A spoon, a plate, coins, a tube of toothpaste. Everyone has it at home, but it gets extra value when it comes up in the Kamp Westerbork memorial center. Archaeologist Yftinus van Popta was working for two days this week, because we worked on fields where there used to be barracks.
“The stories are really directly below the surface. You can find everything at a few centimeters,” says Van Popta. Sometimes he sees stuff with the naked eye after milling or tagging.
Furthermore, a metal detector is important tools. “If the detector beeps there is metal, but often more. Sometimes a kind of waste where things lie together. Then you will also find glass or crockery, for example.” And there is a lot: “When you put a scoop into the ground, bring the material up.”
“I watched with a ground drill where the really old ground layers start. At a depth of fifty centimeters you will arrive at the Stone Age, about eight thousand years before Christ. And immediately on top of that the former camp was built.”
Very ordinary things tell special stories. According to Van Popta, finds do not have to be unique to have value. “I try to be a bit selective, but take with you what something about the use of the site says. Food supply, hygiene, sports and play. Then you can find twenty tubes toothpaste, which makes it clear that there was attention for hygiene.”
The archaeologist makes the comparison with Auschwitz extermination camp. There are large showcases full of shoes. “And it is precisely this mass that tells the story of the extermination camp.”
The tube of toothpaste found Van Popta is Van Tin, with a plastic cap. “We hate plastic and the pollution, but it helps to preserve things.” Van Popta carefully turns the cap of the Prodent-Tube to discover that there is still a leftover. “It has been dehydrated and composed, but there is still toothpaste in it. I still vaguely smell a mint-air.” Decorates your teeth, “it says in French.”
A can of a can of Popta also makes a curious can of Popta. “Very simple: what did they ate there?”
The toothpaste can probably be linked to Woonoord Schattenberg. This also applies to two coins of 1 cent. “From the Wilhelmina time. Most money from that period comes from 1948, which is one of these coins too. The other comes from 1950. So probably also from Schattenberg.”
Most finds will have to do with the residential resort. “That of course also has the longest existence, from 1951 to 1971.” Van Popta also saw traces of the fire that set three barracks in the ash in 1958. “I also found traces of: distorted glass, melted metal, burned wood.”
Much is already known about the history of the former transit camp and Woonoord Schattenberg. “Images, stories, photos, the big story is well known. But what these small finds can add are the personal stories. The daily life, we want to tell about that.”
The finds took Van Popta to the Archaeological Consultancy Raap in Drachten, where his workplace is when he is not on the field. They are further investigated there. “Cauteable materials are treated to retain them. With metal objects we ensure that they do not rust any further. And of course the things clean.”
That helps Van Popta to find the stories with the objects. “A serving spoon may have a brand. You can only see that once the spoon has been cleaned. Then I can continue with the story.”