East Kirk of St Nicholas Week 3
13 February to 17 February
Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes…
The site has been less noisy this week, but extremely active. The contractors have left for the time being, so there are no loud mini-diggers, and no heavy equipment to move in and out, so the door has been closed on the outside world.
It's not that we don't want people to see what we're doing - quite the opposite. But it's a bit dangerous for the public to come in at site level, so we're very glad of the superb East Kirk gallery, which acts as a splendid viewing platform for visitors.
We were very pleased that 50 people came for the first tour on Monday and sorry that a few didn't get in - but hope that you'll come back another time.
Details of tours are elsewhere in these pages.
Some of our band of volunteers started on site this week, expanding the team to around 17 people on one day. We are, of course, very grateful to those who give up their time to work alongside the professionals.
Our volunteers include archaeology students of all ages from Aberdeen University as well as local interested people, some with a huge amount of archaeological experience. Among them is Doreen Stewart, who has worked on several of our excavations in Aberdeen and also volunteers with conservation groups.
She's finding the St Nicholas project particularly informative and was impressed by the wealth of detail that Dr Paul Duffy, our human bone expert from Glasgow University, was able to deduce from the teeth and ribs that she'd found.
At the moment the team is still removing a lot of soil and stonework belonging to the 19th-century East Kirk interiors, filling on average two skips per day down below in Correction Wynd.
The 17th-century floor which I mentioned last week is now much more visible, and it's apparent that it was made of mortar and some slate slabs. A lot of moulded stonework has been found, probably from the medieval choir and east end of the church. One stone, part of a pillar base, has a mason's mark on it.
Archaeology is sometimes seen as a matter of dirt, sweat, and toothbrushes, but when we're working on a medieval site it's important to use every source of information, particularly historical documents.
Kimm Curran has been busy doing research for us in Aberdeen's excellent City Archives.
Kimm, who's from the west coast of the USA, is a graduate of the University of Idaho, and is about to receive her doctorate from the University of Glasgow for her thesis on 'Religious Women and Their Communities in Late Medieval Scotland'.
Here's what she says about her own contribution to the St Nicholas excavation project:
"The archival work that I have been doing looks at the Kirk and Bridge Work Accounts held at the City Archives, for the years 1571 to 1644.
I am enjoying working on this project because it allows me to provide information that may be vital in understanding different building phases of St Nicholas Kirk.
"It is very easy to get attached to some of the workmen who helped repair parts of the Kirk. One who always catches my eye is George Wyshart. As a glasswright he repaired many of the windows in the late 16th-century, and later his son, William, took up his position. This, I think, is the most exciting part of historical research - finding long-forgotten people in the past!
"But to get to these interesting bits I have to wade through the many pages with references to nails….!"