Post-excavation analysis of early medieval chapel & cemetery, Auldhame, East Lothian

Since the completion of the excavation of the early medieval chapel & cemetery at Auldhame, an ongoing post excavation programme has been initiated. Finds from the site such as pottery, brooches and the few grave goods recovered are being conserved and analysed. Recently AOC Osteoarchaeologist Melissa Melikian has assessed the skeletons. The Auldhame assemblage of 240 individual skeletons is one of the largest recovered assemblages of such an early date from East Lothian. The assemblage consists of 30 neonate/infant individuals, 44 juveniles and 166 adults. Within the adult assemblage there was an approximate ratio of 1:1 in terms of gender. A number of pathologies were observed in the sample including fractures, klippel-feil syndrome, osteoarthritis, rotator cuff disease, intervertebral disc disease and periostitis which often occur within skeletal assemblages of most periods.

The material will undergo a population-based, detailed osteological analysis and further studies are proposed, in particular isotope analyses to examine the origins and diet of the population. The assemblage is considered to be of national significance and will contribute to a number of current national osteological research projects.

Patrick Ashmore, former Principal Inspector of Ancient Monuments at Historic Scotland believes that the Auldhame discoveries will prove crucial to our understanding of East Lothian’s past. “I have a real feeling that recent work in East Lothian is going to make us rewrite its prehistory and early history, and Auldhame will be a vital part of that. It will be extremely interesting to compare the late prehistoric remains underlying the church and graveyard at Auldhame with the information we have gathered from late prehistoric sites excavated in the area, such as those around Traprain Law.”

Biddy Simpson, East Lothian Council Archaeologist, also stressed the potential significance of the finds, "This is an extraordinary multi-period site in an area already known to be rich in archaeological remains and connected by tantalising historical associations with the legend of the 8th century Saint Baldred."

Find out more about this project in Field Archeaology

AOC Project Officer: Erlend Hindmarch
AOC Project Manager: John Gooder
Client: Historic Scotland