Graveheart: cult and burial in a Cistercian chapter house - excavations at Melrose, 1921 and 1996

Abstract

The chapter house at Melrose was first excavated by the Ministry of Works in 1921, revealing asequence of burials including a heart burial, possibly that of Robert I. Part of the site was re-excavatedin 1996 by Kirkdale Archaeology for Historic Scotland in order to provide better information for thepresentation of the monument. This revealed that the building had expanded in the 13th century, theearly chamber being used as a vestibule. There was a complex sequence of burials in varied forms,including a translated bundle burial and some associated with the cult which developed aroundthe tomb of the second abbot, Waltheof. The heart burial was re-examined (and reburied) and itssignificance is considered in the context of contemporary religious belief and the development of acult. There was evidence for an elaborate tiled floor, small areas of which survive in situ.