GORINCHEM – It is only a few centimetres long, made of brass and painted with red figures that are most reminiscent of French lilies. Archaeologist Martin Veen of the Archaeology Working Group of the municipality of Gorinchem carefully holds the tube between his thumb and index finger.
The jewel was found under a nineteenth-century tile that was found during the search for the Court of Arkel. Deliberately hidden, most likely during a renovation of a house. “It is known that people sometimes hid a personal message in their new house during construction. The tube we found was even specially designed for that purpose,” says Veen. “The only question is what possessed that Gorcumer.”
An answer to that question may be in the offing. Because the motives of the 19e century city dweller are in writing. When the tube was opened after the discovery, a tiny piece of paper fell out. After writing, it was neatly rolled up and slid into the tube. However, the ravages of time nibbled at the paper, causing it to become a crumpled roll. "It is now too wet to unfold, otherwise the paper will definitely tear," says Veen.
Then just wait until it has dried? “If we start fiddling with it, it might just crumble in our fingers. No, we’ll leave it alone. It’s going to a paper restorer. We hope he can preserve it.”
What would the Gorcumer have written? “Everyone here is curious about that,” says Veen. The professionals and volunteers have already discussed it extensively. A personal message, ask people to write one and they are all different. Historically, the tube is not very special, but that note, that voice from the past, makes it a nice mystery.”
Most of the finds in the excavation on the Krijtstraat are not a mystery. Almost everything that emerges from the earth can be named. During the search for the historic town house from the fourteenth century, several cesspits were found. In these, food remains as well as broken crockery disappeared. Containers full of shards have now been removed to be restored later.
"There are also some special things in there. For example, we found pieces of fourteenth-century glass. Glass was very expensive at that time and a real luxury product that was only affordable for the rich. And we found a piece of a special jug, one with lots of little faces on the neck. We have never found anything like that in Gorinchem before. Now we only hope to find the rest, because this jug was most likely accidentally destroyed during the excavation work.”
Anja Broeken
September 6, 2002
The Dordrecht resident