E29

Excavation was carried out by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit in 1986. A total area of 1500 square metres was examined by encompassing a large backland site up to 10m from the Upperkirkgate frontage, which was itself inaccessible because of the presence of the standing buildings. Much of the late medieval/early post- medieval deposits had been scarped during the 19th-century development but sufficient remained to allow some archaeological interpretation of the area to be made. A clay foundation aligned north to south probably represented the remains of a 13th to 14th-century boundary. No other early boundaries were recorded but most were probably on the lines of modern property divisions and have long since disappeared. The basal portions of a number of wooden posts were discovered, which may have represented the remnants of a medieval building near the frontage, but all other evidence of it had been obliterated. A number of medieval pits, of which three were very straight- sided and rectangular in shape, may have been storage pits. A 13th to 14th-century pit had been lined with thin strips of timber. Medieval finds included a bone-handled knife, two pieces of carved wood (from a casket or chair) and a copper- alloy enamelled brooch as well as a large assemblage of medieval pottery including some very early Scottish wares from the area immediately behind the Upperkirkgate frontage.