GORINCHEM – The sun is burning brightly this afternoon. Martin Veen of the archaeology working group of Gorinchem is wearing a cap to protect his skull from the blinding rays. Many are lying on the beach, but Veen and the others are standing in and around a large construction pit. They are looking for the mystery of the Chalk Street.
The archaeologists have not yet found any truly shocking things in the Krijtstraat, but there is a slight excitement this afternoon. Alfred ter Wal and Ingrid Cleijne from BAAC have uncovered an old foundation that is at least a few centuries old. However, it is not yet possible to say from which period the foundation actually originates.
The archaeologists have only been working in the Krijtstraat for a few days and still have to connect all the finds. All the objects found, including a few old markers, are therefore immediately secured, so that later it will be immediately clear where and when the finds were found in the ground.
It is known: the archaeologists hope to uncover (part of) the court of the Van Arkel family. The soil is therefore meticulously examined. Men search with a metal detector for the presence of old shards in the soil, for example. An excavator carefully digs the soil layer by layer. The first shards from the thirteenth century have now been found and Veen is very happy about that. "We have never found remains from this period so close to the city center." The objects that were found a few years ago during archaeological excavations in the Happy Corner were found, came from the fourteenth century and the 450 coins (!) found during an investigation on the Kazerneplein dated from an even later period.
Drawings not old enough
The archaeologists don't really know what they can find in the Krijtstraat. The oldest drawings date from 1580 and those maps only give a very general layout of what the terrain must have looked like then.
Where something is, Veen does not dare to say. Veen: "We hope that the found objects will give us an idea of the situation as it was in the thirteenth century in the Krijtstraat. But we can do no more than hope."
If necessary, the archaeologists use toothbrushes to make sure nothing is damaged. The team sees the Krijtstraat area as a unique opportunity to discover how the flag hung in Gorinchem in the past. And the archaeology working group wants to use that opportunity.
Remarkable: the archaeologists are delighted when they find waste. “Waste tells us a lot about the former inhabitants,” Veen explains. If we find ‘expensive’ food remains such as birds shot during a hunt or the remains of sea fish, we know that rich people must have lived there. Compare it with your own circumstances. Do you throw away your shoes because you no longer like the colour or do you wear them out completely? Such a choice often has to do with your income. However, archaeologists can see from a pair of shoes found in a few centuries whether you were well off.”
The real archaeological work, however, only begins after seven weeks. The excavation work takes up only a fraction of the total work. The real research into the history of Gorinchem only begins after all the objects have been collected.
Objects are linked, links are made. According to Veen, it will take a few more years before archaeologists can say with certainty what happened in the past in the Krijtstraat.