ACKER STRATINGH EN WESTERHOFF. Pioniers van het wierdenonderzoek in Groningen
Samenvatting
In 1827, about 80 years before Van Giffen excavated the wierde of Dorkwerd, the first investigation of the wierden (dwelling mounds) in Groningen was initiated by Gozewinus Acker Stratingh and Rembertus Westerhoff. They were both medical men and gained an award for their manuscript 'Natural history of the province of Groningen'. ln addition they received an amount of 300 Dutch guilders to perform 'archaeological' fieldwork. Unfortunately the documentation of 100 trial trenches in the dwelling mounds of Groningen was never published and the results of their fieldwork were presumably destroyed after the death of Westerhoff in 1874. An excellent geological map of Groningen, with the location of the wierden and their altitude above sea level, as well as a small number of descriptions of the sections of their excavations survive. They give us an idea of the high standard of their fieldwork and the interest in research questions concerning the nature of the dwelling mounds and the phenomenon of sea level change in the early 19th century.
