Landscape history of the Oer-IJ tidal system, Noord-Holland (the Netherlands)

2015 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Vos ◽  
J. de Koning ◽  
R. van Eerden
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Wadden Sea ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Inlet System ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Beach Ridges ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe prehistoric Oer-IJ tidal system in the coastal area of Noord-Holland, between Castricum, Uitgeest, Velsen and Amsterdam, was the successor of the Haarlem tidal system when this was silted up around 3000 BC and large peat bogs formed in the Zaanstreek and Haarlemmermeer areas. Since then the Oer-IJ has been the natural outlet to the sea, draining the peat hinterlands. About 800 BC the Oer-IJ system was connected to the fluvial system of the Utrechtse Vecht and became the northern branch of the river Rhine. During the Late Iron Age, when the Flevo lakes in the IJsselmeer region and the Utrechtse Vecht were connected with the Wadden Sea, the Oer-IJ lost its discharge function. The tidal area silted up and was closed between 200 and 100 BC by a barrier ridge. The settlement history of the Oer-IJ system and the archaeological heritage in the subsurface is closely related to the geological and hydrological development throughout the ages. The shape and location of the continuously migrating outlet determined the opportunities for human settlements and activities. The best locations were beach ridges, higher, silted-up salt marshes and marginal zones of the peatland. In the Late Iron Age the sand flats also became habitable since tidal activity had stopped. In the Early Roman period there was no direct connection from the harbour of Castellum Flevum at Velsen to the North Sea, but ships could navigate from the Oer-IJ channel between Velsen and Amsterdam, through the Flevo lakes and the Utrechtse Vecht to the Wadden Sea, and to the Roman border (Limes) along the Oude Rijn. Here the data used for the palaeogeographic landscape reconstruction of the Oer-IJ are presented and explained, and the most important landscape-forming processes, which led to the emergence and closure of the Oer-IJ, are described. The landscape reconstructions give a new perspective on the migration of the main tidal channel and the formation of the tidal-inlet system near Castricum, which was the result of the progradation of the beach ridges south and north of the Castricummerpolder (Binnendelta according to De Roo, 1953). The geological and archaeological observations in the Binnendelta prove that the Oer-IJ was closed from the open sea in the early Late Iron Age.

scholarly journals Archaeological investigations on the Süttő plateau in 2018

2019 ◽  
pp. 527-539
Author(s):  
Zoltán Czajlik ◽  
Katalin Novinszki-Groma ◽  
László Rupnik ◽  
András Bödőcs ◽  
Eszter Fejér ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Burial Site ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research Project ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Archaeological Sciences

The Early Iron Age site complex of Süttő is located on a loess plateau on the right bank of the Danube. After a long history of research of the Early Iron Age fortified settlement, tumulus groups and flat cemetery, between 2013–2017, some pioneer investigations were carried out using non-invasive methods. In 2018, members of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University and the Archaeological Heritage Protection Directorate of the Hungarian National Museum conducted an interdisciplinary research project (archaeological excavation, geophysical measurements, metal detecting survey, systematic field walking, geological drilling) on the plateau in the framework of the Interreg DTP Iron Age Danube project. As a result of intensive research, it became clear that aside from the Early Iron Age necropolis, the eastern part of the plateau was used as a burial site in the Early Bronze Age, as a settlement in the Late Bronze Age, and we must consider the existence of a Late Iron Age settlement in this area as well.

Formation and Land-Use History of Celtic Fields in North-West Europe – an Interdisciplinary Case Study at Zeijen, the Netherlands

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Spek ◽  
Willy Groenman-van Waateringe ◽  
Maja Kooistra ◽  
Lideweij Bakker
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
North West ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of

Celtic field research has so far been strongly focused on prospection and mapping. As a result of this there is a serious lack of knowledge of formation and land-use processes of these fields. This article describes a methodological case study in The Netherlands that may be applied to other European Celtic fields in the future. By interdisciplinary use of pedological, palynological and micromorphological research methods the authors were able to discern five development stages in the history of the field, dating from the late Bronze Age to the early Roman Period. There are strong indications that the earthen ridges, very typical for Celtic fields in the sandy landscapes of north-west Europe, were only formed in the later stages of Celtic field agriculture (late Iron Age and early Roman period). They were the result of a determined raising of the surface by large-scale transportation of soil material from the surroundings of the fields. Mainly the ridges were intensively cultivated and manured in the later stages of Celtic field cultivation. In the late Iron Age a remarkable shift in Celtic field agriculture took place from an extensive system with long fallow periods, a low level of manuring and extensive soil tillage to a more intensive system with shorter fallow periods, a more intensive soil tillage and a higher manuring intensity. There are also strong indications that rye (Secale cereale) was the main crop in the final stage of Celtic field agriculture.

scholarly journals Sites of archaeology in Ulvivok and its surroundings in the research of Lviv scientists

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 337-361
Author(s):  
Dmytro Pavliv
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Large River ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Xix Century ◽  
The Village

The old village of Ulvivok, located above the Bug River in Sokal district, Lviv region, is extremely rich with archaeological sites. Relief, favourable for living, fertile soils, large river have contributed to appearing of human settlements on this area since ancient times. This fact is witnessed by finds of numerous archaeological artifacts near Ulvivok and discovery of significant archaeological sites – cemeteries and settlements, which have an interesting history of research since the late XIX century and till nowadays, associated with many famous Lviv scientists. An important role in the preservation and study of local archaeological finds was played by Dzieduszycki Museum. The first references to finds from Ulvivok and the surrounding villages – Horodylovychi, Stargorod, Skomorokhy and Telyazh – are found at the works of local historian B. Sokalski and geologist A. Lomnitcki, published in 1899. J. Nykorovych – the owner of the village and amateur archaeologist contributed noticeably preservation and research of sites during XIX – beginning of XX century. The first extensive exploration in Ulvivok in 1923 was conducted by archaeologist and local historian, guardian of the prehistoric monuments of Lviv district B. Janusz, who discovered a tomb of Globular Amphorae culture and part of the burials of the most famous archaeological sites near Ulvivok – inhumation cemetery from the end of Bronze Age of “Ulvivok-Rovantsi type”. The same cemetery was investigated in 1931 by archaeologist T. Sulimirski, who published the results of excavations. Local archaeological finds were studied by famous Ukrainian archaeologist J. Pasternak, J. Bryk, K. Żurowski, J. Dąmbrowski, I. Sveshnikov, L. Krushelnytska. Nowadays, the exploration work was conducted by N. Wojceschuk, surveys in Ulvivok, Horodylovychi, Stargorod and excavation of Early Iron Age site were carried out by D. Pavliv. At least 14 archaeological sites (8 settlements and 6 cemeteries) and about 100 individual finds have been found on the territory of the village and surrounding area. This territory on the western part of Ukraine is extremely rich with archaeological sites of almost all epochs. It is witnessed by the great historical importance of this region and requires continuation of professional archaeological examinations and protective actions for the preservation of archaeological heritage. Key words: Ulvivok, archaeological site, Lviv scientists, Globular Amphorae culture, burial complex of Ulvivok-Rovantsi type.

Hadrian’s Wall in Context: A Multi-Proxy Palaeoenvironmental Perspective from Lakes

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Petra Dark
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Wall Area ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
Roman Military ◽  
Woodland Regeneration ◽  
Hadrian's Wall

AbstractThe Hadrian’s Wall area has more pollen sequences spanning Late Antiquity than any other part of the British Isles, but most are from peat bogs, posing problems of distinguishing between changes in the local wetland vegetation and events in the wider landscape. Here, an alternative perspective is offered by multi-proxy analyses of sediments from two lakes—Crag Lough and Grindon Lough—adjacent to the central sector of Hadrian’s Wall and the Stanegate, respectively. These demonstrate that at least the central sector of the Hadrianic frontier was constructed in a landscape already shaped by two millennia of woodland clearance, burning, farming and soil erosion. Roman military presence led to changes in agricultural and settlement patterns, but the overall impact, from an environmental perspective, was minor compared to that of prehistoric peoples. Roman withdrawal led to a relaxation in land use intensity, resulting in woodland regeneration on areas least favourable to agriculture, probably encouraged by climatic deterioration. The landscape, overall, remained predominantly open and agricultural, however, resembling that of the Late Iron Age. A multi-proxy multi-site approach offers the greatest prospect of understanding environmental and landscape changes connected with Roman military presence and withdrawal, and the varied spatial and temporal scales on which they occurred.

Unraveling the Occupation History of the Cremation Cemetery at Wijnegem/Blikstraat (Belgium)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1645-1656
Author(s):  
Guy De Mulder ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck ◽  
Mathieu Boudin ◽  
Ignace Bourgeois
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Funerary Monuments ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACTRecently a cremation cemetery was excavated at the site of Wijnegem where 29 cremation graves and 9 funerary monuments were uncovered. Thirty radiocarbon (14C) dates were carried out, mostly on cremated bone but also 10 charcoal samples were dated. Twenty-four cremations were studied. Four ring ditches were dated by charcoal samples from the infill of the ditch. The 14C dates showed an interesting long-term occupation of the cemetery. Different phases were ascertained. The history of the cemetery starts in the northern part of the site around a circular funerary monument. Two cremations were dated at the transition of the Early to Middle Bronze Ages. Two other graves represent the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Ages. The main occupation period dates between the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Finally, an isolated cremation grave marks the definite abandonment of the site during the Late Iron Age.

scholarly journals Forging the trowel, hammering the Dacians: Marxism and Late Iron Age Archaeology in Romania (1948–1989)

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 23-62
Author(s):  
Alin Henț ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Key Events

The aim of this paper is to make a critical evaluation of the Romanian historiography from 1948–1989 which had as a subject of study the social history of the northern Balkan communities in the Late Iron Age period. The two years that I have chosen have both a symbolical and a chronological value. The year 1948 marks the beginning of an extensive and radical process of political, economic, social, and cultural changes, while the year 1989 symbolizes the fall of the Romanian “communist” regime. I propose a contextual analysis, which takes into account the evolution of the “communist” regime, as well as some key events that shaped the discourse. Through this evaluation, I want to intervene in the symbolic struggles that had as a final stake the Late Iron Age archaeology from Romania. Without claiming an objective analysis, I want to offer an alternative to the distorted portrayals which had existed so far. Although labelled as a “Communist” or “Marxist” historiography, it never strayed too far from the nationalist ideology, creating massive distortions along its way. In almost 50 years, the Romanian Late Iron Age historiography has gone from a formal and superficial application of Marxist theories, to a relative liberalization, and finally returned to an almost right‑wing discourse over the Dacian past. Moreover, I will show, in contrast to the classical post‑Communist view that the Late Iron Age archaeology in Romania was in touch, at least at some point, to the contemporary historiographical debates.

Memories of the Past in Roman Britain

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zena Kamash
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Memory Process ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

After setting out the history of memory studies and the role of archaeology in these studies, this chapter examines three realms of memory in Roman Britain: the burial of memories; the reorganization of landscapes and memories; and the building of religious memory. First, I explore how burying people and objects can be part of the memory process, focusing on embodied actions and the use of legendary topographies in the landscape. I then examine how different memory communities responded to major periods of landscape reorganization, linking this to wider discussions about the creation and maintenance of identity in Roman Britain. Finally, I explore the Romano-Celtic temple phenomenon. I argue that the construction of temples was linked to the kinds of memory-making that are particularly prevalent in times of social instability, a phenomenon seen as part of a broader set of processes that began in the late Iron Age.

The Climate of Prehistoric Britain

Antiquity ◽  
1927 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. P. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
North West ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Swiss Lake ◽  
Glacial Clays ◽  
Boreal Period

After the latest glacial advance of the Quaternary Ice Age, the climate of north-west Europe did not simply recover to its present level, but underwent a series of fluctuations, at times becoming warmer and drier than at present, and again approaching glacial conditions. The pioneer in the investigation of these postglacial climatic changes was the Norwegian Axel Blytt, who as long ago as 1876 made out a succession of dry and wet periods, which he termed Boreal, Atlantic, sub-Boreal and sub-Atlantic. The existence of these four periods has been abundantly confirmed; they are best shown in the peat-bogs of Norway and Sweden, where they are represented by layers of tree-stools alternating with beds of peat, but they have now been connected with de Geer's geochronological time-scale derived from the banded glacial clays. It is found that the dry, mainly cool Boreal period extended from about 6500 to 5200 B.C., the moist warm Atlantic period from 5200 to 3000 B.c., the dry warm sub-Boreal from 3000 to 850 B.C., and the wet cool sub-Atlantic from 850 B.C., to about 300 A.D. Thus the Neolithic in north-west Europe falls partly in the Atlantic and partly in the sub-Boreal period; the Bronze Age entirely in the latter. The early Iron Age, on the other hand, falls mainly in the sub-Atlantic.A succession of dry and wet periods can be recognized over a wide area in northern and central Europe and again in Scotland and Ireland. The Swiss lake-dwellings are strong evidence of a dry climate during much of the Neolithic, because when they were established the levels of the lakes must have been very much lower than at present, especially if, as seems probable, the dwellings were first built not in the waters of the lakes but on peat-bogs on their Neolithic shores. In Scotland James Geikie obtained a sequence similar to Blytt's, though he stressed the changes of temperature rather than of rainfall. Geikie named his stages Lower Forestian, Lower Turbarian (i.e. Lower Peat), Upper Forestian and Upper Turbarian. The Scottish peat mosses have since been examined more closely by F. J. Lewis1, who found that the Upper Forest Bed extended over the whole mainland of Scotland almost to Cape Wrath, rising in places to nearly 3000 feet above sea level, or far above the present limit of trees. In the Highlands however it is split into two layers separated by one to three feet of peat, indicating a break in the dry conditions. It is interesting that a similar break in the dry Neolithic climate is shown by the history of the Swiss lake-dwellings. The Upper Forest layer is not found in the Shetlands.

scholarly journals The Fields that Outlived the Celts: The Use-histories of Later Prehistoric Field Systems (Celtic Fields orRaatakkers) in the Netherlands

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 303-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn Arnoldussen
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Stable Form ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Field Plots

The Celtic field research programme of Groningen University involves research excavations of Dutch Celtic fields or raatakkers: embanked field plots thought to date to the Iron Age (c. 800 calbc–12bc). In this paper, detailed attention is given to (a) the palaeoecology of raatakkers; (b) the relationship between habitation and agriculture in such systems; and (c) their dating and use-life. Counter-intuitively, it is argued that the macro-remains from crops such as barley, wheat, millet, and flax recovered from Celtic field banks represent a non-local (settlement) signal rather than document local agricultural regimes. Palynological approaches, in which a more local signal can be preserved but which also show evidence for details of the agricultural regime such as manuring strategies and fallow cycles, are argued to be more appropriate avenues to study local agricultural strategies. A discussion of the relations between habitation and agriculture shows that house sites uncovered within Dutch Celtic fields are almost invariably placed in positions partly overlapping banks. Moreover, in most cases such settlement traces appear to date to the Middle or Late Iron Age, raising the question of where the initial farmers of the Celtic fields lived, as the communities planning and first using these Celtic fields probably pre-dated the Iron Age. A critical review of existing dates and discussion of new OSL and AMS dates has shown that bank construction of Dutch Celtic fields started around the 13th–10th centuries calbcand continued into the Roman era. The chronostratigraphies preserved in the banks testify to a sustainable agricultural regime of unprecedented time-depth: centuries of continued use make the system employing raatakkers the most enduring and stable form of farming known in the history of the Netherlands.

Holocene evolution of a drowned melt-water valley in the Danish Wadden Sea

2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørn B.T. Pedersen ◽  
Steffen Svinth ◽  
Jesper Bartholdy
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Wadden Sea ◽  
Sedimentary Facies ◽  
Present Level ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Melt Water ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Geomorphologic Evolution

AbstractCores from the salt marshes along the drowned melt-water valley of river Varde Å in the Danish Wadden Sea have been dated and analysed (litho- and biostratigraphically) to reconstruct the Holocene geomorphologic evolution and relative sea level history of the area. The analysed cores cover the total post-glacial transgression, and the reconstructed sea level curve represents the first unbroken curve of this kind from the Danish Wadden Sea, including all phases from the time where sea level first reached the Pleistocene substrate of the area. The sea level has been rising from − 12 m below the present level at c. 8400 cal yr BP, interrupted by two minor drops of < 0.5 m at c. 5500 cal yr BP and 1200 cal yr BP, and one major drop of ∼ 1.5 m at c. 3300 cal yr BP. Sediment deposition has been able to keep pace with sea level rise, and the Holocene sequence consists in most places of clay atop a basal peat unit overlying sand of Weichselian age and glacio-fluvial origin. In its deepest part, the basal peat started to form around 8400 cal yr BP, and reached a thickness of up to 3.5 m. This thickness is about half of the original, when corrected for auto-compaction. The superimposed clay contains small (63–355 μm) red iron stains in the top and bottom units, and foraminifers of the calcareous type in the middle. The fact that iron stains and foraminifers in no cases coexist, but always exclude each other is interpreted as a result of the difference between salt-marsh facies (iron stains) and tidal-flat facies (foraminifers). This represents a novel and easy way to distinguish between these two otherwise often undistinguishable sedimentary facies in the geological record.

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