The adoption of agriculture is one of the major developments in human history. Archaeological studies have demonstrated that the trajectories of Neolithisation in Northwest Europe were diverse.... Show moreThe adoption of agriculture is one of the major developments in human history. Archaeological studies have demonstrated that the trajectories of Neolithisation in Northwest Europe were diverse. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the indigenous communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by these in relation to their environmental context. This work brings together a comprehensive array of excavated archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area and indicates that the successive Late Mesolithic, Swifterbant culture, Hazendonk group and Vlaardingen culture societies represent a continuous long-term tradition of inhabitation of the wetlands and their margins. After demonstrating the existence of a diverse Mesolithic background to Neolithisation, the subsequent developments are studied by foregrounding the relationship between local communities and the dynamic wetland landscape. This points to long-term flexible behaviour and pragmatic choices in livelihood, food economy and mobility. For the interpretation of Neolithisation this study emphasises the persistent traditions of the communities involved. New elements are shown to be attuned to existing hunter-gatherer practices. By documenting indications of the mentalité of the wetland inhabitants, it is demonstrated that their mindset remains essentially ‘Mesolithic' for millennia. Show less
Sowing the seed? Human impact and plant subsistence in Dutch wetlands during the Late Mesolithic and Early and Middle Neolithic (5500-3400 cal BC). The understanding of the neolithisation process... Show moreSowing the seed? Human impact and plant subsistence in Dutch wetlands during the Late Mesolithic and Early and Middle Neolithic (5500-3400 cal BC). The understanding of the neolithisation process in the Netherlands has increased considerably during the last decades. A coherent overview of the archaeobotanical research on the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture was, however, lacking until now. This thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the neolithisation process in the Dutch wetlands by means of the reconstruction of the natural vegetation, human impact, plant use and cultivation practises at the time of the Late Mesolithic, the Swifterbant culture and the Hazendonk group. The study is a literature study based on the analysis of published and unpublished data on pollen, seeds and fruits, wood, charcoal and tubers from four wetland regions. The extensive botanical data sets of recently excavated sites have been combined and compared with evidence of earlier investigations, resulting in a coherent overview and new interpretations. The evidence from the Dutch wetlands has furthermore been compared with that of comparable cultural groups in Northwestern Europe. Show less
