Dune showcases

On 5 January, 1942, the freighter Cornelia Maersk was bombed off the coast of Hoek van Holland. Built in 1925, the steamship – one of the last – carried coal for the Germans and was en route to Copenhagen. Perhaps it was a Hawker Typhoon that dropped the devastating bombs. A rescue operation failed in any case and the ship sank. However, all of those on board managed to get to safety. The ship still drifted some five nautical miles to the southwest and sank in the area where Maasvlakte 2 is now constructed. When the port basins were being deepened, the remains of the Cornelia Maersk were recovered.

1a In the engine room of the steamship, tools were apparently kept neatly together. Many of these were recovered during salvage operations. This wrench was part of a series of which this size was by no means the smallest.

1b Daily life on board was well-ordered by employer A.P. Møller Maersk, right down to the galley. Even the proprietary cutlery left no room for doubt about the ship’s ownership.

1c The Cornelia Maersk did not have many portholes. In the forecastle on either side of the ship, they probably gave the sailors a little bit of light in their sleeping quarters.

Earthenware Bartmann jugs were made between the 15^th and 18^th centuries in and around Cologne. Primarily water and other drinks or liquids were stored in them and transported all over Europe. We even know that the United East India Company also transported mercury in them.

The waterproof, glazed jug gets its name from the bearded man depicted on the neck. He may represent a ‘wild man of the woods’, often depicted on various objects in previous centuries. Others say it is supposed to represent God. In terms of their shape, these jars seem to have their origins in Roman times. This specimen was fished up in 2011 in the area where the sand for Maasvlakte 2 was sucked up. Experts date this jug to the period between 1625 and 1675.

Where the owner of these pieces of skull lived some 9,600 years ago remains a mystery. On the crest of a dune in Yangtzehaven perhaps? It’s also not possible to determine whether the fragments came from a man or a woman. What is certain is that they are two skull pieces from a homo sapiens. We can however say something about their age at death, with the owner being at least 50 at the time. The same study showed that they lived on food from the sea, rivers, shores, land and forests, both plant and animal. So this Stone Age hunter-gatherer lived up to their name.

The skull fragments were found by fossil hunter Walter Langendoen on the Maasvlakte beach. One cold morning in February of 2013, he was strolling along the beach. He walks his dogs almost daily, following the tidemark, searching for mammoth bones, vole teeth, hyena droppings and other signs of life from times long gone. These artefacts of ancient life ended up on the Maasvlakte beach during sand rainbowing operations. The deeper layers of the North Sea seabed – where the sand comes from – reveal what life was like between and during the ice ages: when there was no sea between England and the Netherlands but land.

Four of these mounted cannons – 20 mm Hispano – were slung under the wings of the Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber. An aircraft which was still being feverishly flight-tested at the beginning of World War II. Tiffy, as the British pilots called these aircraft, was used especially successfully toward the end of the war in surprise attacks against German ground troops. The rockets added under the wing played a major role in this. Remnants of this aircraft that went missing in 1942 were found fifteen meters below the water’s surface in Amaliahaven. In addition to finding a mounted cannon, part of the landing gear was also recovered.

Three of these wooden ribs were fished up during sand extraction for Maasvlakte 2. They came from a vessel that was not too large. The notches on the bottom indicate that we are dealing with a clinker-built vessel. The hull planks overlapped each other and were attached to the rafters with wooden pegs. The wood has narrow tree rings, a sign that it probably comes from a northern latitude. Could these be remnants of a Viking ship? After all, they came from the north and built their ships using clinker-build techniques. However, research has revealed that the wood dates from 1670 or later. So, no, it’s not a Viking ship, then. But the origin and age of the vessel remain an unsolved mystery for now.

This air or gas mask that washed up on the Maasvlakte beach most likely belonged to a World War I pilot. Objects from that era are still regularly fished up from the seabed.

This wooden marlinspike, found on the Maasvlakte beach, was used to splice ropes about 100 years ago. This practice used to be called ‘marling’, a form of rope splicing. The rings on the thickest part of the marlinspike indicate how far it should be inserted into the rope. This type of tool is still used, but these days is made of stainless steel.

Elephants grind up to 300 kg of grass a day with their teeth. Most elephants have 26 teeth: 12 premolars (small molars), 12 molars and 2 incisors, better known as tusks. Although most mammals start with baby teeth and then replace them with a fixed set of adult teeth, elephants’ teeth change throughout their lives. 

The new molar teeth form at the back in the jaw and move up one place at a time until they are the front ones. Once these are completely worn out, they fall out or are ‘spat out’ to make way for fresh teeth. This cycle repeats itself about six times over an elephant’s lifetime. The first set of teeth changes at 2 to 3 years of age; the second between 4 and 6 years of age; the third at 9 to 15 years of age; the fourth between 18 and 28 years of age; and the fifth at about 40 years of age. The sixth and final set of molars keeps elephants going for the rest of their lives.

Deer are mammals with cloven hooves that chew the cud. A prominent feature is the antlers, which can become very large in males. Here you can see a few pieces of antler. There are about 40 different species of deer, divided into 16 families. Most deer live in forests in the northern hemisphere. But some species live in other areas, such as caribou on the tundra.

Long ago, during the Ice Age, the cave hyena lived in what is now the North Sea. Back then, that area was not a sea, but a vast steppe where mammoths and woolly rhinos grazed. Only later, when the ice caps melted, did the North Sea fill up with water.

Like the true scavengers they are, hyenas chewed on the carcasses of large animals. Their teeth marks can still be seen on the fossilised bones of mammoths and rhinos. Because hyenas gnawed the bones into small pieces, they ingested a lot of calcium. Not all the calcium was absorbed by their bodies, so their droppings had a high calcium content. Since the droppings lay under sand for thousands of years, without oxygen and light, they petrified.

Between 2008 and 2013, sand from the North Sea was used to build Maasvlakte 2. As a result, petrified hyena droppings (coprolites) sometimes wash up on the Maasvlakte beach. A special slice of Ice Age history right under your feet!

Normally, animals decay after they die. But if a cadaver is quickly covered by sand, mud or clay, it can fossilize and is preserved for millions of years. These rib fragments are a great example of this. You’ll find all kinds of fossils on the beach.

Often, they are skeletal remains, such as ribs, jaws and skulls. But mammoth bones, fossilized hyena droppings, and teeth from sharks, mice, beavers and voles are also found. Fossil shells and corals also sometimes wash ashore. Each fossil tells a story about the past.

On the Maasvlakte you’ll find teeth and molars of all kinds of animals that once roamed here, long before the North Sea was a sea. Why do those teeth look so different? That has everything to do with what the animals ate.

Herbivores have teeth perfect for eating grass and leaves. They use their strong incisors to slice up plants. The molars then act like millstones to grind food finely. Some grazers even use their tongues to grab grass and drag it along their teeth.

Carnivores have very different teeth. Their sharp fangs are perfect for grabbing and killing prey. Then they use their special slicing teeth to cut the meat into bite-sized chunks. Their incisors are small because they need them less than herbivores.

Omnivores, like bears and humans, have a little bit of both. Their teeth must be able to handle both plants and meat. That is why they have a combination of incisors, canines and molar teeth. Those molars are not as flat as in herbivores and not as sharp as in carnivores – ideal for eating a little bit of everything!

The large bone fragments found on the beach are often from the woolly mammoth. These are great examples of shoulder-blade and pelvic fragments.

The atlas is the upper vertebra of the spine. Together with the axis (the vertebra below it), it allows the head to move in all directions. In a large animal, such as the woolly mammoth, this vertebra is extra large. Not only are atlas vertebrae of mammoths found on the beach, but also of other Ice Age animals such as giant deer, wild horses, woolly rhinos and cave bears.

A foot or tarsus contains many different bones. These are great examples of some foot and tarsus bones from the leg of the woolly mammoth.

Wild horses still exist, but the bones you find on the beach come from their distant ancestors. These animals galloped around this area until about 10,000 years ago. This is a fine example of four loose foot bones found separately on the beach. A tangible piece of prehistory.

Woolly mammoths, steppe bison and giant deer were gigantic animals. Their skulls had to be large and strong, but if they were completely solid, they would become far too heavy. So, their cranial bones are made up of small hollow spaces. This made the skull sturdy, yet lighter, so the animal could carry its head better. Bigheads, right? 

From tiny to gigantic, from mouse to mammoth: Fossil vertebrae come in all shapes and sizes. They are regularly found on the beach, sometimes still surprisingly complete. With any luck, you can even determine which animal they once belonged to. A piece of ancient history in the surf.