SAIR42Through the Cowgate: life in 15th-century Edinburgh as revealed by excavations at St Patrick's Church
by Elizabeth Jones
with contributions by with contributions by Anne Crone, Morag Cross, Julie Franklin, Sarah-Jane Haston, N M McQ Holmes, Stephen Lancaster, T M Mighall, Eileen Reilly, Clare Thomas, Scott Timpany and Auli Tourunen
Illustrations by Thomas Small.
ISBN 978 090 390 357 8
Published in April 2011 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
Excavations in the grounds of St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh were undertaken by Headland Archaeology from November 2006 to February 2007 on behalf of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in advance of the construction of a hotel on the site. Soil analyses suggested that flash floods had swept through this part of Cowgate up until the early development of the medieval town upslope in the 11th–12th centuries. This early pattern was followed by the gradual build-up of material washed downslope from the High Street; this contained midden material and dung beetles, illustrating the nearby presence of the town. The site lay outwith the bounds of the burgh until the 14th century, when a substantial ditch was cut across the site, believed to be the medieval town boundary. The ditch was backfilled in the 15th century and finds and samples have revealed a vivid picture of life in the medieval town. The ditch was a stinking rubbish dump for many kinds of human and animal detritus, which illustrates that the Cowgate was a busy thoroughfare to the town's markets and contained a variety of industries, including horn working. After the ditch was filled in deep midden deposits, characteristic of this area of Edinburgh, built up on the site.
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Report content
| i | Title Page |
| iii | Table of Contents |
| v | List of Illustrations |
| 1 | Abstract |
| 2 | Introduction |
| 3 | Archaeological and Historical Background by Morag Cross and Elizabeth Jones |
| 3.1 | Medieval development |
| 3.2 | Town boundary |
| 3.3 | Other investigations in the area |
| 3.4 | Properties and owners by Morag Cross |
| 4 | The Excavations |
| 4.1 | Introduction |
| 4.1.1 | Previous excavations on the site |
| 4.1.2 | Main excavation |
| 4.1.3 | Watching brief |
| 4.2 | Phases 1–5 |
| 4.3 | Phase 1: on the edge of urban development, 11th–14th centuries |
| 4.3.1 | 11th–12th centuries |
| 4.3.2 | 13th–mid-14th centuries |
| 4.4 | Phase 2: medieval ditch 14th–15th centuries |
| 4.4.1 | Initial ditch cut |
| 4.4.2 | Re-cut of the ditch |
| 4.5 | Phase 3: 15th-century midden deposits |
| 4.6 | Phase 4: 16th–17th-century occupation |
| 4.6.1 | Coopered barrel and culvert |
| 4.6.2 | Later midden development |
| 4.7 | Phase 5: 18th–20th-century buildings |
| 4.7.1 | Timber piles |
| 4.7.2 | 19th-century walls |
| 4.7.3 | 20th century |
| 5 | Discussion |
| 5.1 | 11th–14th centuries: development and expansion of the medieval burgh |
| 5.2 | Mid 14th century – town ditch |
| 5.3 | Early 15th century: life in the Cowgate |
| 5.4 | Late 15th century – recut of the ditch |
| 5.5 | 15th-century midden dumps |
| 5.6 | 16th–17th-century development |
| 6 | Conclusion |
| 7 | Acknowledgements |
| 8 | References |
| A1 | Appendix 1: Finds by Julie Franklin |
| A2 | Appendix 2: Faunal Remains by Auli Tourunen |
| A3 | Appendix 3: Soil thin sections by Stephen Lancaster |
| A4 | Appendix 4: Plant macrofossils by Scott Timpany and Sarah-Jane Haston |
| A5 | Appendix 5: Pollen by TM Mighall |
| A6 | Appendix 6: Insect remains by Eileen Reilly |
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 Tuesday 19 April 2011.