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 a
sequence of burials including a heart burial, possibly that of Robert I. Part of the site was re-excavated
in 1996 by Kirkdale Archaeology for Historic Scotland in order to provide better information for the
presentation of the monument. This revealed that the building had expanded in the 13th century, the
early 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 around
the tomb of the second abbot, Waltheof. The heart burial was re-examined (and reburied) and its
significance is considered in the context of contemporary religious belief and the development of a
cult. There was evidence for an elaborate tiled floor, small areas of which survive in situ.