East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 27th Nov - 1st Dec 2006 - Week 44
East Kirk of St Nicholas dig 27 November to 1December – Week 44
I thought I’d start this week with a couple more photos of the ditch which consultations with Geoarchaeologist Steve Lancaster helped us to understand (see last week). We know that it’s earlier than our earliest building -the apsidal east end of the church built probably in the early 12th century (sorry – that’s too many ‘earlys’. I need to develop my vocabulary a bit. I’ll not use that word again this week). So the ditch may be 11th century in date, or it may have been cut before that. Steve suggested that it might have been open as a ditch for quite a long period of time. The first picture shows a cleanly cut section across it.
I hope you can see near the bottom of the section a darker rectangular patch between two orange areas: the dark patch may be evidence that the ditch had some timber uprights in it, perhaps some sort of revetment or a fence. And in the next view, Stewart Buchanan is seen drawing the other face of the section in minute detail. This time you can see near the bottom the layers of ash which Steve felt were deliberately dumped rubbish. We draw our plans and sections on ‘permatrace’, or draughting film, on top of graph paper. Most sections are drawn at a scale of 1:10, larger than the horizontal plans of the site, because of the often numerous and thin layers, such as those in this ditch, which have to be accurately recorded.
My third photo is also a ‘flashback’ to last week. You’ll probably remember the coffin containing the skeletons of a baby and an adult, which also contained seeds, possibly the remains of some flowers. The next picture shows the remnants of some beetles, lying on the adult’s vertebrae. The beetles may have been on the flowers, we think and we look forward to having them examined by a palaeoentomologist.
We had a successful open day at the site last Saturday, with around 300 weary shoppers taking the chance to drop in for a look at the dig and a cup of tea. Because the excavation is nearly complete and most walls have now been removed, we marked out the lines of the two 12th century rectangular east ends on the ground, as you can see in the next picture.
Removal of those 12th century walls has of course revealed new things, including the skeleton of a very gracile woman who was buried in a quite remarkable coffin. You can see the outline of it clearly in the next photo.
You may also be able to see how the wood was held together with what are often known as ‘clench bolts’, rather than regular nails. Clench or ‘clinch’ bolts are effectively round headed nails with diamond-shaped ‘roves’ hammered on to the other end. Such fixings are usually associated with shipbuilding, but have also been found used on medieval doors where a double thickness of timber might be required for security. We’re still debating why they should be used in coffin construction – and why so many of them? There’s a picture next showing a couple of the iron bolts in detail. We can date the burial of this woman, of course, to the period before the construction of the first of the two 12th century rectangular east ends.
The first, apsidal or rounded east end of the church, dating perhaps from the beginning of the 12th century, has also become much more clearly visible in the last few days. Here’s a good picture of it.
You can see the apse wall curving away from you (you’re facing west), and the hole in it, marked by the two upright metre sticks, is where it was cut through for later burials. The wall at the back of the picture, with the horizontal red and white scale on it, also ‘cuts’ the apse and was built in the 19th century.
In the 15th century, the east end of St Nicholas was extended to about its present size and lots of soil was brought in to raise levels. After that the old 12th century apse was well below the floor and many burials were made around it (including the ones which cut the hole I mentioned above). One elderly man was buried, perhaps in the 17th century, wearing a hat. Most of the hat itself has disappeared, but its decorative strips, including what we think may be gold wire, have survived, and are visible in the next photo.
Here’s a particularly fine little object to finish with this week. It’s a copper alloy ear-scoop, with a loop attached to it (for fixing it to a set of cosmetic or medical tools?) by means of a decorative chain. It’s very small and delicate (the scale’s in centimetres) and was found in the fill of a grave which may date from the 12th or the 13th century. The end opposite the tiny spoon-like scoop itself is slightly damaged, so we’re not sure whether it formed another implement or was purely ornamental.
For further information and comment, please contact judiths@aberdeencity.gov.uk: 01224 523658.
East Kirk of St Nicholas Week 43
