SAIR41Excavations on the Site of Balmerino House, Constitution Street, Leith
by Ross HM White and Chris O'Connell
with contributions by Sue Anderson, Dennis Gallagher, George Haggarty, Derek Hall, Andrew Heald, Adam Jackson, Dawn McLaren and Catherine Smith.
ISBN 978 090 390 358 5
Published in March 2010 by The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in association with The Council for British Archaeology and Historic Scotland, in Adobe Acrobat format. Available free of charge (see Terms & Conditions of Use).
Abstract
The remains of the front of Balmerino House, built in 1631, were uncovered during an archaeological excavation at St Mary's Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, Constitution Street, Leith. The work also revealed several phases of medieval to post-medieval activity, and a small burial ground which predated the house. The earliest feature uncovered by the excavation was a well containing 13th- to 14th-century pottery. Large quantities of late to post-medieval pottery were recovered, as well as iron objects, glass and bone. The human remains comprised six adult males, although some were incomplete due to later disturbance. Of importance to the history of clay tobacco pipe manufacture in Scotland is a small assemblage of clay-pipe wasters and kiln waste dated c1630–40. The work was sponsored by Gregor Properties Ltd.
Right click to download the entire report as a single PDF file (2.3MB). To view these files, you will need the Adobe Reader software (version 6 or later) or similar (suggestions below). On a PC, the easiest way to download the file is to click the right hand button on your mouse when the mouse pointer is over the above link and then use the 'Save Target As..' or 'Save Link As...' option to save the file to your local hard disk before opening it using the Reader software.
Report content
| i | Title Page |
| iii | Table of Contents |
| v | List of Illustrations |
| vi | List of Tables |
| 1 | Abstract |
| 2 | Introduction |
| 3 | Historical Context |
| 4 | Excavation Results |
| 4.1 | Phase 1: medieval pits and a well |
| 4.2 | Phase 2: late medieval or early post-medieval midden deposit |
| 4.3 | Phase 3: early post-medieval quarry pits |
| 4.4 | Phase 4: skeletal remains and overlying midden layer |
| 4.4.1 | Radiocarbon dates |
| 4.5 | Phase 5: Balmerino House construction |
| 4.6 | Phase 6: demolition and modern levelling |
| 4.7 | Uncertain phases |
| 5 | Human Skeletal Remains by Sue Anderson |
| 5.1 | Introduction |
| 5.2 | Demographic analysis |
| 5.3 | Metrical and morphological analysis |
| 5.4 | Dental analysis |
| 5.5 | Skeletal pathology |
| 5.5.1 | Congenital and developmental anomalies |
| 5.5.2 | Deficiency disease |
| 5.5.3 | Degenerative disease |
| 5.5.4 | Trauma and evidence of physical stress |
| 5.5.5 | Infectious disease |
| 5.5.6 | Miscellaneous |
| 5.6 | Summary and discussion |
| 6 | The Finds |
| 6.1 | Pottery by Derek Hall and George Haggarty |
| 6.1.1 | Medieval wares |
| 6.1.2 | Late and post-medieval wares |
| 6.1.3 | Unidentified |
| 6.1.4 | Discussion and conclusions |
| 6.1.5 | Illustrated pottery |
| 6.2 | Clay pipes by Dennis Gallagher |
| 6.3 | Ceramic building material and fired clay by Sue Anderson |
| 6.3.1 | Kiln furniture |
| 6.3.2 | Illustrated sherd |
| 6.3.3 | Brick and tile |
| 6.3.4 | Terracotta by Adam Jackson |
| 6.4 | Stone by Adam Jackson |
| 6.5 | Glass by Sue Anderson |
| 6.6 | Metalwork by Sue Anderson |
| 6.6.1 | Textile-working objects |
| 6.6.2 | Tools |
| 6.6.3 | Nails and miscellaneous fittings |
| 6.6.4 | Unidentified |
| 6.7 | Vitrified material by Dawn McLaren and Andrew Heald |
| 6.7.1 | Discussion |
| 6.8 | Worked bone by Catherine Smith |
| 6.9 | Animal bone by Catherine Smith |
| 6.9.1 | Species present |
| 6.9.2 | Ages of animals at death |
| 6.9.3 | Individual animal burials |
| 6.9.4 | Butchery |
| 6.9.5 | Size of the animals |
| 6.9.6 | Discussion |
| 6.10 | Overview of the finds and dating evidence by Sue Anderson |
| 7 | Site Narrative |
| 7.1 | 13th- to 15th-century occupation |
| 7.2 | 15th/16th-century abandonment or cultivation? |
| 7.3 | 16th-century sand quarrying |
| 7.4 | Late 16th-/early 17th-century burial ground |
| 7.5 | 17th-century manor house and gardens |
| 8 | Conclusions with Sue Anderson |
| 9 | Acknowledgements |
| 10 | References |
Published by The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in association with The Council for British Archaeology and Historic Scotland, in Adobe Acrobat format. Available free of charge (see Terms & Conditions of Use).
Use http://www.sair.org.uk/ to cite this page.
Page last modified by Seren Langley on Monday 22 March 2010.