Crane operator unearths 500-year-old sewage pit in Netherlands. See rare items inside
While working at a plaza in the Netherlands, a crane operator noticed a beehive-like structure reemerging from the dirt. It turned out to be a 500-year-old sewage pit with several rare wooden items inside.
Construction worker Sem Visser started digging into a square in downtown Alkmaar as part of a project to install an underground waste storage container. As he dug, Visser unearthed an old brick structure and alerted officials, the city’s heritage office said in a Dec. 3 news release.
A photo shows the partially exposed domed structure. At the center sits a half-opened lid.
Archaeologists identified the chamber as a cesspit, or sewage pit, used for disposing of human waste and other household trash between roughly 1450 and 1550, Alkmaar municipality said in a Dec. 10 news release.
Hoping to find something worthwhile, archaeologists scooped out the medieval muck and sifted through it looking for artifacts. They then took the finds to a laboratory to be washed and analyzed.
The efforts paid off, revealing two very rare wooden items: a clog and a measuring tool, archaeologists said.
Clogs are a type of traditional wooden shoe and an iconic symbol of the Netherlands. These shoes, however, are rarely found by archaeologists because wood decomposes when exposed to oxygen.
The 500-year-old clog found in Alkmaar was preserved by the muddy sewage and almost complete, officials said. A photo shows the broken but easily recognizable footwear.
Archaeologists described the medieval clog as special because it is made of birch wood and designed for daily use in the city, not for working. Because of its smaller size, the shoe likely belonged to a woman.
Excavations also uncovered a wooden grain measure, a scoop-like tool used for quantifying grain in agricultural trade, archaeologists said. A photo shows the circular base of the tool and its band-like outer ring. Overall, it looks like a shallow bucket with sloping sides.
Archaeologists described the grain measure as a very rare find and only the second such artifact found in the country.
The 500-year-old sewage pit also contained pottery fragments, animal bones, clothing hooks and rings, officials said.
After emptying the sewage pit, archaeologists closed the lid and reburied the structure. They plan to continue restoring the wooden finds.
Alkmaar is a city in the northwestern part of the Netherlands and a roughly 25-mile drive north from Amsterdam.
Google Translate was used to translate the news releases from the Alkmaar municipality and the city’s heritage office.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Crane operator unearths 500-year-old sewage pit in Netherlands. See rare items inside."
