Izabel Devriendt

In the last ten to fifteen years development-led archaeology has boosted the number of prospections and subsequent excavations in the Netherlands. Despite the number of excavations and the availability of much data little is known with regard to the actual gain of knowledge in connection to the wide range of research questions and topics of the National Archaeological Research Agenda. This book reports on a synthetic analysis of reports produced in the context of development-led projects over the past 10-15 years and concerning the early prehistory of the Netherlands. The degree to which development-led work permits to take major steps forward is highly variable. A limited number of topics has profited from the generated data, and in some cases development-led research has shown to be on the forefront of innovative approaches. A larger number of topics and research questions, however, appear to remain unanswerable; data have been generated, but remain of an anecdotal nature. This volume discusses various issues with regard to the gain of knowledge regarding the early prehistory of the Netherlands, and identifies problems, yet also provides possible solutions. This scientific report is aimed at archaeologists and other professionals occupied with Archaeology. With knowledge and advice the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands gives the future a past.

(Contact the author for a high-res version) In the last ten to fifteen years development-led archaeology has boosted the number of surveys and subsequent excavations in the Netherlands. Despite the number of excavations and the availability of much data little is known with regard to the actual gain of knowledge in connection to the wide range of research questions and topics of the National Archaeological Research Agenda. This book reports on a synthetic analysis of reports produced in the context of development-led projects over the past 10-15 years and concerning the early prehistory of the Netherlands. The degree to which development-led work permits to take major steps forward is highly variable. A limited number of topics has profited from the generated data, and in some cases development-led research has shown to be on the forefront of innovative approaches. A larger number of topics and research questions, however, appear to remain unanswerable; data have been generated, but remain of an anecdotal nature. This volume discusses various issues with regard to the gain of knowledge regarding the early prehistory of the Netherlands, and identifies problems, yet also provides possible solutions. This scientific report is aimed at archaeologists and other professionals occupied with Archaeology. With knowledge and advice the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands gives the future a past.

Between September 7th and October 7th 2015 BAAC Vlaanderen conducted an interdisciplinary archaeological research in an area situated near the Schoorhavenweg in Verrebroek (East Flanders, Belgium); the reason for this being the construction of a logistic park. Earlier investigations by GATE resulted in the discovery of a number of Stone Age find spots in a buried and predominantly intact podzol soil, and this over an area of at least 25 ha. In the initial research phase six small and probably Early Mesolithic artefact scatters, identified during previous research, have been excavated. Additionally, the low-lying zones of the research area were investigated by geological trenches, situated at right angles through them. The latter was done to gain insight into the genesis and infill of these depressions, which have been interpreted as erosion gullies.

This article presents the results of an extensive coring programme and a test excavation at Wetsingermaar (province of Groningen, the Netherlands). The corings made clear that the archaeological site spans over 1.5 ha and is located on the waterfront of a submerged Pleistocene ridge. The test excavation yielded ceramics, flints and other stone amterial, and archaeozoological remains On the basis of its cultural remains  it is concluded that Wetsingermaar constitutes an early site of the Funnel Beaker Culture (Trichterbecherkultur, TRB), predating the Horizon 1 of Drouwen TRB as defined by Brindley (1988b). This early phase is termed pre-Drouwen TRB (cf. Bakker, 1979: 115). The flint industry is similar to younger TRB assemblages, while the ceramic and archaeozoological evidence is difficult to interpret as a result of the fragmentary condition of the finds and the near absence of contemporaneous sites.