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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. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by the indigenous communities in relation to their environmental context and in view of the changes that becoming Neolithic brought about. This volume contains the appendices to the thesis ‘Persistent traditions. A long-term perspective on communities in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 c...
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).
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. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by the indigenous communities in relation to their environmental context and in view of the changes that becoming Neolithic brought about. This work brings together a comprehensive array of excavated archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area. Their analysis shows that the succession of Late Mesolithic, Swifterbant cult...
This book addresses the problems concerning the research of Stone Age surface scatters in the Northern Netherlands (provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland). Research methods are presented which can be used to assess these scatters within the realm of archaeological heritage management and suggestions are made with regard to knowledge hiatus and future research opportunities.Due to the large number of scatters, poor conservation, lack of visibility in the landscape and disturbed context these sites can often be overlooked. Nowadays, the majority of archaeological research is performed within the context of archaeological heritage management where, besides scientific, socio-economic mot...
The annual journal Palaeohistoria is edited by the staff of the Groningen Institute of Archaeology, and carries detailed articles on material culture, analysis of radiocarbon data and the results of excavations, surveys and coring campaigns.
This volume comprises papers presented to Wietske Prummel on the occasion of her retirement from the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (University of Groningen) in 2012. The contributions cover a wide range of topics from all realms of archaeozoology, such as animal husbandry and mobility, bird exploitation and fishery. The papers are dedicated to Wietske in celebration of her scientific career.
The beginning of the Neolithic in Britain marks the end of a hunter-gatherer way of life with the introduction of domesticated plants and animals, polished stone tools, and a range of new monuments. Julian Thomas offers a coherent argument to explain the process of transition between the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.
All farming in prehistoric Europe ultimately came from elsewhere in one way or another, unlike the growing numbers of primary centers of domestication and agricultural origins worldwide. This fact affects every aspect of our understanding of the start of farming on the continent because it means that ultimately, domesticated plants and animals came from somewhere else, and from someone else. In an area as vast as Europe, the process by which food production becomes the predominant subsistence strategy is of course highly variable, but in a sense the outcome is the same, and has the potential for addressing more large-scale questions regarding agricultural origins. Therefore, a detailed under...
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.
In this research the stone and flint artefacts of the site Swifterbant are analysed. Attention is focussed on the Neolithic occupation phase of the prehistoric creek system (c. 4300 - 4000 cal BC) where archaeological traces were found on several levee and river dune sites. This study shows that there is a larger variability in site types than originally presumed. It is established that these sites are all part of one settlement system in which they all had a different function. This thesis comprises a monograph on the research history of the site and the different aspects of the lithic research such as typological analysis, technological attribute analysis, raw material analysis and use-wea...