Books by Quentin Bourgeois
HEUVELS OP DE HEIDE Bronstijd grafheuvels, een ijzertijd urnenveld met elite inhumatiegraf en graven uit de Romeinse tijd op de Slabroekse Heide bij Uden, 2021
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Local Societies in the Big World of Prehistoric Northwest Europe, 2018
This volume of Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia focuses on how local communities in prehistory de... more This volume of Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia focuses on how local communities in prehistory define themselves in relation to a bigger social world.
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
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Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia (49), 2018
This volume of Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia focuses on how local communities in prehistory de... more This volume of Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia focuses on how local communities in prehistory define themselves in relation to a bigger social world.
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
Bakels, C.C., Q.P.J.Bourgeois, D.R.Fontijn, R.Jansen (eds.) 2018. Local Communities in the Big World of Prehistoric Northwest Europe, Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 49, Sidestone Press, Leiden.
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Barrows, as burial markers, are ubiquitous throughout North-Western Europe. In some regions dense... more Barrows, as burial markers, are ubiquitous throughout North-Western Europe. In some regions dense concentrations of monuments form peculiar configurations such as long alignments while in others they are spread out extensively, dotting vast areas with hundreds of mounds. These vast barrow landscapes came about through thousands of years of additions by several successive prehistoric and historic communities. Yet little
is known about how these landscapes developed and originated.
That is what this research set out to do. By unravelling the histories of specific barrow landscapes in the Low Countries, several distinct activity phases of intense barrow construction could be recognised. Each of these phases contributed to how the barrow landscape developed and reveals shifting attitudes to these monuments.
By creating new monuments in a specific place and in a particular fashion, prehistoric communities purposefully transformed the form and shape of the barrow landscape. Using several GIS-techniques such as a skyline-analysis, this research is able to demonstrate how each barrow took up a specific (and different) position within such a social landscape. While the majority of the barrows were only visible from relatively close by, specific monuments took up a dominating position, cresting the horizon, being visible from much further away.
It is argued in this research that these burial mounds remained important landscape monuments on the purple heathlands. They continued to attract attention, and by their visibility ensured to endure in the collective memory of the communities shaping themselves around these monuments.
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Groups of burial mounds may be among the most tangible and visible remains of Europe’s prehistori... more Groups of burial mounds may be among the most tangible and visible remains of Europe’s prehistoric past. Yet, not much is known on how “barrow landscapes” came into being . This book deals with that topic, by presenting the results of archaeological research carried out on a group of just two barrows that crown a small hilltop near the Echoput (“echo-well”) in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
In 2007, archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University carried out an excavation of parts of these mounds and their immediate environment. They discovered that these mounds are rare examples of monumental barrows from the later part of the Iron Age. They were probably built at the same time, and their similarities are so conspicuous that one might speak of “twin barrows”.
The research team was able to reconstruct the long-term history of this hilltop. We can follow how the hilltop that is now deep in the forests of the natural reserve of the Kroondomein Het Loo, once was an open place in the landscape. With pragmatism not unlike our own, we see how our prehistoric predecessors carefully managed and maintained the open area for a long time, before it was transformed into a funerary site. The excavation yielded many details on how people built the barrows by cutting and arranging heather sods, and how the mounds were used for burial rituals in the Iron Age.
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The hills overlooking the north flank of the Rhine valley in the Netherlands are dotted with hund... more The hills overlooking the north flank of the Rhine valley in the Netherlands are dotted with hundreds of prehistoric burial mounds. Only a few of them were ever investigated by archaeologists, and even nowadays the many barrows preserved in the extensive forests of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug are the oldest visible witnesses of a remote, but largely unknown prehistoric past. In 2006, a team of archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University set out to investigate these age-old monuments. Parts of two neighbouring mounds at Elst, in the municipality of Rhenen, were excavated, and numerous finds collected by amateur archaeologists were retrieved and studied. As a result, the research team was able to reconstruct the formation and histories of this barrow landscape from 2000 BC onwards. Contrary to what was initially thought, the Elst barrows appeared not to have been situated within a separate ceremonial landscape, but were rather closely linked with the world of daily living. Throughout the Bronze Age and Iron Age, people had been ‘living near the dead’.
The finds discussed in this book include a rare example of an Early Bronze Age burial mound, examples of pottery deposition, remains of a Middle Bronze Age ‘Hilversum– Period’ settlement and many indications for mundane and ritual uses of the barrows in the later Iron Age.
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Papers by Quentin Bourgeois
Antiquity, 2024
Volunteers are a key part of the archaeological labour force and, with the growth of digital data... more Volunteers are a key part of the archaeological labour force and, with the growth of digital datasets, these citizen scientists represent a vast pool of interpretive potential; yet, concerns remain about the quality and reliability of crowd-sourced data. This article evaluates the classification of prehistoric barrows on lidar images of the central Netherlands by thousands of volunteers on the Heritage Quest project. In analysing inter-user agreement and assessing results against fieldwork at 380 locations, the authors show that the probability of an accurate barrow identification is related to volunteer consensus in image classifications. Even messy data can lead to the discovery of many previously undetected prehistoric burial mounds.
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GEOPHYSICS
Detecting small-size objects is a primary challenge at archaeological sites due to the high degre... more Detecting small-size objects is a primary challenge at archaeological sites due to the high degree of heterogeneity present in the near surface. Although high-resolution reflection seismic imaging often delivers the target resolution of the subsurface in different near-surface settings, the standard processing for obtaining an image of the subsurface is not suitable to map local diffractors. This happens because shallow seismic-reflection data are often dominated by strong surface waves which might cover weaker diffractions, and because traditional common-midpoint moveout corrections are only optimal for reflection events. Here, we propose an approach for imaging subsurface objects using masked diffractions. These masked diffractions are firstly revealed by a combination of seismic interferometry and nonstationary adaptive subtraction, and then further enhanced through crosscoherence-based super-virtual interferometry. A diffraction image is then computed by a spatial summation of t...
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In this paper we advocate a practice-based approach to funerary archaeology and demonstrate the v... more In this paper we advocate a practice-based approach to funerary archaeology and demonstrate the value of this perspective using Early Iron Age elite burials in the southern Netherlands as an example. !ere is a clear, preconceived notion among archaeologists of how elite graves in this region ‘should’ look, and they have long since been de"ned by the types of objects they contain: weaponry, horse-gear, wagons and bronze vessels. !e discovery in 2010 of an Early Iron Age inhumation burial containing an extraordinary ornament set in an urn"eld on the Slabroekse Heide in the southern Netherlands rekindled a debate in the Netherlands as to what makes a grave a princely or chieftain’s burial. !e Uden-Slabroek grave was deemed not to ‘"t’ our understanding of rich Early Iron Age burials as it contained very di#erent objects than the traditional princely or chieftains’ burials. In this article, we advocate broadening research from solely focusing on the object types interred ...
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ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2020
This paper presents WODAN2.0, a workflow using Deep Learning for the automated detection of multi... more This paper presents WODAN2.0, a workflow using Deep Learning for the automated detection of multiple archaeological object classes in LiDAR data from the Netherlands. WODAN2.0 is developed to rapidly and systematically map archaeology in large and complex datasets. To investigate its practical value, a large, random test dataset-next to a small, non-random dataset-was developed, which better represents the real-world situation of scarce archaeological objects in different types of complex terrain. To reduce the number of false positives caused by specific regions in the research area, a novel approach has been developed and implemented called Location-Based Ranking. Experiments show that WODAN2.0 has a performance of circa 70% for barrows and Celtic fields on the small, non-random testing dataset, while the performance on the large, random testing dataset is lower: circa 50% for barrows, circa 46% for Celtic fields, and circa 18% for charcoal kilns. The results show that the introduction of Location-Based Ranking and bagging leads to an improvement in performance varying between 17% and 35%. However, WODAN2.0 does not reach or exceed general human performance, when compared to the results of a citizen science project conducted in the same research area.
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019
The introduction of the Corded Ware Culture (3000–2500 BCE) is considered a formative event in Eu... more The introduction of the Corded Ware Culture (3000–2500 BCE) is considered a formative event in Europe's past. Ancient DNA analyses demonstrate that migrations played a crucial role in this event. However, these analyses approach the issue at a supra-regional scale, leaving questions about the regional and local impact of this event unresolved. This study pilots an approach to ceramics that brings this small-scale impact into focus by using the transmission of ceramic technology as a proxy for social change. It draws on ethno-archaeological studies of the effects of social changes on the transmission of ceramic production techniques to hypothesise the impact of three idealised scenarios that archaeologists have proposed for the introduction of Corded Ware Culture: migration, diffusion, and network interactions. Subsequently, it verifies these hypotheses by integrating geochemical (WDXRF), mineralogical (petrography), and macromorphological analysis of ceramics with network analysis. This method is applied to 30 Late Neolithic ceramic vessels from three sites in the western coastal area of the Netherlands (Hazerswoude-Rijndijk N11, Zandwerven, and Voorschoten-De Donk). This study concludes that the introduction of Corded Ware material culture is a process that varies from site to site in the western coastal area of the Netherlands. Moreover, the introduction of the Corded Ware Culture is characterised by continuity in technological traditions throughout the study area, indicating a degree of social continuity despite typological changes in ceramics.
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Remote Sensing, 2019
Although the history of automated archaeological object detection in remotely sensed data is shor... more Although the history of automated archaeological object detection in remotely sensed data is short, progress and emerging trends are evident. Among them, the shift from rule-based approaches towards machine learning methods is, at the moment, the cause for high expectations, even though basic problems, such as the lack of suitable archaeological training data are only beginning to be addressed. In a case study in the central Netherlands, we are currently developing novel methods for multi-class archaeological object detection in LiDAR data based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This research is embedded in a long-term investigation of the prehistoric landscape of our study region. We here present an innovative integrated workflow that combines machine learning approaches to automated object detection in remotely sensed data with a two-tier citizen science project that allows us to generate and validate detections of hitherto unknown archaeological objects, thereby contributing to the creation of reliable, labeled archaeological training datasets. We motivate our methodological choices in the light of current trends in archaeological prospection, remote sensing, machine learning, and citizen science, and present the first results of the implementation of the workflow in our research area.
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Archeologie in Nederland, 2018
Geofysische technieken, zoals grondradar of weerstandsmeter, worden in de archeologie al jarenlan... more Geofysische technieken, zoals grondradar of weerstandsmeter, worden in de archeologie al jarenlang toegepast. Door te meten vanaf het maaiveld kunnen bepaalde archeologische verschijnselen snel en non-destructief in kaart worden gebracht. Aan het oppervlak onzichtbare funderingen van verdwenen, middeleeuwse gebouwen verschijnen prachtig in beeld. Maar werken deze technieken ook op andere, minder ‘harde’ of ‘grote’ sporen in de ondergrond, zoals die van prehistorische grafheuvels? Die vraag stond centraal tijdens het archeologieplatform van 20 april 2017 in Amersfoort.
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Analecta Praehistoric Leidensia, 2018
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In this paper we advocate a practice-based approach to funerary archaeology and demonstrate the v... more In this paper we advocate a practice-based approach to funerary archaeology and demonstrate the value of this perspective using Early Iron Age elite burials in the southern Netherlands as an example. ere is a clear, preconceived notion among archaeologists of how elite graves in this region 'should' look, and they have long since been dened by the types of objects they contain: weaponry, horse-gear, wagons and bronze vessels. e discovery in 2010 of an Early Iron Age inhumation burial containing an extraordinary ornament set in an urneld on the Slabroekse Heide in the southern Netherlands rekindled a debate in the Netherlands as to what makes a grave a princely or chieftain's burial. e Uden-Slabroek grave was deemed not to 't' our understanding of rich Early Iron Age burials as it contained very dierent objects than the traditional princely or chieftains' burials. In this article, we advocate broadening research from solely focusing on the object types interred to include the actions taken, i.e. the burial practice. When considered from such an approach the Uden-Slabroek burial ts far better into the spectrum of Early Iron Age elite burials. is kind of switch of perspective results in very dierent understandings of past funerary practices and is relevant to all elds of mortuary archaeology. While we do not advocate abandoning an object-based approach to burial studies, we do argue that by including study of actions and practices we can expand, redirect and improve the approaches currently employed in funerary archaeology. Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird anhand ältereisenzeitlicher Elitegräber in den südlichen Niederlanden für eine auf Praktiken basierte Auswertung von Grabbefunden plädiert. Über die Frage, wie ein Elitegrab in dieser Region auszusehen hat, besteht seit langem unter Archäologen Einigkeit. Entsprechende Gräber sind über die Objekte, die in ihnen enthalten sind, deniert: Waen, Pferdegeschirr, Wagen und Bronzegeschirr. Die verebbte Diskussion darüber, was ein Elitegrab zu einem solchen macht, wurde durch die Entdeckung eines außergewöhnlichen Grabes aus dem Urnenfeld auf der Slabroeker Heide in den südlichen Niederlanden wiederbelebt. Hier wurde 2010 eine Körperbestattung ausgegraben, in der sich ein herausragendes Schmuckensemble fand. Das Grab von Uden-Slabroek passt somit nach traditioneller Sichtweise nicht zu den bekannten Prunkgräbern in den Niederlanden, da weite Teile der üblichen Grabausstattung fehlen. In diesem Beitrag möchten wir allerdings durch eine Betrachtung der im Rahmen der Bestattung stattgefundenen Handlungen diese Sichtweise hinterfragen und somit die Auswertung und Einordnung dieses Grabes über die reinen Objekte hinaus thematisieren. Hieraus ergibt sich eine deutlich veränderte Sichtweise auf das Grab von Slabroek, da dieses Grab durch die im Rahmen des Bestattungsrituals durchgeführten Praktiken den traditionellen Elitegräbern durchaus an die Seite zu stellen ist. Dieser Perspektivenwechsel führt zu unterschiedlichen Wahrnehmungen prähistorischer Bestattungspraktiken
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PLOS One, 2017
The emergence of Corded Ware Groups throughout Europe in the 3rd millennium BC is one of the most... more The emergence of Corded Ware Groups throughout Europe in the 3rd millennium BC is one of the most defining events in European history. From the Wolga to the Rhine communities start to speak Indo-European languages and bury their dead in an extremely similar fashion. Recent ancient DNA-analyses identify a massive migration from the Eurasian steppe as the prime cause for this event. However, there is a fundamental difference between expressing a Corded Ware identity—the sharing of world views and ideas—and having a specific DNA-profile. Therefore, we argue that investigating the exchange of cultural information on burial rites between these communities serves as a crucial complement to the exchange of biological information. By adopting a practice perspective to 1161 Corded Ware burials throughout north-western Europe, combined with similarity indexes and network representations, we demonstrate a high degree of information sharing on the burial ritual between different regions. Moreover, we show that male burials are much more international in character than female burials and as such can be considered as the vector along which cultural information and Corded Ware identity was transmitted. This finding highlights an underlying complex societal organization of Corded Ware burial rites in which gender roles had a significant impact on the composition and transmission of cultural information. Our findings corroborate recent studies that suggest the Corded Ware was a male focused society.
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In 1956 and 1957 prof. A.E. van Giffen, the nestor of Dutch Archaeology, excavated two burial mou... more In 1956 and 1957 prof. A.E. van Giffen, the nestor of Dutch Archaeology, excavated two burial mounds near Oostwoud, on a parcel named ‘Tuithoorn’ in de province of Noord-Holland. These mounds appeared to have been erected in the Late Neolithic between 2500 and 1900 cal BC.
They contained at least 12 well preserved skeletons dating to the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.
The present article is an attempt to re-analyse the data of the investigations by Van Giffen, but also of later research by M. de Weerd in 1963 and 1966, and by J.D. Van der Waals in 1977 and J.N. Lanting in 1978 in the same mounds. In the framework of the NWO-project Farmers of the Coast, the first author undertook the task to collect the dispersed data and to try to unravel the sequences of burial. Aided by the
Leiden University Bakels fund, and a fund of the Province of Noord-Holland, we also had the opportunity to sample the bones for DNA and isotopes, and to study the pathology of the skeletons. Some of the analyses are not yet finished, but here we publish the excavation data using the original field drawings and day notes, and much of the original
photography.
We have done this in some detail because the site is one of the most important in its kind in the Netherlands and because it will play an important role in the discussion about Bell Beaker mobility and genetics in the near future.
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Books by Quentin Bourgeois
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
Bakels, C.C., Q.P.J.Bourgeois, D.R.Fontijn, R.Jansen (eds.) 2018. Local Communities in the Big World of Prehistoric Northwest Europe, Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 49, Sidestone Press, Leiden.
is known about how these landscapes developed and originated.
That is what this research set out to do. By unravelling the histories of specific barrow landscapes in the Low Countries, several distinct activity phases of intense barrow construction could be recognised. Each of these phases contributed to how the barrow landscape developed and reveals shifting attitudes to these monuments.
By creating new monuments in a specific place and in a particular fashion, prehistoric communities purposefully transformed the form and shape of the barrow landscape. Using several GIS-techniques such as a skyline-analysis, this research is able to demonstrate how each barrow took up a specific (and different) position within such a social landscape. While the majority of the barrows were only visible from relatively close by, specific monuments took up a dominating position, cresting the horizon, being visible from much further away.
It is argued in this research that these burial mounds remained important landscape monuments on the purple heathlands. They continued to attract attention, and by their visibility ensured to endure in the collective memory of the communities shaping themselves around these monuments.
In 2007, archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University carried out an excavation of parts of these mounds and their immediate environment. They discovered that these mounds are rare examples of monumental barrows from the later part of the Iron Age. They were probably built at the same time, and their similarities are so conspicuous that one might speak of “twin barrows”.
The research team was able to reconstruct the long-term history of this hilltop. We can follow how the hilltop that is now deep in the forests of the natural reserve of the Kroondomein Het Loo, once was an open place in the landscape. With pragmatism not unlike our own, we see how our prehistoric predecessors carefully managed and maintained the open area for a long time, before it was transformed into a funerary site. The excavation yielded many details on how people built the barrows by cutting and arranging heather sods, and how the mounds were used for burial rituals in the Iron Age.
The finds discussed in this book include a rare example of an Early Bronze Age burial mound, examples of pottery deposition, remains of a Middle Bronze Age ‘Hilversum– Period’ settlement and many indications for mundane and ritual uses of the barrows in the later Iron Age.
Papers by Quentin Bourgeois
They contained at least 12 well preserved skeletons dating to the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.
The present article is an attempt to re-analyse the data of the investigations by Van Giffen, but also of later research by M. de Weerd in 1963 and 1966, and by J.D. Van der Waals in 1977 and J.N. Lanting in 1978 in the same mounds. In the framework of the NWO-project Farmers of the Coast, the first author undertook the task to collect the dispersed data and to try to unravel the sequences of burial. Aided by the
Leiden University Bakels fund, and a fund of the Province of Noord-Holland, we also had the opportunity to sample the bones for DNA and isotopes, and to study the pathology of the skeletons. Some of the analyses are not yet finished, but here we publish the excavation data using the original field drawings and day notes, and much of the original
photography.
We have done this in some detail because the site is one of the most important in its kind in the Netherlands and because it will play an important role in the discussion about Bell Beaker mobility and genetics in the near future.
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
Communities from the deep past managed to make a living in landscapes we tend to perceive as inconvenient, build complex and elaborate monuments with relatively simple tools, and by shaping their landscape carved out a place for themselves in a much bigger social world. The contributions in this volume underscore how small worlds can be big at the same time.
Bakels, C.C., Q.P.J.Bourgeois, D.R.Fontijn, R.Jansen (eds.) 2018. Local Communities in the Big World of Prehistoric Northwest Europe, Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 49, Sidestone Press, Leiden.
is known about how these landscapes developed and originated.
That is what this research set out to do. By unravelling the histories of specific barrow landscapes in the Low Countries, several distinct activity phases of intense barrow construction could be recognised. Each of these phases contributed to how the barrow landscape developed and reveals shifting attitudes to these monuments.
By creating new monuments in a specific place and in a particular fashion, prehistoric communities purposefully transformed the form and shape of the barrow landscape. Using several GIS-techniques such as a skyline-analysis, this research is able to demonstrate how each barrow took up a specific (and different) position within such a social landscape. While the majority of the barrows were only visible from relatively close by, specific monuments took up a dominating position, cresting the horizon, being visible from much further away.
It is argued in this research that these burial mounds remained important landscape monuments on the purple heathlands. They continued to attract attention, and by their visibility ensured to endure in the collective memory of the communities shaping themselves around these monuments.
In 2007, archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University carried out an excavation of parts of these mounds and their immediate environment. They discovered that these mounds are rare examples of monumental barrows from the later part of the Iron Age. They were probably built at the same time, and their similarities are so conspicuous that one might speak of “twin barrows”.
The research team was able to reconstruct the long-term history of this hilltop. We can follow how the hilltop that is now deep in the forests of the natural reserve of the Kroondomein Het Loo, once was an open place in the landscape. With pragmatism not unlike our own, we see how our prehistoric predecessors carefully managed and maintained the open area for a long time, before it was transformed into a funerary site. The excavation yielded many details on how people built the barrows by cutting and arranging heather sods, and how the mounds were used for burial rituals in the Iron Age.
The finds discussed in this book include a rare example of an Early Bronze Age burial mound, examples of pottery deposition, remains of a Middle Bronze Age ‘Hilversum– Period’ settlement and many indications for mundane and ritual uses of the barrows in the later Iron Age.
They contained at least 12 well preserved skeletons dating to the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.
The present article is an attempt to re-analyse the data of the investigations by Van Giffen, but also of later research by M. de Weerd in 1963 and 1966, and by J.D. Van der Waals in 1977 and J.N. Lanting in 1978 in the same mounds. In the framework of the NWO-project Farmers of the Coast, the first author undertook the task to collect the dispersed data and to try to unravel the sequences of burial. Aided by the
Leiden University Bakels fund, and a fund of the Province of Noord-Holland, we also had the opportunity to sample the bones for DNA and isotopes, and to study the pathology of the skeletons. Some of the analyses are not yet finished, but here we publish the excavation data using the original field drawings and day notes, and much of the original
photography.
We have done this in some detail because the site is one of the most important in its kind in the Netherlands and because it will play an important role in the discussion about Bell Beaker mobility and genetics in the near future.
by means of case studies from the Netherlands. It describes a well-investigated barrow group in the south, Toterfout-Halve Mijl, and one in the north, Hijken. In both barrow groups there
appear to have been distinctions between nearby and contemporary sub-groups of mounds.
At Toterfout-Halve Mijl, two types of post circles around barrows were used to signal differences between sub-groups. In Hijken, there is a striking di erence in the provision of grave
goods between two contemporary sub-groups. In the Dutch barrow ritual, there appears to have been a limited, yet widespread, set of practices that were used to mark out differences and similarities between barrows in a group. Hence, features such as specific types of post circle must have had varying social meanings. ere were also local idiosyncratic traits such as the use of mortuary houses in Toterfout and the presence of stake circles in Hijken. On the other hand, there were uniform, long-lived and very widespread traits as well such as the use of a round mound. A study charting the spread of round mounds from the early third to mid second millennium BC shows that this was apparently a longue durée symbol for the marking of burials that was shared cross-culturally, even though its precise social meaning may have differed from place to place in the Middle Bronze Age.
the ice-pushed ridge of the Veluwe. The Niersen Beaker burial contained the human skeletal remains of
multiple individuals. The preservation of the bones, extremely rare on the Dutch sandy upland, motivated
Holwerda to lift the grave and transport it to the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO). The
grave presents a rare insight into Beaker graves in the Netherlands, where skeletal remains are rarely
preserved. A new physical anthropological analysis, paying particular attention to the taphonomy in the
grave, and a critical review of what Holwerda observed in the field has allowed us to re-interpret the
grave. In this article it will be argued that this grave contained not only the remains of a female in
crouched position, but also the disarticulated remains of two more individuals placed at the back of the
grave. Surprisingly not only human remains were uncovered, but also two bones belonging to a large
mammal (a cow or a horse). The specific position of some skeletal remains and the description by Holwerda
allow us to interpret the grave as a small open burial chamber on top of which a barrow was constructed.
The proposed session will bring together specialists from different periods and regions with the aim of discussing, through a variety of case studies and methodological approaches, the analysis and reconstruction of such moundscapes. The role the latest technological advances play in data acquisition, analysis and interpretation will be central to the session as they contribute to get and collate new information about these landscapes. Thus, we will accept papers related to the following topics:
CALL FOR PAPERS
Submit your paper/poster by 15 Feb 2018
- Data acquisition: proposals involving photogrammetry and remote sensing (e.g. LiDAR) techniques will show how to get accurate information as a basis for the development of good practices in research.
- Analysis and Interpretation: computationally-informed landscape archaeology. GIS and Spatial statistics techniques, with presentations on how these monumental landscapes can be statistically modelled to analyse settlement patterns, locational preferences. Case studies on Viewshed analysis or mobility patterns are also welcome, as they will show how geospatial techniques are fundamental to get new knowledge from past societies.