Centuries of history is unearthed at Kilkenny Courthouse
A wooden dagger, or possibly a medieval child’s toy, which was found during the
archaeological excavation of the Kilkenny Courthouse. Published Date: 20 March 2009
By Tess Felder
A REMARKABLE wooden dagger, bowl and shingles -and somewhat less remarkable cesspits - were some of the historical finds un-earthed during an archaeological excavation of the Kilkenny Courthouse on Parliament Street.
The excavation was carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) as part of the courthouse renovation which will include a new four-storey extension. The finds reflected the building's long history and significance in the city, dating back from when it was the site of the 13th-century Grace's Castle, which was given to city in 1568 and became the County Gaol. It then served as a gaol until the 18th century, when it was turned into a courthouse.
To the rear of the site of Grace's Castle, medieval boundaries and drainage ditches were revealed, as well as several cesspits, deep rectangular wood-lined pits that were the medieval equivalent of septic tanks. The lowest levels excavated were extensively waterlogged, as the site appears to have lain within the old floodplain of the River Nore.
While the constant wet conditions made the archaeologists' work difficult, they also led to exceptional preservation of organic remains. Wooden artefacts and structures were recovered that would otherwise have decayed to nothing over the centuries. Similarly, the waterlogging preserved seeds and the remains of insects, which can give a picture of diet and environment in the medieval city.
One remarkable find was a beautifully carved wooden bowl, retrieved from a wood-lined cesspit. The upper portion of the bowl had been damaged, and this may explain why it came to be dumped in this unpleasant location. Intriguingly, Dr Ingelise Stuijts has identified the wood used in the bowl as maple. The maple tree was not found in Ireland in pre-Plantation times, and the bowl must have been imported from mainland Europe. This highlights the strong trading links that Kilkenny City would have had with Europe in the later medieval period, and may also hint at the relative wealth of the occupants of the site.
Examination of the wood used to line the cesspits themselves revealed several wooden shingles and oak beams reused in their construction. Before ending up shoring the sides of a cesspit, these would have formed parts of the roof of a medieval house. Not much is known about medieval roofing, as generally it is only the durable ceramic roof tiles that survive to be recovered by archaeologists. To have the wooden components of a medieval roof surviving will be of great help in understanding the architecture of the medieval city.
Also recovered from a cesspit was a wooden spindle that would have been used during the weaving process for the production of cloth. This too is evidence for the manufacturing industry within the city. An enigmatic wooden blade was also found, which may be a wooden copy of a dagger, possibly a child's toy or even a weaving sword or batten.
. Further research is being carried out on this extremely delicate artifact, and it is thrilling that it has survived.
Market town
Kilkenny's primary importance until the 16th century was as a market town. Evidence for the wealth of Kilkenny at the time was the find of a silver matrix for making a wax seal. This seal bearing the insignia of a ship under sail can be provisionally dated to the 13th-15th century, and had a loop on top for attaching it to a belt or chain. A wealthy merchant would have used the seal for stamping goods and documents as they passed through his hands – the medieval equivalent of tamper-proof packaging.
Silver coins recovered from the site date to the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 16th and 17th century, Kilkenny City enjoyed a period of relative political stability and commercial wealth. Rothe House (situated across the road from the courthouse), which dates to 1594, is a good example of the type of house the urban merchant would have occupied.
Over 5,000 shards of pottery were recovered during the excavation, and its analysis will give a useful insight into the wealth, culture and economy of Kilkenny throughout the long history of the site.
Overlying the rich medieval layers, the archaeologists identified walls, surfaces and buildings dating from the later use of the site as a gaol. More than 20 burials were uncovered during the excavation. Twenty-two of these burials were uncovered in an area to the rear of the gaol which was referred to on 19th-century maps as the 'Debtors Airing Yard'. These remains appear to be those of prisoners executed for their crimes and then interred at the rear of the gaol.
All of the graves contained quantities of lime. Lime was commonly used to mark prisoners' graves, but it also prevented the spread of disease and accelerated the decay of the body. All of these burials date to the 18th and 19th centuries, and paint a grim picture of the penal system at that time.
One other burial was identified at the west of the site, which did not include any lime, and instead appears to be far earlier in origin, probably dating from the medieval period.
A button found at the site raises the possibility that a soldier was court-martialled there, although for the moment this is not conclusive.
All the finds, both imperishable and organic, recovered from this site are being analysed by a team of specialists over the next 12 months to learn more about the history of this medieval city.
The full article contains 923 words and appears in Kilkenny People newspaper.Page 1 of 2Next Page »
Last Updated: 19 March 2009 3:43 PM
Source: Kilkenny People
Location: Kilkenny City
http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/Centuries-of-history-is-unearthed.5079861.jp
