Belgium Adventures Day 7: Salvage Day Part 1 (Archeoforum)

It was Tuesday, so naturally there was a train strike.

It was obvious to everyone except me and a few others.

My host families all knew. Their co-workers work around it. 

No one thought to let me know. They knew I was planning to go to Amsterdam that day.

After arriving at the train station at 6 am (and explaining to the downstairs neighbors that talking loudly in the hallway all night long because they lost the key to their apartment was not acceptable), I learned there were no trains. I tried to find the cheap bus to Maastricht -- after all, if I could only get out of the country I could take trains in the Netherlands. In hindsight, maybe I should have taken a taxi to Maastricht, though I'm not sure I could find a taxi.

After moping around, trying to get some more sleep, and doing laundry, I tried to recover the day. 

I looked at my list. What to do?

Archaeology. In 2003, Liege opened a museum dedicated to archaeology. It is located under Place St-Lambert. Nothing like hiding underground when you are in a sour move.

The staff offered me a book (in English) to take with me as I toured the museum. Archeoforum is located on the site of Liege's first cathedral. The original cathedral was destroyed in the late 18th century during an extension of the French Revolution when the peasants revolted against the idea of a prince-bishop having so much power. 

Fast forward two hundred years to the 1990s when the politicians decided it would be a good idea to build a new bus station / parking lot in this area. As they dug up the space, they found artifacts, including the footprint of the original cathedral. Artifacts had been found in 1907 when the area was ripped up to lay pipes, but somehow they forgot about those finds even though archaeology was designated a scientific discipline in 1850. 

In 1995 someone realized they needed to preserve the nine thousand years of historical artifacts they discovered. The Archeoforum came out of those discussions.

They talked me into a joint ticket with the Treasures, another site I was planning to visit.

Here are pictures from inside the Archeoforum:

My most amusing picture

Not so ancient footprints

Reminds me of the digging we are doing at
Newlin Grist Mill.

I love old photos.
The quality astounds me.

Using a stereoscope you can see how the space
changed over the centuries

The colored lights reflect the time period

Looks like they found a mug during the dig.
Wonder who lost it?
Wonder why they decided to include it in a glass case? 

21st Century Mug

Map of what Liege looked like during
the Middle Ages