Abstract
Abstract This article presents an overview of the current evidence on the process of Neolithisation in the Dutch wetlands. Over the years, several models have been proposed with different perspectives on the timing and pace of the process: a long transition, an early short transition, and a late short transition. The applicability of any of these models is, of course, dependent of the evidence. In this article, we briefly discuss recently obtained data from the Netherlands on vegetation disturbance (woodland clearing), soil disturbance (tillage), cereal cultivation, animal husbandry, and the use of ceramics. The data discussed involve palynological, sedimentary, micromorphological, archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, as well as lipid analyses. Hence, it is concluded that from the mid fifth millennium cal. BC onwards, various aspects of a more “Neolithic lifestyle” become apparent in the archaeological record, including cereal cultivation on a structural, but small-scale basis in wetland environments. However, despite the “gradual” tendency that can be observed, the evidence is as yet inconclusive with regard to any of the models, due to persisting limitations of the datasets, potential regional variability, and aspects of scale. A new project, the Emergence of Domestic Animals in the Netherlands (EDAN), aims at a better understanding of animal husbandry through aDNA and isotope analyses, within a framework of statistical chronological modelling. We expect this project to enhance the debate greatly.
Highlights
The Dutch wetlands has a standing international reputation as an area where, first and foremost, the transition to farming took extraordinarily long and, second, this transition started prior to that of neighbouring areas in northwest Europe, e.g. the British Isles and southern Scandinavia (e.g. Cunliffe, 2008, pp. 127–130; Shennan, 2018, p. 152; Zvelebil & Rowley-Conwy, 1986): After the Early LBK farmers of central Europe settled the loess zone at c. 200 km from the Dutch wetlands from c. 5300 cal
If one proposes a similar functional differentiation between coastal dune sites and inland wetland sites in the fifth millennium, it follows that if Neolithisation occurred earlier than previously thought, we would expect coastal dune sites to be more agrarian in character than the known inland wetland sites from this period
We focus on the evidence of cereal cultivation, animal husbandry, and the use of ceramics based on the pollen, soil micromorphology, botanical macroremains, zooarchaeological data, and lipids preserved in ceramics
Summary
The Dutch wetlands has a standing international reputation as an area where, first and foremost, the transition to farming took extraordinarily long and, second, this transition started prior to that of neighbouring areas in northwest Europe, e.g. the British Isles and southern Scandinavia (e.g. Cunliffe, 2008, pp. 127–130; Shennan, 2018, p. 152; Zvelebil & Rowley-Conwy, 1986): After the Early LBK farmers of central Europe settled the loess zone at c. 200 km from the Dutch wetlands from c. 5300 cal. If one proposes a similar functional differentiation between coastal dune sites and inland wetland sites in the fifth millennium (as proposed for later phases of the Dutch Neolithic; Louwe Kooijmans, 1993), it follows that if Neolithisation occurred earlier than previously thought, we would expect coastal dune sites to be more agrarian in character than the known inland wetland sites from this period The use of context dates, instead of direct dates on the bones from domestic animals, leads him to question the age of the assemblages involved His critique results in a model of a late and short transition, contemporaneous to the transition on the British Isles and southern Scandinavia. We focus on those sites that provide the starting date of aspects of the transition to farming, or where these aspects can best be illustrated
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