Stone house of the chieftain of Tengshausen found

Photo: Excavation site on a mound near Tengshausen with remains of 16th-century buildings (photo: Stefan Krabath, NIhK).

Photo: During the excavations, a rectangular foundation made of large bricks was also discovered, which belonged to the substructure of a stone house (photo: Jessica Blaumann, University of Tübingen).

As part of a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the NIhK is conducting an excavation in Wangerland near Tengshausen, Friesland district, under the direction of Dr Stefan Krabath and Torsten Becker. They are supported by students from the Universities of Tübingen and Heidelberg. The aim of the investigation is to clarify what the medieval castle looked like and to research how the dwelling mound with the former fortification could be reached from the North Sea. Numerous fragments of household crockery and animal bones (food waste) from the 14th to 18th centuries have been unearthed in the various layers of earth on the mound. These include imported stoneware from southern Lower Saxony and the Rhineland, as well as faience from the Netherlands. However, the most important discovery to date is a rectangular foundation made of large bricks, which is the substructure of a former stone house. These three-storey buildings with thick walls were typical of the chieftains' fortifications in the Frisian coastal region of the North Sea. The investigations in Tengshausen will continue until the end of September.