Seite - 216 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

216 BettyArndt Fig. 2:Göttingen, Angerstraße4, a rowofwooden boxes forwatering andsoakinghides in the tanning process. economically to thetown.Anexcavationofadyer’sworkshopin2005inAngerstraße14showed the foundationof thedyer’s oven,whichonce carriedabig tub forheating thedye lot.11 Tanners nearly alwayshad theirworkshops directly next to rivers, as theywere inneedof runningwater.AGöttingenworkshop found inAngerstraße412wassituateddirectlynext to the Leine canal. In a rescue excavation, remains of a large wooden tubwere found, possibly for watering thehides in analkalinemixture ofwater andash todissolvehair andany remaining flesh.A rowof rectangularwoodenbasinswasused in theprocess of soaking the leatherwith tanbark (Fig. 2), but someof thesealsoseemtohavecontainedash.Between thedifferent steps of flushing and soaking, the hides were presumably rinsed directly in the canal. Small strips andoffcuts of leather couldbe found in thick layers on theplot. TheadjacentLeinekanal formed, formore thanacentury,an importantpartof the fortifica- tion of the town (Fig. 1, 3). The canal was stabilised by a wooden reinforcement. Horizontal woodenbeamsofoak,up to7mlong, couldbeseen ina rescueexcavation in1994,13 theywere held bypointed vertical posts, but unfortunately nodecent documentationwas possible. They prove that the canal was linedwithwood, before it was later stone linedwith the local lime- stone. The wood, however, delivered dendrochronological dates of 1285 (–6/+8) and several dates between 1413 and 1491,which likely show repeated renovationsof the construction. It is often stated thatwater-polluting industrieswereplacedat theoutflowingendof rivers and canals; this cannot beproved, at least for Göttingen. Efforts to sustain the goodquality of water, however, canpossibly be seen in the regulations for craftsmen. Mills The (wooden) lining of the canalwasnot only necessary to keep thewater in a givenbed and keep it frommeandering, but also to control (the amount of) thewater flow,whichwas impor- 11 FStNr.48/06;Arndt 2007, 274–276. 12 FStNr.35/03;Arndt 1996b, 252f. 13 Arndt 1996b, 253.