East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 28 Aug - 1 Sept - Week 31
East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 28th August to 1st September 2006 – Week 31
Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes…
We had another very successful open day last Saturday (26th August), with many visitors taking a tour of the church and the dig, followed by tea, provided by members of the Kirk of St Nicholas congregation. As usual on such occasions, I got the chance to be a digger for the day, proof of which can be seen in the first photo.
There’s actually a whole file of pictures, but this is the only one that I was aware of being taken on the day –and the only one which got past the censor! There’s another one showing me struggling to get upright again after an excessive period on my knees, but it’s available only in archive! Here you can see the area packed with skeletons in which I was working, with almost no space at all for me to perch without damaging anything around me.
I was working on the south side of the excavation area, within the ‘footprint’ of the 15th century and 19th century east ends, but in the graveyard surrounding the earlier 12th to 13th century east ends. Just a little further west (to right of my head, on the other side of that soil face or ‘baulk’), Eleanor Rooke, who you can see in the next photo, has been occupied in a ‘new’ part of the dig.
This bit of ground was used initially for dumping stones awaiting removal from the building, and we’ve only started to explore it in the last couple of weeks, so it’s higher up and later in date than the rest of the site at the moment. Eleanor is pictured uncovering the remains of an adult buried, probably in the 16th or 17th century, in a coffin which has been well preserved. A recent archaeology graduate of Edinburgh University, Eleanor has been working on the site for five weeks. She’s about to set off for Sheffield to start studying for an MSc in Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology, so this has been very useful experience for her before embarking on the course. Eleanor was born in Newcastle, but has lived in Aberdeen for 15 years.
The object in the next photo was found in the grave that Eleanor was seen working on.
It came out from the soil between the coffin and the edge of the grave, so presumably was in the ‘backfill’ when the soil was replaced after the burial. Although we think this burial was made in the 16th or 17th century, we’re not sure of the object’s date yet, as it might have been disturbed by gravediggers from an older layer further down. It’s made of copper alloy, so it may look greenish to you now, although when new we have to imagine it as brown or bronze in colour. We think it may be part of a toilet or cosmetic set, with a little scoop at one end for cleaning out your ears. The point at the other end might have been for use either as a toothpick or for cleaning out the dirt from under your nails. Essential equipment on every archaeological site, in fact!
The following photo gives a good view of the east wall of what we’re currently calling the late 12th/ early 13th century east end of the church, seen looking south-west across it.
Notice the neat ‘pilaster’ buttress foreground right, built as part of the original plan, and the larger east-facing buttress to its left, which may have been added later to prevent slippage down the slope towards what is now Correction Wynd. The presence of so many stone structures on the site means a lot of drawing – the tops and sides of every wall, as well as sections through them have to be drawn by hand. So if you visit the site you’ll probably see a number of people bent in a variety of contorted positions over drawing boards. Jan Dunbar, one of our Archaeological Unit illustrators, has been doing a lot of that work in the last few weeks. Apart from the fact that her skill and experience are invaluable on the dig, it also makes sense for illustrators to get to know the site which eventually they will play a significant part in publishing. In the next picture Jan (upper left) is deep in conference with Alison Cameron the excavation director and David Harding, one of the site assistants!
Mhairi MacGregor appears to have discovered a relatively comfortable location to draw a ‘metalled’ surface of small stones which may once have been a path around the south side of the late 12th/early 13th century east end or chancel. The surface is all around her feet and in the foreground and she has her back against the foundations of the chancel wall. She’s been using two long tapes to measure points along the path. On her drawing board is the beam compass for plotting those points on to the plan.
For further information and comment, please contact judiths@aberdeencity.gov.uk: 01224 523658.
