Day 5: 27th June 2014 - final day of dig

Today was the final day of the dig and a day to look back at what we’ve achieved and to draw some early conclusions.

On 8th May 2011, Liberation Day in Norway, Marek Jasinski paid a visit to the camp as part of the wider ceremonies taking place on that day. He walked along a newly-created path which has been introduced in the camp grounds, alongside a stream. As he walked, he found a number of camp-related objects such as aluminium soup bowls, a few pieces of Falstad pottery, and a piece of porcelain, all dating to the period that the building was used as a prison camp. Marek wondered whether this area was the area of the camp rubbish dump which he had been searching for for a number of years.

The aims of this rescue dig were, therefore, to discover whether this area was the rubbish dump of the camp and, if so, to get it protected. We can confirm beyond any doubt that it certainly was the rubbish dump, and that it is larger than was originally thought. The next stage is to carry out a research excavation of this site as we believe that there is great potential and need for further research. Our dig has found over a thousand objects and possibly many more (we’re still counting!)

So the dig has been a big success. The number of objects indicates the potential of the rubbish pit of the prison camp from an archaeological point of view. For us, butchered animal bones, fragments of pottery used or made in the camp, bits of window glass and wine bottles, and crumpled food tins are riches, although they wouldn’t be interesting for someone hunting Nazi relics! No Nazi badges or belt buckles, no dog tags, and no guns, but that is not what we wanted to find. Our highest hopes were of finding objects that speak of the prisoner experience of the camp and we’ve been able to do that. We’ve also found parts of camp buildings, such as bricks, a door handle, window bars, glass, door hinges and some small bits of barbed wire. There are also traces of the full biography of the camp building, including the period of when it was a school after the post-war collaborators’ camp closed. From this period we have cod liver oil bottles and vitamin tins. We also have pharmacy glass bottles, toothpaste tubes, medicaments, a toothbrush and mirror glass, and more work will be needed to work out which period these date to.

So today we filled in the trenches (see photo) and did a core survey of an area we have our eye on for next season (see photo). Meanwhile Andrzej did a geo-radar survey of another part of the camp grounds and found evidence for the foundations of the camp pottery hut, which are also worth exploring archaeologically at a later date. 

We’ve had a great week and it’s been a great opportunity and a privilege to work on this project. I sincerely hope that this project gets funded to continue for more seasons as it’s yielding archaeologically rich results and has great potential. Through archaeology we are gaining a new insight into Falstad camp.