Magdalenian hunter–gatherers in the northern loess area between the Meuse and Rhine – New insights from the excavation at Eyserheide (SE Netherlands)

Abstract

The paper reports on a Magdalenian open-air site at Eyserheide in the hilly landscape of the southern Netherlands. The site, located on the southern margin of an elevated and loess-covered plateau, comprises stone artefacts made from different types of local Cretaceous flint. Using data of refitting, a comparison has proofed meaningful between technological characteristics of the flint material of Eyserheide and those of ‘classic’ Magdalenian sites in the Paris Basin. Moreover, despite disturbances of the archaeological layer by bioturbation and ploughing, intra-spatial analysis has provided valuable information on the organization and use of the camp site. Judging from the results of the ring and sector method, the knapping of flint and the manufacturing and use of tools in the main activity area took place in the open air, presumably in the vicinity of a small hearth. In this find-rich area, several nodules were worked according to le débitage magdalénien classique, which indicates the presence of at least one experienced flint knapper in the camp site of Eyserheide. For Eyserheide and some other excavated open-air sites (Sweikhuizen-GP, Alsdorf) in the same loess area, an interpretation as temporary base camps of small social units is considered likely. Taking into account the occurrence of Dutch Cretaceous flints in Andernach and Gönnersdorf, the sites can be related to the Magdalenian occupation of the Central Rhineland. Radiocarbon dates of both German sites date in an indirect way these northern loess sites at the end of the Pleniglacial and prior to the prominent and sudden warming that marks the beginning of the Late Glacial interstadial. For Orp-le-Grand on the Hesbaye Plateau in Belgium a connection with cave sites south of Namur is indicated by the use of similar flint in these sites.