Jedburgh Abbey's horseshoe nail mystery

BY OUR OWN REPORTER

When workmen carrying out a heritage restoration project in the shadow of Jedburgh Abbey disturbed human remains in August 2020 the event made national headlines with the bones thought to be at least 200 years old.

But now an even more intriguing story is emerging from an investigation by archaeologists into the 2020 find. And the inquiries conducted by HARP Archaeology's Ian Hill on behalf of Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and Jedburgh Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme will be discussed at an archaeological conference this weekend.

It has been established that one of the skeletons, a male believed to be aged between 25-35 at death was clutching fragments of corroded metal in his left hand. He was lying alongside a female who was aged between 22 and 30 when she died. The remains were uncovered from beneath the abbey ramparts where thousands of tourists walk during visits to the world renowned monument.

The experts have also discovered that when the ramparts were originally constructed at some point before 1775 large quantities of skeletal remains were disturbed before being discarded with little or no regard for the dead.

Mr Hill told Not Just Sheep & Rugby: "I think it is fair to say that they weren’t treated with a huge amount of respect; we found evidence of at least 22 individuals that had been discarded into the ground raising event during rampart construction, and five disturbed graves, but there were likely several more disturbed during the construction of the rampart"

He also explained that the metal fragments being gripped by the young male turned out to be an unused horseshoe nail being held as some kind of charm. Said Mr Hill: "There are some folk beliefs that horse shoes and their nails held amuletic powers. 

"In terms of significant findings, the two individuals buried together is interesting as there does not appear to be many parallels in the UK although we have not exhaustively researched that yet."

A detailed report on the archaeological work carried by HARP says changes to the ramparts can be viewed in historic maps from the 1700s to 1900s, along with images and prints from the late 18th to early 19th Century. Eighteenth Century maps, including an untitled map from 1775 and Ainslie’s map of 1780 refers to the ground located to the west of a wall on a similar line to the rampart wall as being the ‘High Kirk Yard’. 

The 1775 map also indicates the land adjacent to the east of the wall being the ‘Low Kirk Yard’, however Ainslie’s map notes this area as a ‘Cattle Market’. Both maps indicate a wall to the east of the abbey, which may represent the rampart wall.

The recent repair works at the Jedburgh Abbey Ramparts - part of a £1 million heritage project - were carried out to consolidate, update, repair, and replace different sections of the walls. The works included the careful removal of significant portions of the face of the existing rampart wall in order to re-build the backing wall where required, with the masonry face re-built and repointed in lime mortar to match the existing style and appearance of the rampart wall; replacing three sets of steps leading from street level to the top of the ramparts.

And the report adds: "The articulated remains of the two intact human burials were revealed at a depth of approximately 1.95 m from ground level at the top of the ramparts. On the discovery of the intact skeletal remains, excavation works for the new stairs, and repair works for the wall were ceased."

A total of 496 human bone elements were recorded by the HARP team. "On a strictly context base, this would seem to indicate 28 individuals; however, given the highly fragmentary and commingled nature of some of the remains, it seems that this would over-represent the number of individuals."

In addition: "A total of 378 animal bone elements were recorded. There is a minimum of nineteen sheep/goats three cows, one dog, one cat; one bird; one rodent; and one pig, though these numbers are almost certainly under-estimated."

According to Mr Hill's report: "Whilst it is clear that all human skeletal material uncovered was disturbed during the construction of the ramparts in some way, and therefore predate the construction of the ramparts in the late 18th to early 19th Centuries, radiocarbon dating of the skeletal material retrieved from the intact human burials would help to provide a more accurate date of death of the individuals, and will help to identify at what time period the previous landscape was in use as a graveyard."

Analysis of the DNA of both the intact individuals would help to determine whether there was any familial ink between the two.

The report continues: "Whilst preliminary analyses of the (animal) bones has been undertaken, a more detailed analysis of the animal remains to further identify species and evidence of butchery marks would help to outline what types of animals were being consumed, potentially relating to abbey life. 

"Consideration will also need to be taken on the re-deposition of the retrieved human skeletal material, however the final decision for this process will lie with Historic Environment Scotland and SBC."

Mr Hill will give a presentation featuring the Jedburgh ramparts 'dig' during tomorrow's (Saturday November 20th) online Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders 2021 Archaeology Conference