Dig Hill 80: Presentation of Findings - Ypres Event

Our last man will finally be laid to rest. He was recovered during our @DigHill80 project, and while his exact identity could not be uncovered, the evidence was sufficient to determine that he had served with the South African Infantry. https://t.co/TXmCy2STl1

Our last man will finally be laid to rest. He was recovered during our project, and while his exact identity could not be uncovered, the evidence was sufficient to determine that he had served with the South African Infantry. https://t.co/bq2vZYYUYJ

Today, we were privileged to attend the reburial of 4 French soldiers at Saint-Charles de Potyze. Our teams were responsible for their recovery: a Tirailleur Sénégalais, a Chasseur and a French soldier, all unknown. And Sgt Valentin Menetre (2e B. Chasseur à Pied).

Little time to post lately, but didn't want to withhold these from you. I keep repeating myself, but the preservation of the artefacts from Frezenberg is exceptional. Hard to believe these were buried for over 100 years on the battlefields of the Ypres Salient. #FWW #Archaeology

The @DigHill80 report is still a work in progress. Due to budget constraints and other commitments, it's mostly evening work at the moment. The ultimate deadline is the end of this year, so bear with me a little more. Here are some snapshots of the report as a sneak preview

A wooden shelter was also uncovered @DigHill80, and it might be one of the best-preserved shelters ever encountered. The preservation of the wood and sandbags was incredible. It was located at Sachsen Graben and could be accessed via a stair #FWW #Archaeology

The foundations and cellars of the old buildings from the pre-war miller's site @DigHill80 have been remarkably well-preserved. Some nice photographs of the miller's house, showcasing the cellar and cellar stairs, as well as the doorstep of the front door. #Archaeology

The preservation of the large barn was possibly even better. It featured an enormous cellar with supporting arches. Around it, there were smaller cellar spaces. In one corner, you can observe the impact of an artillery shell that had penetrated down to the floor. @DigHill80

In one of the cellars of the large barn @DigHill80, a shelter had been constructed using concrete blocks. It comprised two rooms, one large and one small. Opposite the entrance, there was an open space in the cellar, with the eastern wall removed, likely to access the complex.

I have been working on fine-tuning the GIS data of @DigHill80 in the past few days. Here is a map highlighting the trenches and pre-war buildings projected onto a recent aerial photo, as well as aerial photos from 1915, 1916, and 1918. #FWW #Archaeology

To finish our excavation, we were rewarded with the best preserved SMLE rifle we’ve ever seen being unearthed. Only a few inches underneath the one we shared yesterday, together with another shovel they were all in bomb craters on top of the old German trench #FWW #Archaeology

Sometimes things surface that look like they were buried only yesterday. These .303 cartridges look brand new, as does the Stielhandgranate on which it can still be read how long it takes before detonation #FWW #Archaeology

One for the war bores: The old flint pebble war-time road covered by the current one. Underneath, the green glauconite tertiary sands that form one of those heavy fought over ridges around Ypres.

#OTD in 1917, Pte. John Lambert was killed near Langemark. Being buried in the field his body was lost until 2016 when we discovered his remains together with 7 others. He was identified in 2020 and reburied @CWGC New Irish Farm Cemetery in 2022. https://t.co/Hi8ZXjvbVs

Finishing our report on the excavation in Wijtschate Hospicestraat (2020). We made some orthomosaics to load into our GIS. Happy with the results so had some fun making this model from one of the stairs leading into the Kortestollen (Wijtschaete Catacoombs) #FWW #Archaeology

Looking back on a very special day. Pte Lambert and his comrades were laid to rest @cwgc New Irish Farm Cemetery Afterwards we took his next of kin to the spot where we found them 6 years ago. A moment never to forget @wardetectives #Nomanshouldbeleftbehind #FWW #Archaeology

Shame I never got there before, but today I paid a quick visit to the Westerbegraafplaats in Ghent. In addition to over 30,000 civilian graves, there are also soldiers from both World Wars buried here.

A forgotten relic of the #FWW near Leffinge, where the German Marinekorps built this Mausoleum on their military cemetery. The burials were concentrated to Vladslo and Langemark in the 1950s but the Mausoleum remained. The terrain is now used as a civilian cemetery

Close to where @RaphDeBrant and I were doing some fieldwork, we encountered this relic from the #FWW. Who knows where we were the last few days? #Archaeology

Last week we cleaned the finds from the last phase of our excavation. The level of preservation is something we’ve never seen before. Here are some examples: - LG drums - Stokes mortar crate - a complete entrenching tool - painted stakes #FWW #Archaeology