East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 9th to 13th October 2006 - Week 37
East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 9th to 13th October – Week 37
Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes…
A reader in the USA noted that the scallop shell we’d found recently (and pictured last week) might have been expected to be lying with the bulbous end facing the other way, if it had indeed been attached to a scrip like the one worn by St James in the statue I showed: and suggested that it could have been in a bag rather than sewn on to it. That might well be the case, or perhaps the bag was just placed that way for some reason. And, of course, small, light items can get moved around during the decay process. I really don’t know – but I do know that I love getting feedback!
If you didn’t get totally lost in my explanation last week about looking for the relationship between the wall of the ‘sacristy’ building and the outer wall of the 15th century choir, you’ll be longing to know what more we’ve found out! Well, the area you saw Sheila digging last week has been completed, and last week’s theory still holds, although there has been some scholarly debate about it during the intervening days. So in the next photo you see, on your left, the west wall of the ‘sacristy’, on the right, the north wall of the 15th century choir and between the two the foundation trench for the latter, which is what Sheila was pictured removing last week. The builders of the much larger15th century choir simply cut right through the earlier ‘sacristy’ walls.
Burials continue to be found – well over 700 of them now. The individual in the next photo has had a large slab placed over the upper half of the body, on top of the coffin. We’re not sure why.
And some thoughtful detective work by on- site osteoarchaeologist Iraia has suggested an interesting but painful story around the individual in the two photos that follow. If you compare the two femurs in the first picture you can perhaps see how inflammation or infection in the right one (nearer the scale) has caused new bone formation. The lower right leg was also affected in a similar way. That same person had developed osteoarthritis in the right shoulder joint, seen as an area of eburnation or polishing on the humerus head – upper left in the second photo. Iraia wonders if the shoulder problem was caused by constant use of a crutch because of the ailing leg.
Someone remarked this week that there’s an ‘end of dig’ feel to the site. The ‘natural’ undisturbed subsoil has been reached in several areas, although the re-location of some of the steel supports for the gallery has left little pillars of soil still to be excavated. The steel uprights have been moved on to specially built concrete plinths, which, while they were still setting, made perfect drawing tables, as the next photo shows!
Over the next few weeks, the main focus of the work will move from excavation to post-excavation, although a small team will stay on to dig a previously inaccessible area near the earliest east end of the church. But despite being near the end, we’re still getting surprises. Where the late 12th/early 13th century east wall has been carefully removed, it’s become clear that it had been cut through the remains of a hearth, which may have been used for metalworking a thousand years or more before there was a church on the site. The trowel in the next picture is touching a tiny piece of prehistoric pottery.
We’re also still adding new people to the team. Here’s Tom Volker, a 6th year student at Robert Gordon’s College, who’s hoping to study archaeology at University, and has gallantly given up some precious holiday time to help us.
The post-excavation work promises to be just as exciting as the dig itself. There will continue to be up-to-date information on these pages and from 11 November you can visit a small exhibition at Provost Skene’s House, Guestrow – called ‘Early Glimpses: excavations within St Nicholas Church, 2006’. Objects for that display are being conserved as I write this. In the next two photos you can see Margot Wright hard at work in her lab at Marischal Museum, x-raying and then preparing to clean some iron coffin handles using air-abrasion tools.
Saturday 14 October is the very last Open Day (10am to 3pm, with tours at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1pm and 2pm). The very last tour of the East and West Kirks and the excavation will be on Monday 23 October.
For further information and comment, please contact judiths@aberdeencity.gov.uk: 01224 523658.
