Het oostelijk deel van West-Friesland was in de midden- en late bronstijd (ca. 1600-800 v. Chr.) een dichtbevolkt gebied met vele boerendorpjes. Door de goede conserveringsomstandigheden is de... Show moreHet oostelijk deel van West-Friesland was in de midden- en late bronstijd (ca. 1600-800 v. Chr.) een dichtbevolkt gebied met vele boerendorpjes. Door de goede conserveringsomstandigheden is de regio een schatkamer van de overblijfselen uit die tijd. In deze studie zijn oude opgravingsgegevens uitgewerkt en vertaald naar nieuwe inzichten in de inrichting en ontwikkeling van dit indrukwekkende prehistorische cultuurlandschap. Een van de opvallende resultaten van dit onderzoek is dat de nederzettingsterreinen vaak vele generaties bewoond zijn, maar tegelijkertijd een dynamisch karakter hebben. Continuïteit was er op locaties waar een huisplaats is ingericht: nieuwe boerderijen werden vaak generaties lang op dezelfde plaats als de voorgangers gebouwd. Maar we zien ook dat huisplaatsen die generaties lang bewoond zijn geweest, op een zeker moment werden opgegeven en een andere functie krijgen. Door de lange bewoningsduur van terreinen en goede conservering en herkenbaarheid van grondsporen, zijn de Westfriese vindplaatsen bij uitstek geschikt om deze dynamiek in beeld te brengen. Veel beter dan elders in Nederland is het mogelijk inzicht te krijgen in de keuzes die men in de bronstijd heeft gemaakt bij de inrichting van het landschap. Dat maakt deze studie een ijkpunt voor bronstijdonderzoek in Nederland, maar ook in Noordwest-Europa. Show less
Large scale excavations of Bronze Age settlement sites were carried out during the period of land consolidation projects resulting in a convincing model for the Bronze Age habitation of West... Show moreLarge scale excavations of Bronze Age settlement sites were carried out during the period of land consolidation projects resulting in a convincing model for the Bronze Age habitation of West-Frisia. This model envisaged settlement sites situated on creek ridges in an open almost treeless landscape. After a sudden change in climate c. 800 cal BC parts of the landscape were inundated, peat bogs developed and West-Frisia was abandoned by man. It was widely believed that this densely inhabited Bronze Age landscape was almost completely destroyed during the land consolidation projects. At the start of this century, however, it turned out that well preserved Bronze Age settlement sites still exist in West-Frisia. These sites were not only well-preserved but also situated at unexpected locations. In this thesis the palaeogegraphy is described at three scale levels. Based on an analysis of excavation results and environmental proxy data, a new model for the development of the landscape and habitation of West-Frisia during the Bronze Age emerges. For the construction of the palaeogeographical maps of Westwoud, a new approach is used, based on, amongst others, macro botanical remains. The thesis concludes with an alternative strategy for the prospection of Bronze Age sites in West-Frisia. Show less
Barrows, as burial markers, are ubiquitous throughout North-Western Europe. In some regions dense concentrations of monuments form peculiar configurations such as long alignments while in others... Show moreBarrows, as burial markers, are ubiquitous throughout North-Western Europe. In some regions dense concentrations of monuments form peculiar configurations such as long alignments while in others they are spread out extensively, dotting vast areas with hundreds of mounds. These vast barrow landscapes came about through thousands of years of additions by several successive prehistoric and historic communities. Yet little is known about how these landscapes developed and originated. That is what this research set out to do. By unravelling the histories of specific barrow landscapes in the Low Countries, several distinct activity phases of intense barrow construction could be recognised. Each of these phases contributed to how the barrow landscape developed and reveals shifting attitudes to these monuments. By creating new monuments in a specific place and in a particular fashion, prehistoric communities purposefully transformed the form and shape of the barrow landscape. Using several GIS-techniques such as a skyline-analysis, this research is able to demonstrate how each barrow took up a specific (and different) position within such a social landscape. While the majority of the barrows were only visible from relatively close by, specific monuments took up a dominating position, cresting the horizon, being visible from much further away. It is argued in this research that these burial mounds remained important landscape monuments on the purple heathlands. They continued to attract attention, and by their visibility ensured to endure in the collective memory of the communities shaping themselves around these monuments. Show less
This study wants to help Central Italy claim its place in Bronze Age studies and make a crossover between landscape and network approaches in archaeology. It starts from a methodological... Show moreThis study wants to help Central Italy claim its place in Bronze Age studies and make a crossover between landscape and network approaches in archaeology. It starts from a methodological consideration of archaeological synthesis in Bronze Age studies. Approaching landscapes as networks of places, this study advocates a data-rich form of synthesis of Bronze Age trajectories, one that avoids a selective focus on particular places. This data-rich synthesis of the Early Bronze Age in Central Italy takes all types of place making up cultural landscapes and social networks into account, in this case metalwork deposition, burial, cave use and settlement patterns. Following changing relationships between all of these places, network changes are charted and substantiated from the Copper Age to the Middle Bronze Age. What Central Italy offers to Bronze Age studies, is the emergence of metallurgical spheres based on regional copper sources at the transition from copper to bronze metallurgy. Therefore the focus lies on metalwork-related network changes that can be situated in the historical context of late Bell Beaker networks and, subsequently, the introduction of true bronze metallurgy in the form of Vollgriffdolche in the context of Early Bronze Age networks. The latter highlight the integration of distinctive metallurgical spheres into a single, larger Central Italian sphere, in the overall context of network changes at the Early-Middle Bronze Age transition. Early Bronze Age trajectories paved the way for the full integration of Central Italy in supra-regional connectivity in the Middle Bronze Age, fulfilling the condition of possibility of its strategic position between Europe and the Mediterranean. This study wants to help Central Italy claim its place in Bronze Age studies and make a crossover between landscape and network approaches in archaeology. It starts from a methodological consideration of archaeological synthesis in Bronze Age studies. Approaching landscapes as networks of places, this study advocates a data-rich form of synthesis of Bronze Age trajectories, one that avoids a selective focus on particular places. This data-rich synthesis of the Early Bronze Age in Central Italy takes all types of place making up cultural landscapes and social networks into account, in this case metalwork deposition, burial, cave use and settlement patterns. Following changing relationships between all of these places, network changes are charted and substantiated from the Copper Age to the Middle Bronze Age. What Central Italy offers to Bronze Age studies, is the emergence of metallurgical spheres based on regional copper sources at the transition from copper to bronze metallurgy. Therefore the focus lies on metalwork-related network changes that can be situated in the historical context of late Bell Beaker networks and, subsequently, the introduction of true bronze metallurgy in the form of Vollgriffdolche in the context of Early Bronze Age networks. The latter highlight the integration of distinctive metallurgical spheres into a single, larger Central Italian sphere, in the overall context of network changes at the Early-Middle Bronze Age transition. Early Bronze Age trajectories paved the way for the full integration of Central Italy in supra-regional connectivity in the Middle Bronze Age, fulfilling the condition of possibility of its strategic position between Europe and the Mediterranean. Show less
