Stable isotope analysis of charred Bronze Age emmer wheat and barley excavated in the northwest Netherlands reveals high values of δ15N. Cultivation of the same cereal species under controlled... Show moreStable isotope analysis of charred Bronze Age emmer wheat and barley excavated in the northwest Netherlands reveals high values of δ15N. Cultivation of the same cereal species under controlled circumstances on the appropriate substrates provided baselines indicating that the prehistoric cereal fields must have been manured. Reconstruction of the size of the arable fields and livestock suggests that animal dung cannot have been the only source of fertilizer. Application of household waste and mud from ditches is considered as well as a possible effect from burning stubble. Growing of pulses was not practiced and therefore this method of ameliorating the soil has to be left out of the question. The outcome of the study presented here is that the Bronze Age farmers of the northwest Netherlands used several means to maintain the fertility of their arable land and that they may have adapted their strategy according to circumstances. Show less
Fontijn, D.R.; Louwen, A.J.; Bourgeois, Q.; Smits, L.; Linde, C. van der 2018
In the natural reserves of the Veluwe in the centre of the Netherlands, there are hundreds of mounds that are registered as ‘prehistoric burial mounds’ (Fontijn 2011, table 1.1). Some are protected... Show moreIn the natural reserves of the Veluwe in the centre of the Netherlands, there are hundreds of mounds that are registered as ‘prehistoric burial mounds’ (Fontijn 2011, table 1.1). Some are protected as National Heritage, but many are not. Only a small part has ever seen professional archaeological investigation, and there are many for which no more is known than that they are likely to represent ‘prehistoric burial sites’. This applies particularly to mounds in the municipality of Apeldoorn, where large numbers are known to exist and fortunately protected as heritage, but where in most cases not much is known on their dating, nature or potential significance as source of knowledge on the past. This article presents the results of a fieldwork campaign where three newly discovered, small barrows were investigated that are part of a much larger barrow landscape on which so far nothing was known. In spite of their small size and the fact that some were heavily damaged by forest ploughing, the research yielded detailed information on their use history and the social and ritual significance that they had in the Bronze Age. Even the most inconspicuous mound, of which it was initially seriously doubted whether it was a prehistoric monument, appears to contain the remains of many special prehistoric features. It is argued that this small group of three barrows dates to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, the period between the 18th and 15th centuries BC and probably represents what was perceived as one ‘community of ancestors’ among a larger ancestral whole. There are indications that it originated around a location that had an older – Late Neolithic – history. It is suggested that this monument had a special role and was the focus of ceremonial activities the likes of which have so far not been detected in the Netherlands: the deposition of loads of stones and pottery in a pit row directed at the location where a barrow would eventually be constructed. Deceased were buried at two locations nearby, both of whom were also covered by mounds. These were collective graves, in which many deceased of both sexes and all ages were buried and no clear distinctions between deceased were emphasized in the burial rituals. There are similarities in the mode of interment in both mounds, and we suggest these barrows are each other’s successors. The fieldwork at the Wieselseweg shows the high potential small-scale research of inconspicuous and damaged burial mounds can have to further our knowledge on the prehistoric legacy of the Netherlands. Show less
The river area Maaskant and adjacent sand area of Oss, located ‘between’ the current course of the river Meuse and the city Oss, are among the most intensively researched regions in the Netherlands... Show moreThe river area Maaskant and adjacent sand area of Oss, located ‘between’ the current course of the river Meuse and the city Oss, are among the most intensively researched regions in the Netherlands. Extensive archaeological and palynological research provides ample opportunities for an interregional research of the occupation and vegetation history of both areas. This article describes the intertwinement between the Holocene river area and the adjacent Pleistocene sandy soils, to eventually get a first insight of the relation(s) between the inhabitants of both regions in late prehistoric and Early Roman period (3000 BC – 250 AD). Show less
