Reconstructing Vegetation Diversity In Coastal Landscapes

This dissertation delves into the reconstruction of past vegetation at the most detailed level. It is not the objective to focus solely on the developments in vegetation over time, but to create an image of the landscape that must have been visible to prehistoric people. Landscape and vegetation form a major starting point for the opportunities available in a certain area for a broad scale of human activities including grazing of livestock, cultivating crops and collecting wild plants. The majority of the analyses are based on seeds and fruits (botanical macroremains) from two Dutch prehistoric regions. These are the small river system in the present Flevopolder, home to settlements of the so-called Swifterbant Culture in the Neolithic period (4300 ‒ 4000 BC), and the Frisian-Groningen terp region in the period prior to the endikements (700 BC ‒ c. 1200 AD).

This publication presents the results of the 2005-2007 excavations at Swifterbant S4, carried out by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology. S4 is a well-preserved Neolithic wetland site (c. 4300-4000 cal. BC) located within the Swifterbant river system in the Netherlands. We present the landscape setting, the various finds categories and the spatial patterns with three research themes in mind. Theme 1 concerns the environmental setting, subsistence and site function. We conclude that the Swifterbant hunter-gatherer-farmers exploited a mosaic-type landscape. Theme 2 deals with developments in site function during the occupation and exploitation history of the site. This analysis leads to the observation that episodes of cultivation and settlement alternated at S4. Theme 3, the use of space, was difficult to study due to the fragmented nature of the excavation plan. This site monograph makes Swifterbant S4 the most comprehensively published site of the Swifterbant river system.

An investigation into the mysterious Frisians, drawing together evidence from linguistic, textual and archaeological sources.

Wijnaldum is nowadays an unassuming rural village in the north of the province of Friesland, no more than a small dot on the map of the Netherlands. But during the Early Middle Ages, this probably was a lively political center, a kingdom, with intensive contacts with other kingdoms along the North Sea coasts, and with the Frankish realm to the south. The search for the king that resided at Wijnaldum was the major goal of the excavations that were carried out at the terp Wijnaldum-Tjitsma between 1991 and 1993. These excavations yielded a wealth of information, although tangible remains of the king or a royal residence were not found. What was found was a lot of pottery. The ceramic assemblage from the first Millennium consists of local handmade and imported wheel-thrown pottery, revealing contacts with the wider world. The first results and an overview of the habitation phases were published in 1999, in Volume 1 of The Excavations at Wijnaldum. The ceramic assemblage, and its consequences for the habitation history of Wijnaldum, are the main subjects of this second volume.

Wijnaldum is nowadays an unassuming rural village in the north of the province of Friesland, no more than a small dot on the map of the Netherlands. But during the Early Middle Ages, this probably was a lively political centre, a kingdom, with intensive contacts with other kingdoms along the North Sea coasts, and with the Frankish realm to the south. The search for the king that resided at Wijnaldum was the major goal of the excavations that were carried out at the terp Wijnaldum-Tjitsma between 1991 and 1993. These excavations yielded a wealth of information, although tangible remains of the king or a royal residence were not found. What was found was a lot of pottery. The ceramic assemblage from the first Millennium consists of local handmade and imported wheel-thrown pottery, revealing contacts with the wider world. The first results and an overview of the habitation phases were published in 1999, in Volume 1 of The Excavations at Wijnaldum. The ceramic assemblage, and its consequences for the habitation history of Wijnaldum, are the main subjects of this second volume of The Excavations at Wijnaldum.

The excavations at Ezinge between 1923 and 1934 are among the most famous excavations in the history of Dutch archaeology. The excellent preservation of organic remains, especially the impressive remnants of houses from the pre-Roman Iron Age, attracted a great deal of attention even during the excavations. In northwestern European archaeology, Ezinge has for a long time been considered exemplary of a late-prehistoric settlement, and many publications still refer to it. Yet this excavation has never been published in full. Analysis of the wealth of data that the excavations in Ezinge provided was simply too complicated. The analysis and publication of the excavation results has been resumed in 2011, now with the aid of databases and handmade local pottery as a fine dating instrument. This book, which will be published in two volumes, is written not only to reveal what was hidden in the archives, it also aims at presenting new insights into the habitation history of Ezinge and of terp settlements in general, by combining excavation results with the findings and interpretations of modern research. This first volume describes the excavation itself, the salt marsh landscape that formed the natural environment of the terp settlements before embankment was undertaken in the Middle Ages, and the way the inhabitants made a living in this extreme natural environment. A major part of this volume is occupied by a catalogue of excavation plans with the accompanying finds and finds descriptions. Volume 2, which is due in 2021, is devoted to the buildings and the habitation history since the first settlers arrived around 500 BC, and will also describe and discuss what we can learn about ritual practice and social life from the Ezinge findings.

From a modern-day perspective, it may seem odd that people should have chosen to dwell in the open salt-marsh landscape along the Wadden Sea coast. While the beauty of the salt marshes is widely acknowledged, the idea of living there seems to suggest struggle and misery. Yet the salt-marsh settlers, dwelling on their settlement mounds or terps, did not just ‘survive' or ‘get by', but actually managed to live a good life, by embracing this marshy world and its peculiarities. This collection of papers focuses on foraging, farming and food preparation in the context of the salt-marsh environment. The various contributions celebrate the career and work of Annet Nieuwhof, who has been an inspirational colleague and great friend to many of us. She passionately embraced terp research, always actively stimulating cooperation across disciplines as well as national borders. Reflecting some of Annet's wide-ranging interests, the present volume is dedicated to her in friendship and gratitude.