Archeology enthusiasts can indulge themselves in the coming weeks. In Cuijk, the remains of an age -old Roman jetty are brought out after more than 1500 years. Everyone from behind the laptop can watch via a live camera on the helmet of the divers.
“This is also a unique project for me as an archaeologist,” says Wilfried Hessing, director of excavation company Vestigia. His team normally searches for shipwrecks in the Wadden Sea or the IJsselmeer. “But a drowned location from Roman times, that may happen once every ten years.”
Indiana Jones in the Maas
And those who have always dreamed of being in the shoes of Indiana Jones of Lara Croft is lucky. Divers get a camera on their helmet to film everything live under water. Everything is via a live stream broadcast. People can also watch the pontoon on the surface. And can they see from their reactions how special something is? That may depend on who the find makes.
“Archaeologists find nothing more than beautiful finds,” says Hessing. “You have people who respond with scientific distance and others who are enthusiastic about the pontoon. The latter will have to restrain themselves, otherwise we will get too many waves.”
Strategic
In Roman times, Cuijk – then Ceuclum – was an important border post. Here the road between Nijmegen and Maastricht crossed the river. In earlier excavations it was confirmed that the village was primarily a civil settlement. But with the construction of the jetty in the fourth century, the village also got a military role. “That period is quite dark. We know little because there are few locations,” explains Hessing.
Time is penetrating
The archaeologists hope that the wooden scaffolding posts and loose finds give more clarity about Roman life along the Maas at the time. For example, the scaffolding posts are looked at and the divers also look for things that fell overboard hundreds of years ago, such as earthenware, glass and metals.
Divers digging were 10 centimeters to a meter deep. Large objects are stored by hand, smaller material is sieved above water. Dozens of posts are also pulled out of the river bottom with cranes.
And that must happen quickly. Where archaeologists normally leave finds in the ground, this piece of heritage threatens to disappear forever. The Maas flows harder due to climate change and screws of heavy ships slowly destroy. “We have tried to protect it with sandbags and cloths, but that didn’t work,” says Hessing. “Whole pieces have already disappeared. Excaving was the only option.”