Document record MAB57499 - 30-46 UPPEKIRKGATE, ABERDEEN

Excavation was carried out by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit in 1986.

Excavation was carried out by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit in 1986. A total area of 1500 square metres was examined by encompassing a large backland site up to 10m from the Upperkirkgate frontage, which was itself inaccessible because of the presence of the standing buildings. Much of the late medieval/early post- medieval deposits had been scarped during the 19th-century development but sufficient remained to allow some archaeological interpretation of the area to be made. A clay foundation aligned north to south probably represented the remains of a 13th to 14th-century boundary. No other early boundaries were recorded but most were probably on the lines of modern property divisions and have long since disappeared. The basal portions of a number of wooden posts were discovered, which may have represented the remnants of a medieval building near the frontage, but all other evidence of it had been obliterated. A number of medieval pits, of which three were very straight- sided and rectangular in shape, may have been storage pits. A 13th to 14th-century pit had been lined with thin strips of timber. Medieval finds included a bone-handled knife, two pieces of carved wood (from a casket or chair) and a copper- alloy enamelled brooch as well as a large assemblage of medieval pottery including some very early Scottish wares from the area immediately behind the Upperkirkgate frontage.

COUNCIL FOR SCOTTISH ARCHAEOLOGY, 1988, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND 1987, p.16 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8215.

DENNISON, E, 1997, HISTORIC ABERDEEN: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT. THE SCOTTISH BURGH SURVEY, p. 44 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4057.

CAMERON, AS, 2001, ABERDEEN: AN IN-DEPTH VIEW OF THE CITY'S PAST: SOC OF ANTS SCOT MONOGRAPH SERIES, 19 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8204.

ROY, M, 2021, PITS AND BOOTS: EXCAVATION OF MEDIEVAL AND POST-MEDIEVAL BACKLANDS UNDER THE BON ACCORD CENTRE, ABERDEEN (Bibliographic reference). SAB3168.

Record last edited

Aug 26 2021 3:24PM