Much ado about wells: An archaeological study of the development of water supply systems in Amersfoort from 1100-1900 AD

The archaeological data set of 106 water facilities recovered in Amersfoort, allows for the reconstruction of the water supply within the town through the centuries. Aside from this available archaeological data set, any historical information that could be found, has also been used. This historical data includes information about common wells and surface water use in Amersfoort, but also information about the status of water in medieval society and the role of water in medieval medicine. As further background the most studied developments in Europe are also discussed. Amersfoort counts several types of wells (tree lined, peat lined, barrel lined, and brick lined), as well as numerous indications of the use of surface water (water lifting implements along canals, archaeologically recovered water pipes, and the strict regulations on water pollution). Putting all this together we were able to compare the water supply in Amersfoort with the water supply in Haarlem and Zutphen. The very...Show moreThe archaeological data set of 106 water facilities recovered in Amersfoort, allows for the reconstruction of the water supply within the town through the centuries. Aside from this available archaeological data set, any historical information that could be found, has also been used. This historical data includes information about common wells and surface water use in Amersfoort, but also information about the status of water in medieval society and the role of water in medieval medicine. As further background the most studied developments in Europe are also discussed. Amersfoort counts several types of wells (tree lined, peat lined, barrel lined, and brick lined), as well as numerous indications of the use of surface water (water lifting implements along canals, archaeologically recovered water pipes, and the strict regulations on water pollution). Putting all this together we were able to compare the water supply in Amersfoort with the water supply in Haarlem and Zutphen. The very high per capita rate of wells in Amersfoort, but especially Zutphen, compared to Haarlem is striking. Six potential influencing factors were introduced - factors that might have caused this discrepancy. They are: distance to surface water; quality of surface water; ease of exploitation for alternative water sources (ground or rain water); degree of organisation (here: the existence of public or shared facilities); water needs (household or industrial use); personal finances. Based on the results so far, it seems that the distance to surface water and the quality of surface water are the strongest predictors for the amount of water facilities. Haarlem has the most surface water within easy reach, Zutphen the least. Amersfoort has less water within easy reach than Haarlem, but more than Zutphen. This seems to align with the results, Haarlem has the least facilities per capita, while Zutphen has by far the most. On an even wider scale, there appear to be more similarities between the developments in the Netherlands and the rest of Northern Europe than initially assumed. The strong influence of brewers on the water supply, in the form of protection measures meant to protect their trade or even complete mains systems or water barges organised for, and by, the brewers. It seems also that the use of surface water was a very widespread practice, especially large scale water consumers appear to have defaulted towards surface water as their preferred water source. Surface water is not the safest water source, but concerns about pollution where only present when the pollution became a noticeable nuisance. This assumption is based on the way water quality was assessed in the period before the discovery of bacteria. This method of quality assessment is based on the smell, taste, and colour of the water, if these characteristics are found to be in order, the water is viewed as safe.Show less

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Much ado about wells: An archaeological study of the development of water supply systems in Amersfoort from 1100-1900 AD