The street kid from Gouda
18th century, Modern Time
Typical attrition from pipe smoking.
Copy of the skull with facial muscles.
The finished facial reconstruction.
The exhibition in the Sint-Janskerk in Gouda.
The street urchin from Gouda is found when excavating the Sint-Janskerk in Gouda. This large, gothic church is famous for its stained glass windows.
Most people in churches, except for the priests, are buried with their heads in the east. But not this boy. All the tell tale signs indicate that this boy was from the lower social classes and normally this means that his body was not even allowed to be buried inside the church.
This boy is not mentioned in the grave registers. He was fond of smoking clay pipes, on several locations his teeth showed round attrition holes where the pipes used to be. In his youth he went through periods of malnutrition and severe disease. The fictitious life of this adolescent, intertwined with the lives of famous historical persons from Gouda, is described in a novel, written by Evert van Ginkel. This book also pays attention to the excavation and its finds .
Client: Church Polity of the Dutch Reformed Community of Gouda
Exhibition: Sint-Janskerk in Gouda