Archaeologists find 3 skeletons under renovation at Dutch parliament building

Just two days after starting work in the basement of the former court chapel in the Hague’s Binnenhof, archaeologists have found three human bones, a bronze coin and part of the chapel. “We expected to find all sorts of things, but it was surprising to find them so quickly and so close to the surface,” said Mignonne Lenoir, an archaeologist in The Hague. Said.

Archaeologists found human bones just below the surface, just 20 to 30 centimeters below the surface. Anthropologist Constance van der Linde went to investigate them.

“We already know that this is something that involves adults over the age of 20, but only after further testing and washing the bones can we determine the details,” she said. Anthropologists can determine identifying attributes from the skeleton, such as the deceased’s sex, age, and overall health prior to death.

The researchers also found part of the gallery floor during their investigation, “once the floor of the real Hofkapelle floor”. They also found a 1761 bronze coin with a Dutch lion on one side and “Hollandia” on the other.

“It’s very special to find a coin like this when you think it’s been there for hundreds of years. It gives us more and more insight into how people lived back then,” Lenoir said.

Archaeologists are currently investigating the basement under the Senate building and an outdoor area known as the Oppelhof near the Senate and Ministry of Internal Affairs. The archaeological survey is part of the renovation of the Binnenhof parliament building.

Over the next few days, archaeologists will continue excavating 60 centimeters of Oppelhof and digging deeper in smaller areas. “We hope to discover more foundations, coins and bone material this way. It will give us more insight into what was being done.”