirk pillars, which in turn stand on foundations of the 15th-century church.
Judith Stones added: "We need to be able to look more closely at those foundations and probably remove them in order to find out what lies below. The trenches have taken some time to dig, because, inevitably, they've had a lot of interesting archaeological details within them."
Members of the public will be able to watch the progress during a bird's eye 'tour' of the excavation from the East Kirk balcony - which provides a great viewing platform - at 1.30pm this Friday.
The tour will be led by a member of staff from the City of Aberdeen Archaeological Unit.
Then on Monday at 1.30pm, Chris Croly, Assistant Keeper (Research) will lead visitors round the East and West Kirks and the graveyard, as well as giving them a 'tour' of the excavation site from the East Kirk balcony.
The hour-long tours will continue every Monday until May 1 (apart from April 10 and 17, which is Easter Monday). The Friday tours will also run every week at 1.30pm (apart from April 14, Good Friday).
Please note it may be necessary to restrict numbers.
The church will also be open to visitors from 12 noon until 3pm every Monday and Friday (except April 10, 14 and 17).
· The excavation - scheduled to take six months - has been brought about by the need to reinforce the foundations of the Mither Kirk for a new development, which will be launched in the next few weeks. You can visit the The Kirk of St Nicholas website.
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