Digging in the graves, team of archaeologists at work at the Grote Kerk

GORINCHEM – In a bone pit next to the Grote Kerk (Big church) lie two skulls. An archaeologist carefully removes them from the heavy clay. He notes that they are probably men and points out the shape of the eye sockets and eyebrows. A few meters further, archaeologists are busy uncovering a grave. The graves were found when the municipality wanted to install a fire-fighting water pipe last year. According to Hans van Breugel of the municipality, this archaeological research is necessary before the pipe can be installed.

heavy clay

There was a cemetery around the church from the thirteenth century to 1830. Only the strip that is needed for the water supply is now being investigated, to a depth of about one meter. The fieldwork is being done by seven archaeologists and a few volunteers from Hollandia in Zaandijk. They carefully dig up the ground. The graves are cleaned with a trowel and shovel. No Indiana Jones scenes here. Archaeological research in the Netherlands mainly involves digging in heavy clay. Fortunately, the weather is good during the fieldwork. The archaeologists do not find any jewelry or pottery, as Eliza van Rooijen knows.

East-west direction

There is also little difference between the graves, they are all the same size. The coffins are also comparable. The rich and the poor lie together. It is difficult to see how old the graves are from the soil layers. In cemeteries, people often bury each other in different periods. Only with very expensive techniques can it be determined how old a grave is. The graves are all in an east-west direction. Van Rooijen: "That has to do with the Christian story about the Last Day. People lie with their feet to the east, so that on the Last Day they will stand with their faces to the east when they are resurrected. Clergy lie the other way around so that they look at their followers on the Last Day.

Research

All finds are carefully photographed and the details recorded on drawings. Then the bones and skeletons are dug out of the ground. A physical anthropologist examines the skeletons for age, gender and possible diseases. Remains of the coffin can provide clues about the period in which someone lived. Everything is examined and documented. Then all skeletons and bones found are reburied in the general cemetery.

Kicky Daoud
Gorcumse Courant
May 28, 2008