The archaeological excavations in two tree grates on Münsterplatz at Aachen Cathedral have produced the first major results: City archaeologist Andreas Schaub and his team of volunteer assistants from the Archäologischer Arbeitskreis Aachen (AAA) were able to uncover a total of seven skeletons and the wall boundary of the former cathedral immunity.

No surprise, but important findings nonetheless
The discovery of human remains was to be expected, as it was already known that a cemetery existed on Münsterplatz until the 19th century. The archaeologists have already documented the current skeletal finds and are now removing them grave by grave. They will first be cleaned and inventoried in the municipal archaeology department before being sent to the archives of the Rhineland Regional Association. Even if the finds were no great surprise, they can still provide important insights: Anthropological investigations can determine how the people of Aachen lived 300 to 400 years ago, how healthy they were or how old they became.

Remains of the cathedralimmunity wall
But that's not all: in one of the excavated tree grates, Schaub and his team discovered the remains of the wall of the former cathedral immunity, the former legal district around the cathedral. The researchers had actually expected to find this wall a few meters further south. The wall also bordered the former cemetery.

The hard-working hands are far from finished: they have dug about 60 to 70 centimetres so far; they want to go about one meter deeper. "I strongly believe that we will find the remains of the Roman baths if we go even deeper," explains Andreas Schaub. Münsterplatz is located within the largest former Roman thermal baths in Aachen, the Münsterthermen, in a section that is largely unexplored archaeologically.

How long the excavation in the two tree grids will take depends on the density of finds and the weather. The city archaeologist currently expects the excavation to take three months. The prepared tree grids will then be planted with two lime trees so that the tree ensemble on Münsterplatz will be complete again.