Photo report: Among archaeologists

26 February 2018

Archaeologists are, almost by definition, caught in the no-man’s land between the hidden and the public, the concealed and the visible. The Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA) of the University of Groningen has a very good reputation internationally, and its degree programme has been known as the best in the Netherlands for years. But where is the institute located? And, even if you know, what goes on behind the walls, in the cellars and in the attic of those monumental buildings surrounding the University Library? What happens in that somewhat atypical department of the Faculty of Arts? Digging, polishing, restoring, drawing, researching... This photo report gives you a look behind the scenes of the extraordinary and fascinating work at the Institute of Archaeology. Photos by Hesterliena Wolthuis.

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The Groninger Institute of Archaeology

The site shack. Excavations begin with digging tools. Rulers, ropes, frames for land survey instruments, helmets, shovels: Everything you need can be found in ‘The Shack’.

The rinsing cellar. Finds are further rinsed, sieved and brushed here if necessary. There is also a toothbrush for the finer details.

The drawing room. Excavated objects such as pottery and jewellery are drawn true to life for close study and comparison later on. Shape, size, decoration, damage: everything is recorded for later study and for creating reconstruction drawings.

The restoration lab. Cleaning finds, sometimes with chemical agents, sometimes with an ultrasonic vibration device. Removing the chloride, which causes corrosion, from iron. Puzzling pots back together from shards. All of this takes place in the restoration lab, so that archaeologists can study the restored material.

The bone attic. The bone attic is where students and researchers can compare finds from excavations to items in the reference collection. What animal does this bone belong to and which bone is it?

The bone attic

The documentation room. All dolmens were measured by the famous archaeologist Van Giffen in 1918. This resulted in a dolmen atlas with drawings, maps and photos. This is an original drawing of a measured dolmen and a drawn front cover of the atlas prototype.

The seed collection. The Groningen Institute of Archaeology has a very extensive seed collection, including seeds, grains, flowers and fruits from all over the world. Some of these are thousands of years old. Whenever you find a seed, this collection will tell you which plant it is from. This is important for making claims about agriculture and domestic habits from the past.

Last modified:12 March 2020 9.23 p.m.

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