The planned programme of community test pit excavation as part of the CARE project was severely disrupted in 2020 by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. No test pit excavations were carried out at all in the Netherlands and UK, but in the Czech Republic and Poland some further test pit excavations were possible either before the… Read more CARE MSOC – OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS IN 2020
In 2019, a total of 61 test pits were excavated in eight rural communities in the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and UK as part of the CARE participative community archaeology project intended to advance knowledge of the archaeological potential and historic development of the settlements and the social impact of the activity. Overall, the results… Read more CARE MSoC – overview of progress in 2019
Fourteen test pits were excavated in Gemonde in August 2019 by more than 120 volunteers, organised by the local history club ‘Heemkundekring Den Hogert’. Finds processing was disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic, but initial findings from test pit 3 and 4 appear to confirm settlement on the coversand ridge in late prehistory. Pottery from test… Read more Gemonde test pit excavations 2019 – results
Gemonde is a settlement of c. 2,200 inhabitants located between Boxtel and Sint-Michielsgestel at the foot of a coversand ridge which flanks the river Dommel. The historic layout and buildings of Germonde are fairly well preserved and so too is the surrounding rural landscape. The village centre lies directly behind a large, elongated open field… Read more Gemonde test pit excavations – background
Seven test pits were excavated by more than 40 volunteers in Liempde in July 2019 organised by the local history club ‘Erfgoedvereniging Kèk Liemt’. The excavations aimed to establish when the medieval settlement clusters at the town hall and the Kerkeind barn church were first occupied and to see whether they were new foundations or… Read more Liempde test pit excavations 2019 – results
Liempde is a village of approximately 4800 inhabitants situated on a coversand ridge in the stream valley of the Dommel. It is characterized by a well-preserved historic centre amidst an intact agricultural landscape and the village has many national and municipal monuments, distinctive buildings and protected townscapes, along with a close-knit community and numerous active… Read more Liempde test pit excavations – background
Six test pits were excavated in Woensel in May 2019, in the Oude Toren area and the northern part of Het Broek. The excavations were carried out by 32 volunteers organised by the local archaeology club ‘Archeologische Vereniging Kempen en Peelland’. Despite the extensive recent development, pre-modern archaeological layers proved to be surprisingly well-preserved. The… Read more Woensel test pit excavations 2019 – results
The former village of Woensel is hidden beneath a modern suburb, and a map of the place today makes it look an unpromising site for investigations focussed on medieval settlement. However, although little remains above ground today, in the Middle Ages Woensel was a prominent settlement, the centre of a deanery and a parish centre.… Read more Woensel test pit excavation – background
Four test pits were excavated in Aarle in April 2019 with the local history club ‘Dye van Best’ in a event run as a pilot before the formal launch of the CARE project in the Netherlands. Only test pit 2 produced medieval pottery, which was of fifteenth century date. In test pits 2 and 9… Read more Aarle test pit excavations – results
Aarle now lies within Best, a mostly modern village of approximately 29,800 inhabitants which developed as an agglomeration of formerly separate hamlets sited along a main road connecting a marshland area in the north to extensive heathlands in the south. Administratively, these settlements used to be part of Oirschot, but in 1821, Aarle, Naastenbest, Verrenbest… Read more Aarle test pit excavation in 2019 – background