Roman graves, Steel helmet, Gas Mask, Machine Gun and Hand Grenade

[Westfront]

I helped out on an archie dig today again. The area is cleared for a gravel pit and will be gone soon. Adjacent to a roman villa it was necessary to research the site with the help of a metal detector.

How it looks, topsoil is removed and so are 99% of the finds.

House foundations in red sandstone

Coin fresh in the daylight after 1700 years

One iron signal provoked me to dig. With turning the soil i noticed i hit right into a cremation grave. I stopped immediately and called the supervisor in. Carefully cleaning up the area around revealed two more cremation graves.

After lunch the operator called me because he hit a exact round staining with humus around. That must be quite modern and living in a battlefield a metal detector can help a lot. He was right, a lot of iron signals in the circle. I decided to dig one of them and hit the barrel of a German MG34 machine gun. Possible anti aircraft post. We stopped and will dig that later.

I had finished the main area with not much to show other than a dead worn hammered, i strolled around a bit to make out another hotspot to excavate. A huge iron signal was next and with a bit of digging the bowl of a steel helmet became visible.

Saved...

Leather lining still in

But there was more in. Next was the round shape of a gas mask drum

With the gas mask a German hand grenade Model 39 and a Mauser clip came up.

More to come with the next outing there.....

 

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[CRUSADER]

Yeap 99% of finds in the spoil. But still worth getting involved.

 

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[uglymailman]

Nice work Lu. How deep were the finds? Just guessing the flat look 5 or 6 foot down. Do the graves get removed? Here, it would either shut the project down or they would be moved for internment somewhere else. Good luck.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Very cool finds!

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Wow amazing post this are museum pieces loops did I accidentally swallow a Roman coin while I was eating lunch lol. Thanks for sharing my friend. Great post

They must make jeans with secret pockets. Or maybe brush your hand off and drop the coin in your boot.

 

[califteacher]

I am jealous of your ability to access such historical sites--From the Romans to World War II. It is an experience most hobbyists will never have, but extremely interesting to see and read about. Thank you so much for sharing your finds and their background.

 

[Inspector]

Awesome opportunity to take part with the search, that's some awesome saves, I'm kinda surprised that they even let you take the pictures. GL & ty4sharing

 

[Westfront]

Nice work Lu. How deep were the finds? Just guessing the flat look 5 or 6 foot down. Do the graves get removed? Here, it would either shut the project down or they would be moved for internment somewhere else. Good luck.

They removed about 3' top soil. Only deep foundation parts are still in and some of the graves. These will be completely removed and as there is no thing like a cemetery for ancient burials they will end in a box between a lot of other boxes in a special room in the museum.