East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 4th - 8th December 2006 - Week 45
East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 4 to 8 December 2006 – Week 45
Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes….
It was St Nicholas Day on 6th December. It seems appropriate, therefore, that we’ve
been working this week all around the east end of what may be the first church dedicated to his name in Aberdeen – constructed in the early 12th century, or possibly a little before that. St Nicholas, said to have been bishop of Myra in modern Turkey in the 4th century AD, is known, of course, not only as a benefactor of children, but as patron saint of seafarers and merchants, so he is also associated with other European towns which traded abroad in the middle ages, including Amsterdam and Hamburg, for example.
This week the 12th century apse has become increasingly more visible. As I stood outside it on 6th December, I was conscious that I was only a few feet away from where the 12th century high altar would have sat, dedicated to St Nicholas and adorned with images of him – and I tried to imagine the celebratory sights and sounds and colours of the equivalent day 850 or more years ago.
The photo above not only shows the apse more clearly than you’ve seen it before, but it also helps to illustrate the relative positions of the apse and the outer walls of the later of the two larger 12th century rectangular east ends. The apse is visible in the middle of the photo, with the gap in its wall made by later burials. At the right and left edges of the picture are the remaining portions of north and south walls of the later 12th century extension of the east end, built after the earlier apsidal east end became too small. The rest of those later walls have been dug away by the team, in order to reveal and record what lay beneath them, but the apse and other medieval walls you’re looking at will stay and be incorporated into the development. I should say one more thing about this first photo before I move on. Last week we thought that the19th century wall you see in the background, with the horizontal scale on it, had cut through the apse, but in fact it was built on top of the apse wall, which continues undamaged beneath it, awaiting the archaeologists of the future, perhaps!?
The 19th century wall you’ve just seen marks the final western edge of the dig in that area. Further north and south, we may still have a bit to go before we reach that point, in two areas where the development requires the extension of staircases down into the new basement that the dig is creating. In the next picture you see the exploratory section we have cut to get an idea if any archaeological layers survive below the existing staircase. Naturally the door you see, which incidentally marks the floor level of the 19th century East Kirk (and the point we started) has been made very secure at the other side!
A small number of burials are still being carefully recorded and removed from the ground. Recent ones include the skeletons of very young twins, which Neil Paterson is shown cleaning in the next picture. They were buried in the graveyard outside the church, probably in the 13th or 14th century. This excavation has many stories to tell, some of them very sad.
If you’re regular readers you may recognise the design on the gaming piece (at least that’s what we think it is) in the next picture. It’s very similar to the decoration on another small bone object which we showed about three weeks ago – and I’m showing that again after the gaming piece as a reminder. The gaming piece was found in one of the bottom layers of the ditch you saw last week, and is likely to be pre-12th century in date. The other object was found nearby and may be of about the same age.
As you’ve undoubtedly noticed before, drawing on site often has to be done at some awkward angles! Malachy is recording details around the footings of the 15th century church in the last photo this week.
For further information and comment, please contact judiths@aberdeencity.gov.uk: 01224 523658.