In my garden I have paved some paths with old cobblestones: a colorful collection of blue-grey cubic cobblestones with all different sizes and shapes.
The Romans already knew the cobblestone. And they were already used in the Middle Ages and during the times of the Austrians and Napoleon. Perhaps all those old hard stones still exist today? After all, where would they have gone? After many hundreds (or two thousand) years, are they still lying somewhere on the wall of Geraardsbergen, between Paris and Roubaix, and also in my garden?
Or am I mistaken and the cobblestones that we know now have not been around that long? I can’t find the answer anywhere and I’m very curious if anyone knows an answer.
Thanks in advance!
Jan
Answer
Dear Jan, nice question.
The answer is multiple. Cobblestones have indeed been used much longer than today, but not everywhere. If we now find old cobblestones everywhere, and you yourself refer to Paris Roubaix, then that is partly an 18th and 19th century phenomenon. At that time, active efforts were made to improve the national road network, for example by building ‘brick roads’. At that time, a large-scale surfacing of the rural roads was created, including a series of smaller roads of very ancient origin. The fact that the rural roads were not paved with cobblestones on the same scale until the 18th century is evidenced by the existence of sunken roads, which were created by the erosion of roads on slopes due to rain.
Well, cobblestones as a road surface have indeed been around for much longer, but then in the context of the cities. For example, we know from city archeology that the streets in Mechelen were already paved with cobblestones in the 12th century and in Antwerp I have already seen medieval cobblestone covering under the current street surface. The reason for this cobblestone covering is that people in the medieval city cannot afford to have the urban streets plowed over by carts, horses and people due to frequent use. Contrary to the cliché image, a medieval city is very fond of hygiene and the prevention of mud and waste (including via waste collection). The commercial boom of these cities therefore creates a large traffic flow, and thus also the need for hard pavement. At the same time, the early cities also want to symbolically emphasize the importance of urban public space by providing them with cobblestones.
These roads are also maintained and occasionally, when the cobblestones are really worn, they get a new layer. Now, in the case of the cities, this can sometimes be taken literally and we can find a number of street coverings below and above each other. It is therefore possible that older pavements can be found in the medieval city centers under the current pavements. This also changes in the 18th/19th century and the present time, when cobblestones are simply removed when replaced and reworked into other materials (grit and the like). But a modern road paver can probably give you more of an answer.
Kind regards Prof Dries Tys, medieval archeology VUB
Answered by
Prof. dr. dr. Dries Tys
Archaeology, History
Avenue de la Plein 2 1050 Ixelles
http://www.vub.ac.be/
.