In Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, a district in the Antwerp municipality of Sint-Katelijne-Waver, archaeologists are busy excavating more than 160 bodies. In the spring, a building contractor came across the remains of a 19th-century cemetery while carrying out works on the sewers. ‘The remains are incredibly well preserved. They provide us with a lot of information to tell us how people lived at that time,’ says archaeologist Nandy Dolman.
Archaeologists excavate 160 ‘incredibly well preserved’ bodies from 19th century Flemish cemetery
Colin Clapson
Published:
In the centre of the hamlet of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, you can't miss the excavation work in progress. Around the church, several archaeologists have been working for weeks now to uncover an historic cemetery. ‘In the spring, by chance, a large number of human remains were found here,’ explains archaeologist Nandy Dolman.
Remains remarkably intact
‘We have already excavated more than 160 complete coffins, with intact bodies and grave goods. This provides extremely valuable information for our research,’ says Nandy.
‘The cemetery probably dates from the early 19th century, because the graves are located on top of a canal that was filled in at the end of the 18th century. The cemetery was probably in use until the end of the 19th century. So we are talking about burials during a period of about 100 years.’
Cemetery as a meeting place
The skeletons excavated by the archaeologists are those of men, women and children of all ages. ‘Of course, we’ve found many bones and a lot of dental remains. But we also excavated many grave goods including rosaries. This points to the religious fervour of these individuals. The Christian faith was very important at that time.’
Nandy and her fellow archaeologists also found many ceramic balls, similar to marbles. ‘It isn’t that strange that we find such objects. The cemetery used to be an important part of society. The fair and the market were held here. Children also came to play here. That's why you see many objects that you wouldn't normally associate with a cemetery.’
Examining the finds
Everything the archaeologists find is taken to their office for examination. ‘We're going to wash the objects and prepare them for examination,’ explains Nandy.
It is unlikely that the residents of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver will ever find out who the objects belonged to. ‘We cannot link the objects and the bodies to a specific person. The graves are anonymous. But we can determine the sex and age of the skeletons. And in some cases, we can also deduce their social status.’