LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS—NL Times reports that traces of a Spanish fort built in the sixteenth century during the Eighty Years’ War have been uncovered in Leiden. Archaeologist Ivar Schute and his colleagues uncovered pieces of pewter eating utensils, drinking cups, pottery, fishing implements, a bead, and portions of the fort’s moat at the site. Known as “De Lammenschans,” the fort is central to a local legend surrounding Dutch hutspot, a recipe made of mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions. When the Spanish abandoned the fort at the end of the Siege of Leiden, they were said to have left the cooked dish behind, where it was found by a Dutch orphan who carried it to the city walls and shared it with beggars and pirates who fought the Spanish, and contributed their white bread and herring to the victory meal. The city continues to celebrate its liberation with the hutspot, herring, and bread every October. “De Lammenschans is found,” said Deputy for Culture and Heritage Willy de Zoete of the Province of Zuid-Holland. “Just in the month that we celebrate that ‘Leiden is no longer in trouble,’ our archaeologists find the remains of what sometimes seemed like a legend.” To read about a sixteenth-century Dutch shipwreck discovered during a modern shipping accident, go to "Spring Boards."
