Aberdeen, Shiprow
Findspot (18th Century), Comb (Antler)(11th Century)
Site Name Aberdeen, Shiprow
Classification Findspot (18th Century), Comb (Antler)(11th Century)
Canmore ID 20001
Site Number NJ90NW 102
NGR NJ 943 061
NGR Description NJ c. 943 061
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20001
- Council Aberdeen, City Of
- Parish Aberdeen
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District City Of Aberdeen
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ90NW 102 c. 943 061.
Apparently found at a depth of 19ft in Skipraw (Shiprow) Street in 1761; in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
A Way 1847; A Macgregor 1982.
An area on Shiprow between Provost Ross's House (dated 1593) and the 19th-century former Trinity Church was due to be developed. The site is situated on the S facing slope of St Catherine's Hill. Shiprow appears to have been well-developed by 1661, the date of Parson Gordon's map of Aberdeen, and the modern street probably follows the line of the medieval one.
Several trenches were excavated both by hand and machine. Sand subsoil was overlain in most trenches by deposits containing material contemporary with the building of the Trinity Church. A small number of abraded medieval pottery sherds were recovered but no medieval material was found in situ. Development of the area, including the building of Union Street and scarping of St Catherine's Hill, may have removed any medieval deposits from the rear (N) of the site. The remains of 19th-century cellars on the frontage of Shiprow had similarly destroyed any earlier deposits.
Sponsor: Aberdeen City Council
A Cameron 1996
According to Macgregor, the curving back and the angular-section of the side-plates ornamented with linked ring-and-dot motifs suggest an 11th-century date for the antler comb found at Shiprow in 1761.
Information from RCAHMS (JRS), 28 May 1997.
A Macgregor 1982.