Neat rescue archaeology pics here of a trench buried by shellfire and excavated:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099187/Bodies-21-German-soldiers-buried-alive-WW1-trench-perfectly-preserved-94-years-later.html
An eerie sight to be sure.
I saw this earlier this week and was going to post it on Languish but got sidetracked. :cool:
Well not perfectly preserved. It was full of dirt.
Would have been really cool if there were still soldiers there awaiting the whistle to leap out of the trench. Sort of like those Jap soldiers they found on those Pacific islands who thought the war was still going on. The second war, in their case I mean.
Cool.
the dig of a lifetime if you're participating
Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on February 16, 2012, 01:51:33 AM
the dig of a lifetime if you're participating
That's what they told the participants back in 1918.
Kinda eerie.
Wow. That is damn well preserved.
But looks like the poor locals won't get their road. :(
Quote from: Tyr on February 16, 2012, 10:12:38 AM
Wow. That is damn well preserved.
But looks like the poor locals won't get their road. :(
My guess is that this is "rescue archaeology", which means that the road will go through after everything is dug & recorded. I dunno if it is a significant enough site to actually be preserved.
Quote from: Malthus on February 16, 2012, 10:30:59 AM
My guess is that this is "rescue archaeology", which means that the road will go through after everything is dug & recorded. I dunno if it is a significant enough site to actually be preserved.
I think it might be. Most surviving trenches are either rebuilt or restored, there aren't many (if any) original trenches out there.
Not this well preserved, at least.
Are there any more pics available anywhere else on this? They said they found soldiers sitting upright on benches & some other interesting stuff.
My guess is that all the wood parts of the structure would deteriorate pretty rapidly when exposed to the elements, and I'm not sure how easily you can preserve wood that permeated with soil. I would think it might be better to rebuild a section of trench that can be maintained/preserved in a national park or other less valuable land (do they have anything like this in France or Belgium?) than to try to keep this one.
Also, I loved the comments on how they should preserve the trench and force politicians to walk through it, as though politicians *never* weigh the human cost of going to war.
Quote from: derspiess on February 16, 2012, 11:42:26 AM
Also, I loved the comments on how they should preserve the trench and force politicians to walk through it, as though politicians *never* weigh the human cost of going to war.
I think it's odder to think that a politician is going to have the human cost of war driven home by walking through a hole in the ground.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 16, 2012, 11:46:59 AM
Quote from: derspiess on February 16, 2012, 11:42:26 AM
Also, I loved the comments on how they should preserve the trench and force politicians to walk through it, as though politicians *never* weigh the human cost of going to war.
I think it's odder to think that a politician is going to have the human cost of war driven home by walking through a hole in the ground.
That, too.
Quote from: derspiess on February 16, 2012, 11:42:26 AM
Are there any more pics available anywhere else on this? They said they found soldiers sitting upright on benches & some other interesting stuff.
My guess is that all the wood parts of the structure would deteriorate pretty rapidly when exposed to the elements, and I'm not sure how easily you can preserve wood that permeated with soil. I would think it might be better to rebuild a section of trench that can be maintained/preserved in a national park or other less valuable land (do they have anything like this in France or Belgium?) than to try to keep this one.
Also, I loved the comments on how they should preserve the trench and force politicians to walk through it, as though politicians *never* weigh the human cost of going to war.
The wood wil keep a while, but not too long.
There's the "Dodengang" in Diksmuide, that's a reconstructed/maintained trenchsystem, there's another section somewhere near Ieper (in the vicinity of what use to be Flanders Language Valley) and I'm aware that there are a few places that haven't been nivellated after the war, meaning that all the bombcraters are still there.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 16, 2012, 11:46:59 AM
I think it's odder to think that a politician is going to have the human cost of war driven home by walking through a hole in the ground.
THIS is how horrible war was 100 years ago! Think about that next time you vote to fight a war 100 years in the past Senator.
Verdun is the place to go for craters.
Quote from: The Brain on February 17, 2012, 12:54:07 AM
Verdun is the place to go for craters.
Better than the moon?
Quote from: derspiess on February 16, 2012, 11:42:26 AM
My guess is that all the wood parts of the structure would deteriorate pretty rapidly when exposed to the elements, and I'm not sure how easily you can preserve wood that permeated with soil.
It takes some time and resources but the wood can be treated for preservation. They'll need to enclose the area for protection, though, and I doubt it would be able to stand the strain of tourism.
Quote from: derspiess on February 16, 2012, 11:42:26 AMI would think it might be better to rebuild a section of trench that can be maintained/preserved in a national park or other less valuable land (do they have anything like this in France or Belgium?) than to try to keep this one.
I don't get this. You finally get to have a unique piece of history, but you'd rather have a reconstructed version because it's more convenient? :huh: