Uncovering Elsick - Beatrix Dúzs - ARP 2022

Uncovering Elsick: Community Excavation at a Small Rural Medieval Chapel in the
North East
A historical archaeology project using biographical approaches and multidisciplinary
techniques to uncover the history of the Chapel of Elsick and contextualise the site
within its wider local and historical context throughout its use.
The thought to be post-medieval ruins of the Chapel of Elsick are situated 360 m east
to Elsick House in Cammachmore and as the lands surrounding it, is currently under
the ownership of the Duke of Fife. In June 2021 with the Duke's approval, a former
resident who spent their childhood in the vicinity of the chapel ruins commissioned
local archaeologist Alison Cameron from Cameron Archaeology Ltd. to carry out an
archaeological investigation at the site. A four-day community dig with a group of
volunteers has been carried out directed by Beatrix Dúzs under the supervision of Ali
Cameron. The research has been carried out and written up by Beatrix Dúzs and Ali
Cameron (the talk will be given by Beatrix Dúzs).
The main aim of this research was to collect more information about the chapel's history and use, uncover the remains of the chapel building and possible burial ground and locate any gravestones mentioned in historical records. The research also concentrates on a more theoretical level as
to how historical archaeology can be implemented using a biographical approach, to
uncover and collect more information of a site, where the historical documentation
is severely limited. Further aims include the contextualisation of the chapel's history
within local and wider historical events while providing a biographical summary of the
building itself using techniques from several disciplines such as desk-based research,
plane-table survey, gradiometry and resistivity survey and small-scale test-pitting. By
doing so, this research aims to showcase how material remains, such as buildings and
chapels at that - which survived and potentially witnessed certain historical and
political events such as the effects of the reformation, the Jacobite uprisings and their
aftermath - can provide insight into how these events might have affected a more
rural layer of society. It also focuses on addressing the contradicting information from
mostly historical records regarding its dating, ownership, associated use and religion
by using archaeological techniques in a historical setting. This project provides an
excellent example of how historical archaeology combines geophysical, archaeological
and historical resources with oral memories to provide the most concise picture of the
Chapel of Elsick as a building throughout the whole of its life.
Presentation by Beatrix Dúzs
4th year undergraduate Archaeology Student at University of Aberdeen