Images: Reclaimed Medieval Wetlands

Photographing the Excavation

Medieval wetlands site in Belgium

(Image credit: © Ghent University, Philippe De Smedt)

Taking photographs that would be used to create three dimensional computer models of the site.

Excavation of Foundations

Medieval wetlands site in Belgium

(Image credit: © Ghent University, Philippe De Smedt)

The excavation of foundations of medieval monastery buildings; there was no sign of the foundations at the surface.

Excavation Site Two

Medieval wetlands site in Belgium

(Image credit: © Ghent University, Philippe De Smedt)

The second excavation site on the monastery grounds.

Medieval Ditch

Medieval ditch excavation project

(Image credit: © Ghent University, Marc Van Meirvenne)

A close-up of a medieval ditch used to drain the wetlands. The end of the ditch is to the left of the scale bar.

Collapsed Bricks

Medieval wetlands site in Belgium

(Image credit: © Ghent University, Marc Van Meirvenne)

The fragment of a brick foundation collapsed into the soggy sediment, suggesting that the building collapsed.

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.