Aberdeen, 43-57 Upperkirkgate
Drain (Post Medieval), Drain (Medieval), Pit (Medieval), Wall (Post Medieval), Wall (Medieval), Well (Medieval), Animal Remains (Medieval), Plank (Medieval), Pot (Medieval), Shoe (Medieval), Stake (Medieval)
Site Name Aberdeen, 43-57 Upperkirkgate
Classification Drain (Post Medieval), Drain (Medieval), Pit (Medieval), Wall (Post Medieval), Wall (Medieval), Well (Medieval), Animal Remains (Medieval), Plank (Medieval), Pot (Medieval), Shoe (Medieval), Stake (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) E21; Upper Kirkgate
Canmore ID 20231
Site Number NJ90NW 97
NGR NJ 941 064
NGR Description NJ 9418 0647 to NJ 9415 0644
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20231
- Council Aberdeen, City Of
- Parish Aberdeen
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District City Of Aberdeen
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ90NW 97 9418 0647 to 9415 0644
Thick organic medieval deposits were observed in service trenches dug when laying a telephone cable in Upperkirkgate; pottery, leather, slag and bone were recovered.
H Murray 1982.
Urban excavation by J Stones between October 1982 and February 1983 in advance of destruction before redevelopment as a shopping centre revealed evidence of medieval occupation in the form of pits and fragmentary walls; large quantities of pottery of the 13th to 19th centuries were found all over the excavated area. Despite part of the area being disturbed by 19th century cellars, a sufficiently large area remained to permit recording which complemented that from other sites nearby.
The area was used for industrial purposes and later for rubbish disposal in the 13th to 15th centuries. Apart from local wares, pottery fragments were provenanced to Yorkshire, SE Scotland, the Netherlands and Germany.
(Additional bibliography cited: location of pottery not noted).
NMRS, MS/712/83.
The archive from 43-57 Upperkirkgate has been catalogued. It consists of drawings and manuscripts.
Historic Scotland Archive Project (FO) 1997.
Excavation (25 January 2007 - 23 November 2007)
NJ 941 064 Work was carried out 25 January–23 November 2007 in advance of the development of a site fronting onto the medieval thoroughfares of Upper Kirkgate and Gallowgate. 16 trenches (an area of 192m) were opened during the evaluation and identified zones of archaeological deposits in the E of the site, though with heavy truncation in the S and E, near the existing street frontages.
A full excavation was carried out of these areas. The site was divided into three. Area A to the NW covered c500m, B to the S covered c190m and c to the E covered c750m. The watching brief and evaluation works had revealed that medieval and post-medieval deposits survived relatively undisturbed in Areas A and C. More limited remains were encountered in Area B. The excavation confirmed these initial findings.
The earliest phase of activity on the site was marked by
the excavation of features, mainly pits, through the gravel rich clay and sand natural. These commonly contained waterlogged clay and clay silt fills conductive to the survival of organic material, including artefacts such as leather and wood. Pottery recovered from this phase has tentatively been dated to the 13th- to 14th centuries, possibly earlier, though further assessment of the artefacts is required. Leather is recorded in these pit fills, indicating that processes such as tanning may have been undertaken. Linear features were also
recorded, generally functioning mainly as drainage features, though one ditch may also have formed a N/S boundary running at right-angles to the Upperkirkgate.
The second phase of activity, which is also likely to date to the 13th- to 14th centuries, involved the deposition
of major clay silt and silty clay occupation deposits. There were numerous pits in Areas A and C associated with waste disposal, drainage and industrial activity. The bases of stake and wattle fence lines were also present in area C parallel with the Gallowgate. One of these lines clearly divided Area C into activity zones. A series of large pits were visible to its E. Many of the pits in the vicinity of the stake line were rectangular or sub-rectangular and may have been associated with tanning or other industry. One of these pits produced
numerous well-preserved wooden artefacts, including several turned wooden bowls, structural timbers and a truncated hurdle screen. A large barrel-lined cut topped by a circular stone structure formed a well in the S of Area C.
The third major phase of activity, again tentatively dated to the 13th- to 14th centuries, involved the accumulation of further medieval silty clay occupation deposits. The many pits recorded had again probably served a mixture of waste disposal and industrial functions. Structural features included in Area A the remains of an E/W aligned wall [20473] and in Area C a remnant cobble surface and possible remnant wall. Evidence for buildings was limited. A possible hearth cut and associated stone structure were identified in Area C.
The fourth phase was tentatively dated to the 14th- to 15th centuries and saw an increase in structural remains, with evidence for clay-bonded stone walls representing the remains of boundaries and perhaps buildings, and drainage features, including a barrel-lined well. There were two possible stonelined hearths in Area C. Pit features in both Areas A and C were commonly more shallow than in earlier phases and may have mainly functioned as refuse pits, though there were several stone-filled soakaways. The accumulation of clay and silty clay occupation and dump deposits continued.
The fifth phase of activity related to late medieval and post-medieval activity, provisionally dated to the 15th- to 18th centuries. Where not truncated by later activity there was an accumulation of layers of silty clay garden soil, later dump deposits and the remains of rubble walls, which served as boundaries. One wall delimited a zone of activity near the Gallowgate to the E, from an area of little more than garden soils to its W. Within this area of activity in Area C structural remains included possible remnant rubble walls and surfaces and a series of drains and soakaways. Area C also contained further pits, which were at least partly for rubbish disposal.
Later, probably post-medieval deposits in the N of Area C contained dark grey or brown clay occupation deposits. A large deposit of iron slag pointed to iron production in the vicinity.
Archive: RCAHMS
Funder: Land Securities
Mike Roy (AOC Archaeology Group), 2008
