Centuries-old ‘piss poles of Hoorn’ turn out to be golden treasures for archaeologists

For centuries the cannons were half hidden in the ground, but as the museum is being renovated, a unique golden opportunity presents itself to curious archaeologists. “The cannons are finally being pulled out of the ground so we can investigate where they actually come from.”

The excavations under the Westfries Museum have already started for several months and because it is the oldest, richest and most historic site in Hoorn, the archaeologists expect to find special finds in the near future. The opportunity arose because the Westfries Museum will be radically restored, renovated and expanded in the coming years.

According to municipal archaeologist Michiel Bartels, it will be a lengthy and precise operation. “We expect the renovation to be finished around mid-2025, but for that we first have to excavate five meters of archeology, spread over six different medieval buildings. So that is really substantial work.”

guns

In front of the Westfries Museum there were a total of three cannons in the ground that served as ‘pimp posts’ for centuries. A few weeks ago the first two cannons were taken out of the ground and this week the last and largest cannon was also lifted out of the ground.

Archaeologist Sil Veenstra is convinced that the cannons are older than the year 1727. “And I base that on this print”, explains Veenstra when he points to the print from the year 1727.

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“This already shows the cannons that have been put in the ground here,” the archaeologist continues enthusiastically. “On the basis of this print, we can therefore say with certainty that they were already put in the ground before 1727 in any case. And that is why I already know that they are not late eighteenth century cannons.”

Research

The cannon, which weighs no less than 730 kilograms according to the scales of the tow truck, will be examined by the archaeologists in the coming months. “As you can see, the back of the cannon is well preserved,” concludes Veenstra. “This is because this side has not been in the ground and has also been varnished several times.”

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Because of the lacquer layers, it has become a challenge for the archaeologists to trace any marks on the cannon. “We will do our best to see if we can still see something, because then we can also say something more easily about the origin of the gun.”