Medieval Knight Found Under Parking Lot in Scotland

[Tobus]

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Medieval Knight Found Under Parking Lot In Scotland; Mysterious Remains Thrill Archeologists

The Huffington Post | By Meredith Bennett-Smith Posted: 03/14/2013 9:57 am EDT | Updated: 03/14/2013 9:57 am EDT


Archeologists this week announced the discovery of an unidentified medieval knight's skeleton buried along with several other bodies under a Scottish parking lot.
The knight -- or possibly nobleman -- was uncovered during construction work, according to The Scotsman. Also found was an intricately carved sandstone slab, several other human burial plots and a variety of artifacts researchers believe are from the 13th-century Blackfriars Monastery.


Councillor Richard Lewis, a member of the City of Edinburgh Council, said the archeological treasure trove has “the potential to be one of the most significant and exciting archaeological discoveries in the city for many years, providing us with yet more clues as to what life was like in Medieval Edinburgh," according to a statement released by the Edinburgh Center for Carbon Innovation (ECCI).


"We hope to find out more about the person buried in the tomb once we remove the headstone and get to the remains underneath but our archaeologists have already dated the gravestone to the thirteenth century," Lewis added.


The team leading the excavation is part of Headland Archeology, which noted with glee that many of its researchers may have once walked over the bones while studying nearby at the former University of Edinburgh's archaeology department. A statement released by the group says members are "looking forward to post excavation analyses that will tell us more about the individual buried there."


Ross Murray, a project officer for Headland, told The Huffington Post in an email that the team has already divined some clues about the knight's background.


"The knight would have been buried in the graveyard associated with the monastery meaning he had money or was important in the society of time," Murray told HuffPost. "The more important you were the closer you got placed to the church. He was also pretty tall for the time being around 6ft or so."


Echoing Councillor Lewis, Murray went on to say that the contents of the grave site and monastery will be "fantastic" additions to Scottish art history.


"We have now taken the body back to our labs and will have an osteo-archaeologist examine the body to try and establish their sex, age, if they had any diseases or even how they died," Murray said. "The medieval was a pretty brutal time so a violent death wouldn't be uncommon. We would also get radiocarbon dates from the bones to get a more accurate date for the burial and have an expert in medieval sculpture looks at the carved grave slab."


After the excavation is complete, the former parking lot will house the rainwater-harvesting tank of the University of Edinburgh’s new ECCI building.


This impressive Edinburgh find comes on the heels of scientists' confirmation this February that bones found under an English city council parking lot do indeed belong to King Richard III. Researchers from the University of Leicester used DNA analysis to identify the 15th-century monarch, who died in battle during the War of the Roses.

This is fascinating stuff, and will no doubt add to our knowledge of history. It will be interesting to hear if they can find out more about this knight: who he was, where he came from, how he died, etc.

[Jock Scot]

Interesting stuff, for sure. It may help to explain to those in the New World, why we in the Old World don't think 100 years is a long time and 500 years is really not that long ago at all. And before any one takes me to task. Yes I know full well that there are artifacts, etc, in the New World that go back to distant time, but I have noted the visitors here who seem to get so excited over things here that are not even 100 years old, that some of us here, still happily use!

[KenB]

Fascinating! I am looking forward to the results of their ensuing research. This is so interesting.

[JonathanB]

What with Richard III of England in Leicester, car parks (British term) are proving a rich source of medieval burials at present. I though the Huffington Post was meant to be satirical, or am I muddling it up with something else?

I tell visiting Americans that the USA Head of State has been living in his official residence than longer than the UK Head of State has been living in hers.

[artificer]

I heard of people being found IN a car park after a long night out on the town...


but this is the first time I've seen a knight found after a long time under a car park in town.







*I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself*




It is fascinating, and I can't wait to hear more of what develops after more study.

ith:

[tulloch]

Wow! That is amazing.

Jock, I remember thinking, back in my teenage years, that Britain had been fully occupied over a thousand years ago and we here in the States were still giving land to people willing to 'homestead' during my father's formative years. It is a lot to get people used to the idea of conserving what we have when they think in terms of consumption and moving on.

[tripleblessed]

Interesting stuff, for sure. It may help to explain to those in the New World, why we in the Old World don't think 100 years is a long time and 500 years is really not that long ago at all. And before any one takes me to task. Yes I know full well that there are artifacts, etc, in the New World that go back to distant time, but I have noted the visitors here who seem to get so excited over things here that are not even 100 years old, that some of us here, still happily use!

Jock, absolutely no taking to task. . There are obviously many well funded, well meaning, uninformed US folk who get
excited or even maudlin in the face of things they haven't previously bothered to examine, but many here hold more
information and longer perspectives. Some of us have extensive information going back more than 500 years. Some, not so much. This is why many on this forum speak of Scottish and Irish antecedents. In our families, they are still respected and still influence how things are done. Twice that long ago our Norman lines were not yet in Scotland. They are not all known by name to all of us, but some are to some of us. I know I know at least some, and would hazard a guess you do as well. Known or unknown, the system and changes they brought to Scotland affect all Scots every day, whether they are historically informed or not. That system resulted in the migration of many to these shores, so it affects all here everyday. Many faded into the mists of time, mostly unimportant, some widely known. All part of the mix. Proud natural American, not a Scot, but definitely "Scot-ish".

[tripleblessed]

Georgia, home to several here, contains more land than all of England. Add Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together,
you get about two thirds of Georgia. Georgia would be almost lost in Alberta, being less than one fourth the size, and Alberta is the fourth largest of Canada's provinces.

Perhaps this contributes to the feeling of some that the traditions here are diluted. Or is that deluded?

[Jock Scot]

Jock, absolutely no taking to task. . There are obviously many well funded, well meaning, uninformed US folk who get
excited or even maudlin in the face of things they haven't previously bothered to examine, but many here hold more
information and longer perspectives. Some of us have extensive information going back more than 500 years. Some, not so much. This is why many on this forum speak of Scottish and Irish antecedents. In our families, they are still respected and still influence how things are done. Twice that long ago our Norman lines were not yet in Scotland. They are not all known by name to all of us, but some are to some of us. I know I know at least some, and would hazard a guess you do as well. Known or unknown, the system and changes they brought to Scotland affect all Scots every day, whether they are historically informed or not. That system resulted in the migration of many to these shores, so it affects all here everyday. Many faded into the mists of time, mostly unimportant, some widely known. All part of the mix. Proud natural American, not a Scot, but definitely "Scot-ish".

No "task" taken.

I will try to avoid the "Scottish" ancestry slant that you talk about other than to say that is not the direction that I was coming from in my post here. I had thought that I had made that clear and I am sorry if I did not do so.

It was the physical aspects that I had in mind such as "artifacts", buildings, and everyday items that we are surrounded with and take little notice of because we are so familiar with them. I give you examples, Stonehenge is a world renowned ancient monument and there are several other henges dotted about the UK so the residents are not unused to things of several thousand years of age. Iron age forts are not unusual, Cathedrals at around a 1000 years old are common, Scotland has, I think over 3000 castles, most go back more than several centuries. Some of our tartan and tweed that we here enthuse about here is made on looms that are over 100 years old, I eat my meals with cutlery that was made just after Napoleon was defeated, and all this is not just a UK thing. So "OLD" to the "old world" is just not the issue that the "new world" make of it.

[JonathanB]

Well, possibly Jock. On the other hand I strongly suspect that even in London, the population can go through a whole day without seeing a single building that pre-dates American Independence. Even if they do, they probably don't realise how old they are. As I said, the White House pre-dates Buckingham Palace.