Elsevier

Quaternary International

Volume 411, Part A, 8 August 2016, Pages 149-162
Quaternary International

The Middle Palaeolithic of the Netherlands – Contexts and perspectives

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.061Get rights and content

Abstract

We present a concise overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands. The area, which is situated along the northwestern edge of the known Neanderthal world, is very divers in terms of geological development. As a result of glacial cycles, hominin occupation can be characterised as intermittent and probably sparse. Well-preserved sites are primarily known from the loess region in the southern part of the province of Limburg and to a certain extent from the Roer Valley Graben. Further to the north artefacts do occur ‘geological in situ’, i.e. in the ice-pushed ridges in the central Netherlands and on the Drenthe–Frisian till plateau in the northernmost part of the country, but primary archaeological in situ situations have yet to be discovered. The oldest traces of occupation date to MIS 9 or MIS 7 (Belvédère quarry and the ‘Rhenen Industry’), the youngest (stray finds) can be attributed to the Blattspitzengruppen and the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (MIS 3). The (Upper) Acheulian, several Mousterian variants and the Keilmessergruppen are also attested. This paper serves as a starting point for future research.

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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