Eeklo (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Archaeologists in Eeklo, led by Tomas Bradt, discovered a 14th-15th century oven. Around 250 visitors, including Elise Ryckaert, explored the site with free guidance, which also revealed skeletons (13th-17th century) and cart tracks (pre-1240).
People who visited Eeklo recently saw a big old oven from the 14th and 15th centuries. Nobody knows for sure what the oven was used for and officials mentioned that Eeklo is called “Baker’s City” because of a story from long ago. Tomas Bradt, the archaeologist who is studying the oven, said they are trying to figure out why it was built there.
He mentioned that maybe it was a place where everyone in the town baked bread together on special days or at the market. Or maybe it was a place where people would get together to bake and talk. The scientists want to learn more about how the oven was used in medieval Eeklo, so they can understand the city’s history even better.
We are investigating why such a large oven structure could have been here,
says archaeologist Tomas Bradt.
What did 250 visitors discover at Eeklo’s archaeological site?
According to the officials, lots of people went to see the oven, including families with kids, people who love history, and people from Eeklo who wanted to learn more about their town. One of them was Elise Ryckaert, who brought her 10-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.
She walked by the site every day, and she was curious about what was buried there for so long. According to Elise, it was great to be able to imagine what it was like. The tours were popular. She mentioned that archaeology helps bring back stories that were forgotten.
The tours in Eeklo weren’t just about the old oven. People also found skeletons from the 13th to the 17th centuries. They also found tracks from carts that were made before 1240. Officials said that this is important because it shows how people moved things around and traded in the area a long time ago.
They mentioned that there was also something that might be a ditch from the time of the religious wars, which could help us understand the fighting that happened in Eeklo. Archaeologist Tomas Bradt said that all of these things help us learn more about Eeklo’s history from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. People in Eeklo are now more interested in their history, and they want to learn more.
About 250 people came, and even people who weren’t signed up came to see the tours. The city leader for history, Ann Van den Driessche, said she was happy that so many people came. Soon, the place where they dug will be covered up again, and the area in front of the town hall will be changed.
He mentioned that after the summer, they will start working on the part where the cafes and restaurants are, and they will dig there too. Maybe they will find more old things. Eeklo is trying to keep its history while also making the city better for the future.
