Scotland Discovery

 Archaeologists Just Found Another British Noble Buried Under a Parking Lot - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire 

Archaeologists Just Found Another British Noble Buried Under a Parking

Lot

BY ADAM CLARK ESTES | MAR 14, 2013

There's a sad lesson about urban planning in the trend of major archaeological finds turning up under parking lots in

the United Kingdom. Or maybe it's a happy lesson. It's hard to tell.

Archaeologists just announced the discovery of headstone bearing the marks of nobility at the site of a new building

being constructed in Edinburgh. Though they've yet to analyze the remains, they believe the knight was buried

sometime in the 13th century. "This find 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," said Richard Lewis, a member of the City of Edinburgh Council, in a statement.

Funnily enough, the site of the discovery is a parking lot once used by the University of Edinburgh's archaeology

department. This is even funnier when you consider the fact that the long lost remains of King Richard III showed up

underneath a parking lot in Leicester. On one hand, the tandem discoveries show that the Brits paved over a lot of

important piece of land to build parking lots. On the other hand, the fact that these remains were well preserved and

untouched in modern times also suggests that parking lots work as pretty good shields from earth movers.

It turns out that a lot of great archaeological treasures are found under parking lots. They are, after all, both

plentiful and protective. And the recent discovery also shows that the Brits are giving due diligence to having

archaeologists on hand when they break ground. While not everybody is thrilled about what historian Edward Tenner

refers to as an "exhumation craze," it's encouraging to see workers take care to treat the ground beneath historical

locations gingerly.