The Middle Palaeolithic of the Netherlands – Contexts and perspectives
Introduction
Neanderthals were distributed across western Eurasia up to the Middle East and the Altai. This vast space was not occupied continuously. Regions such as southwestern France and Iberia have more or less continuous records covering the evolutionary history of the Neanderthal lineage (Gamble, 1999, Jaubert et al., 2011). Occupation of more northern and eastern regions was more discontinuous with lengthy periods devoid of hominin activities (Depaepe, 2009, Ashton et al., 2011, Toussaint et al., 2011, Pettitt and White, 2012). Whatever the process behind these patterns (e.g. group migrations or local extinctions: Hublin and Roebroeks, 2009), such changes in Neanderthal range over time are a spatial expression of their ecological tolerances and preferences. The area currently known as the Netherlands has always been located at the northern limits of the Neanderthal range. The Dutch record can contribute to the question of how Neanderthals dealt with changing climatic and environmental conditions.
In this paper we present the current state of knowledge of Middle Palaeolithic sites and Neanderthals in the Netherlands. In contrast to other countries of northwestern Europe, the collected artefacts exclusively derive from open-air sites. Generally the multidisciplinary research at the Maastricht-Belvédère quarry between 1980 and 1990 remains the flagship of Middle Palaeolithic investigations in the Netherlands (Roebroeks, 1988, De Loecker, 2006). Many well-preserved findspots have been excavated at the quarry, recording activities dating to the intra-Saalian Belvédère interglacial as well as the Early Weichselian. In the past twenty-five years, no locale of similar significance has been investigated and field research at Middle Palaeolithic sites can be considered as limited.
For a good understanding of the available data, we start with a brief outline of the geology and research history of the Netherlands. Next, a general overview of the archaeological record is presented. This forms the basis for a characterization of the Dutch data in a wider northwest-European context and the implications for future research.
Section snippets
Geological setting
Three main factors control the geological contexts in which the occupational history of the Netherlands is registered and preserved. They consist of the depocenters of the North Sea Basin, the Saalian and Weichselian glaciations, and the Rhine–Meuse fluvial system (De Mulder et al., 2003).
Structurally, the Netherlands is situated on the southeastern edge of the North Sea Basin. The Roer Valley rift system in the southern Netherlands links the Central Graben of the North Sea Basin to the Rhine
Research history
The recovery and study of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts have a long tradition in the Netherlands. From the end of the 19th century until today, thousands of Middle Palaeolithic stone, predominantly flint, artefacts were recovered, especially in the central and southernmost part of the country where Pleistocene deposits surface (Niekus and Stapert, 2005, Rensink, 2005). Though the first Middle Palaeolithic artefacts were recognised by Belgian prehistoric archaeologists in southern Limburg, for a
Identifying Middle Palaeolithic artefacts
As the majority of the Dutch artefacts are surface finds, or derive from other secondary contexts with little or no stratigraphical control (e.g. suction-dredging locations, beaches), criteria for classifying finds as Middle Palaeolithic are of crucial importance. Typology and technology are primary and reference is made to both classic German (Bosinski, 1967) and French schemes (Bordes, 1961). In combination with typological and technological characteristics, the study of postdepositional,
Overview of the record
The Middle Palaeolithic record comprises surface finds, finds from spoil heaps of dredging and quarrying, and finds from a small number of excavations. For the description of the Dutch record, five regions are distinguished on the basis of their dominant geology. We present the data from the south to the north, to eventually end with the information presently available from the North Sea area. The regions are: 1. the loess region of southern Limburg, 2. the southern Netherlands, south of the
Discussion and conclusion
The study of the Middle Palaeolithic of the Netherlands is confronted with limitations of poor quality data in terms of site integrity and chronology. Well-preserved sites in stratigraphic context are extremely rare and limited to the loess region of southern Limburg. In general, Middle Palaeolithic artefacts derive from secondary contexts or from the ploughsoil. Surface survey and collecting at spoil heaps from dredging and quarrying for the aggregates industry are the main methods of
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank J. Porck (Crete, Greece) and M. Kosian (Cultural Heritage Agency, Amersfoort) for preparing the maps, G. Leroy (Amiens, France), J. Kolen (Leiden) and L. Johansen (Haren) for making drawings, J. Pauptit (Leiden) for the photography, the Groningen Institute of Archaeology for permission to use illustrations, K. MacDonald (Leiden) for language editing, and the two reviewers for their comments on this paper.
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2016, Quaternary InternationalCitation Excerpt :The most prominent features, the Drenthe-Frisian (Glacial) till plateau and the ice-pushed ridges in the central and eastern part of the country were mainly formed between c.170 and 140 ka during the Drente glaciation (MIS 6)” (Verpoorte et al., 2016). An overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands is provided by Verpoorte et al. (2016), and in the two monographs dedicated to Maastricht-Belvédère (Roebroeks, 1988; De Loecker, 2006). Whereas early excavations at a number of Belgian sites now attributed to the early Middle Palaeolithic (i.e. Liège-Sainte-Walburge, Mesvin terrace, Saint-Symphorien-Carrière Hélin) only provided a very limited chronostratigraphic control, renewed investigations at some of these sites since the 1950s in addition to excavations at newly discovered sites have improved our understanding of this particular time period.
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News from the north: A late Middle Palaeolithic site rich in handaxes on the Drenthe–Frisian till plateau near Assen, the Netherlands; first results of a trial excavation
2016, Quaternary InternationalCitation Excerpt :Consequently, much of the Middle Palaeolithic record is inaccessible nowadays as find-bearing layers are covered by younger sediments. For an extensive review of the Middle Palaeolithic occupation in the Netherlands, see Verpoorte et al. (2016). Only three extensive surface sites are known in this northern region: Mander (Van den Berg and Den Otter, 1982; Stapert, 1982a; Stapert et al., 2013b) and Corversbos (Offerman-Heykens et al., 2010), both located on the slopes of ice-pushed ridges, and the Assen site on the Drenthe–Frisian till plateau.