East Kirk of St Nicholas Week 1
30 January to 3 February
My name is Judith Stones and I'm Keeper of Archaeology, Aberdeen City Council: that's me at the very back of the team photo.
One of my roles is to ensure that when construction work of any sort is going to take place within the City, appropriate measures are taken by the developer to protect, or if necessary record, any archaeological remains which may exist either above or below ground.
St Nicholas is a site of major historic and archaeological importance, both in local and national terms: there has been a church in this location since at least the 12th-century and by the 15th-century Aberdeen could boast one of the largest medieval burgh churches in Scotland.
But we don't know a great deal about what those buildings looked like. The removal of much of the East Kirk floor to create a new level below is providing an unparalleled opportunity to explore back through the history of Aberdeen.
For several weeks now, contractors have been busy inside the East Kirk, removing pews and other furnishings to ready the space for the dig.
During some of that time, Alison Cameron (second from left, front row in the 'team' photo), the Council's Assistant Archaeologist, who is directing the excavation, chose the experienced archaeologists who will do the digging and recording.
While some of them come from Aberdeen and the North-East, and others from elsewhere in Scotland and the UK, there are also individuals from Spain, Ireland and Egypt - so it is truly a multi-national team. I hope to introduce them to you as I tell you about our progress over the forthcoming weeks.
The dig itself started as planned on Monday, January 30 and as I write this four days later, an impressive amount of progress has been made - a great tribute to the expertise and enthusiasm of the staff!
What looked like a building site at the beginning of this week is now starting to take on the appearance of an archaeological excavation. Working indoors in an Aberdeen winter has many obvious advantages(!), but it can be very dusty, so masks are essential apparel for the diggers.
Some of the very top layers, including some little stone walls which supported the most recent floor levels within the Kirk, have been removed by the construction team using a mini digging machine, and the archaeologists have been cleaning the first real 'layers' below.
Already there are some traces of burning visible, possibly residues from the fire which severely damaged the East Kirk in 1874.
Among objects so far uncovered is part of a simple gravestone, bearing the letters 'M D'. Although it has the dates 1623 and 1634 on it, it had been used again at a later date to cover another grave.
There has been a great deal of media interest in the dig so far, with coverage on radio and in the newspapers, as well as a live Grampian TV newscast on Tuesday.
