Anyone who thought there were gold coins or historic cups were disappointed. But there it was not to do during the archaeological research this week in the creature garden in the center of Den Burg. On the spot where there was a monastery around 1400, Archeology West-Friesland investigated the canal of an earlier Ringwal that ran around the Burg.
The reason for the excavations was the removal of a sick tree that stood in the park. That was reason for archaeologists to dig meters deeply to see what the history of the Burg looked like in the ninth century. The excavations could not be performed overnight. The permit had to be waited for no less than a year and a half.
“This is not just a piece of park,” says Sander Gerritsen, project leader of Archeology West-Friesland. “The creature garden is part of an archaeological national monument. Every spade of land can tell something about the past of Texel.”
In 2017, research was also done near the creation garden. “We found the remnants of a cretring but also of a monastery site. Around 1400 there was a monastery here.”
That research has also provided new insights for the archaeologists. “It was assumed that the Great Ring around the Burg was built in the fourteenth century. We did not believe that on the basis of other sites. This is more part of an early medieval reinforcement.”
This time the archaeologists were about ground tracks. “If finds are found, then that is a bonus,” says Gerritsen. “That provides information about the date and what the people there used to do. And the lack of finds indicates that there was no habitation either. And that is important information for us.” One big shard was found, probably from the ninth century.
Archaeological research in Den Burg is not new. The interest in the underground history of this place goes back to the Second World War. Then the German commander Jacob Friesen was hurryed seriously for the first time – out of curiosity to the round form of the Burg and the reference to a ‘burg’. He found remains of an early medieval Ringwalburg. Since then, several excavations have taken place, and slowly but surely archaeologists unravel the story of this place.
The expectations for the excavations were not high. “We expected that there was a canal here,” says Gerritsen. “And then you really find it. It was actually bingo. When you start digging, it is totally not clear where the canal would have walked. We were now in the middle of it and the canal is clearly signing. Then you are happy and we know that we have dug in the right place.”
The oldest traces in the creature garden even date from around 1100 BC, from the late source time. “At that time, there was an advocate here, perhaps even lived. And in the following centuries, until Roman times, people lived here with their cattle in wooden houses.”
Anyone who has built the Ringwalburg in the early medievs-the Frisians or the Franks-is still a mystery. “But the fact that there was such a reinforcement makes it clear that this place was already strategically important at the time.”
Photos and descriptions were made of the excavations and these are well documented. The work will probably last until Friday. Then the hole will be closed again and a new tree will be planted.