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. 

Day 4 of excavation: 26 June 2014

Today the project director, Marek Jasinski, decided that as we have more objects than we ever could have dreamed of, we would pause in the excavation of trench 1. Instead, we have dug four test pits of 50x50cm down the slope of the rubbish area. The aim here has been to see where would be a fruitful place to excavate in future seasons, as it’s clear that we have hardly scratched the surface of what exists. Common sense dictated that we would find more objects in the bottom test pit, but that’s not really what we found.

The problem is this. The slope on which we’re working undulates into banks and ditches. Is this a natural feature? Or do the ditches represent areas where holes were dug for rubbish, with the banks being the upcast soil? We think that the grey clay layer marks the sterile layer under the pits, but time and again we find  that this layer has objects in, meaning that pits were dug into it. It is possible that this clay was removed from the slope to make the Falstad pottery and the rubbish burnt and dumped in the pits. Certainly we’re finding evidence of burning within the pits. I carried out a small survey with a coring rod and it revealed that the land is really disturbed all over the slope, although the general picture seems to be that the ditches are more fruitful than the banks.

 So while Ragnhild and I dug the test pits (I found some barbed wire in mine!), Ragnar drew trench profiles and Lena and Mila spent the day labelling, bagging, recording and boxing all the objects found so far (see picture).

One of the themes of conversation today has been the Falstad Pottery. The prisoners worked in this building, and the fruits of their labour were sold by German soldiers in their canteens. I imagine that there might be some local people with examples of camp pottery in their cupboards. The prisoners experimented with colours of glazes and shapes of pots and fortunately for us, it seems that the wasters from the firing process were dumped in the pits, so we have a number of them to study and compare with the two on display in the museum in the basement of the Falstad Centre (see picture).

So, the key lesson learned by us all is that if ever you want to excavate a WWII camp, the rubbish pits are the first place to start!

(Blog post by Gilly Carr)

Day 3 of excavation: Wednesday 25 June 2014

Today work continued in quadrant A of trench one, which continued to reveal more and more objects - more than we can cope with. There is constantly a long line of buckets full of objects (and soil) next to the flotation tank as we find things faster than they can be washed.

Yesterday we found many animal bones, but today we found bottle after bottle, many of which were intact, and some of which still contained their original contents - cod liver oil, so important in Norway in the winter. The camp was a school before and after its use as a camp, so we think that the cod liver oil bottles and aluminium vitamin boxes which have also turned up date from that period.

The rubbish pit in trench one is huge. We're trying to dig down to the grey clay which is at the base of the pit, but we still haven't reached the bottom - the going is too slow with all of the objects that we find. And it doesn't help that smaller pits were dug into the larger rubbish pit, and these were dug into the clay, so even when we reach this layer, we still won't be at the bottom of the rubbish pit.

A number of the pottery pieces that we've found have 'PIF' scratched into the base, which indicates that it is Falstad pottery, made by the prisoners. There are also more food dishes made from recycled food tins, presumably by the prisoners. I love to see these small suggestions of the silent prisoner voice. We've also been finding a number of wine bottles recycled into water glasses, indicating recycling in a time of shortage.

There are two star finds today: a chamber pot and a frame of bars, which we think was attached to the window of the rooms. Interesting finds to indicate the materiality of internment!

(Blog post by Gilly Carr)

Day 2 of excavation: 24 June 2014

Yesterday I thought that excavating this site would be a dream. I forgot about the Norwegian gnats and midges which ate us all alive, despite the mosquito nets we wore over our faces!

Despite being bitten to death, nothing could defeat our enthusiasm for excavation, as every scrape of the trowel yielded half a dozen items for the finds tray, We found things faster than they could be washed and bagged. Today we focused on one area which we divided into quadrants A-D, and started on areas A and B. While B seemed to contain an old bed, perhaps from the camp, A was full of butchered animal bones, food tins, glass bottles and pottery. All of these items seemed to huddle into mini-clusters, suggested that each cluster was the result of a smaller rubbish bin. In one small area I found a comb, fragments of mirror and a medicine bottle, perhaps waste from the bathroom or medical area.

We found some great items today: some aluminium food tins that had been recycled and turned into food bowls. One had little handles attached and another had a prisoner number and initials added. This was probably the star find - it was glorious to find this example of trench art.

We also found a spoon, fork and knife, perhaps part of the camp equipment for prisoners (but not the knife); a coin, a forced labourer button-stud from a uniform, and a padlock - perhaps the original one from the camp gates!

Today's image shows just a small fraction of today's finds. I think that our finds area for washing and drying items will be full within the first 36 hours of the dig!

(Blog entry written by Gilly Carr)

23 June 2014: Day 1 of the excavation

Falstad Prison Camp or SS Strafgefangenenlager Falstad held around 4,200 prisoners between 1941 and 1945. They were mainly political prisoners from Norway, as well as POWs, forced labourers from other countries, Norwegian Jews and hostages. 215 of the prisoners were female.

This is a blog of the rescue excavation of the rubbish pits of Falstad prison camp. The dig is taking place from 23-27 June 2014. The project director is Professor Marek Jasinski from the Department of Historical Studies at NTNU, Norway. Professor Jasinski is working in collaboration with Dr Gilly Carr of Cambridge University and Dr Andrzej Ossowski from the Pomeranian Medical University of Szczecin (PMUS). Other team members are from NTNU and PMUS.

The sponsors of the excavation are NTNU, the Falstad Centre, the Directorate of Cultural Heritage in Osloand the County Administration of North Trøndelag.

The focus of the excavation is the rubbish pits, which are located on a slope outside the camp. While several undulations in the slope indicate the area of pits, it seems that the camp rubbish was strewn all over this area. Today we went over the area with a metal detector and dug some holes just to see what was there and to get an idea of the size of the area we are interested in. In these holes, and indeed strewn about the site, are wine and beer bottles and broken glass, aluminium tins, food tins, white china and red-brown pottery. We also found a perfume bottle, a tin which once held vitamins, fish bones, butchered animal (cow) bones, and part of a mortar. This site certainly holds the promise of some exciting finds.
We also went into the basement of the camp commandant's house, where we found graffiti from which read 'Kugnerman SS', and some crossed out swastikas. There is a small exhibition inside the commandant's house today which focuses on the graves of prisoners who were shot in the nearby forest.

Tomorrow we will start the official excavation.