Excavation

Date 11 October 1999 - 4 February 2000

Event ID 1028412

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1028412

Five trial trenches were dug in the Piazza to locate the cast iron pipe that serviced the sprinkler system inside the Palace. The work was carried out over 3 periods, starting in 1999 and ending in 2000.

The first excavations were numbered trenches 1-3; Trench 1 was located toward the S of the Piazza, Trench 2 to the NE and Trench 3 was in the NW corner.

Further work was completed on the 1st December 1999, when further excavation for work on the water pipes in the Piazza was undertaken. This trench, numbered 4, was in the area where Trench 1 had earlier located the pipe.

The final phase of the works at Holyrood Palace involved a trench dug in the NW corner of the Piazza.Archaeological supervision was called when only a small amount of the trench had been excavated by the Historic Scotland squad, and they had observed in-situ masonry.

The results of the excavations of the five small trenches are summarised in terms of six phases, with Phase 1 representing the latest activity. The features in phases 1, 2 and 3 are clearly modern. Due to the lack of any datable finds the other phases are difficult to date. Trench 3 is extensively disturbed and most of the evidence therefore comes from trenches 1 and 2. Phase 4 does seem to involve garden landscaping but the date of this work cannot, at this stage of reporting, be determined. Phase 5 similarly cannot be dated with any certainty. The high amount of waste material included does suggest that dating could be obtained with more careful and more extensive excavation. A selection of the bones from [204] were shown to a human bone specialist to verify that there were no burials included, and they were all confirmed as animal bones. Phase 6 was barely seen.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

G Ewart & A Dunn

Kirkdale Archaeology