DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Anscher, Theo J. ten; Knippenberg, Sebastiaan: Unexpected dimensions of a Swifterbant settlement at Medel-De Roeskamp (the Netherlands)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0166
Theo J. ten Anscher and Sebastiaan Knippenberg
165
consisting mainly of alder and oak, in general provided
a rather dry environment, accessible by foot and by
canoe. The Swifterbant occupation started when the
channel was already silted up to a considerable degree,
though still connected to the active river system. By
then, the prevailing calm conditions made the levee
a convenient location for a settlement, at least for a
considerable time. However, regular flooding led to the
silting up of the surrounding flood plain, ultimately cov-
ering the levee. This meant that in the long run the levee
ceased to be a relatively high and mostly dry element,
thereby losing its suitability for use as a dwelling place.
Duration of habitation and settlement
size
Eleven 14C dates (from burnt bone, charred hazel
nutshell, charred and uncharred seeds, charred
grain kernels and charcoal) belong to the period
4,325/4,225-4,000 calBC, and two more (from burnt
bone and charred hazel nutshell) attest to a relatively
late use during 4,065-3,965 calBC. So Medel is firmly
dated in phase SW2, its occupation spanning presum-
ably around 200-300 years and some 350 years at most.
Situated outside the provisional boundaries of the
business park, the eastern counterpart of the excavated
levee remains unknown. There is a chance that it has
been largely eroded already, perhaps even before the
Swifterbant inhabitation of the western levee started.
On the other hand, the eastern levee potentially could
have played an important role in the Medel settlement
system, for example as a nearby arable field, a graz-
ing/feeding ground for cattle and pigs, or as a burial
ground - contrary to expectations no graves were
found on the western levee. So it should be realised
that part of the puzzle is missing. Although a large
tract of the settlement area was excavated and the find
abundance was dwindling towards the south and the
north where the levee was sloping down, it cannot be
excluded that it continued beyond the excavated area,
again on higher parts of the western levee, perhaps
constituting a chain of sites.
The southern concentration of finds and features
covers about 11,000 m2, the northern concentration
measures around 1,500 m2. For easy reference, they
are called the southern and the northern site though
they belong to the same settlement, subdivided by a
natural depression in the surface of the levee. The
northern site lies several decimeters lower than the
southern site. Presumably, both sites were largely con-
temporaneous, though the occupation of the much
larger and higher southern site may have lasted a
century or so longer.
For a Swifterbant settlement the size of Medel-De
Roeskamp is astonishing. It is twice the size of all the ex-
cavated Swifterbant sites in the Netherlands combined
(except for Nieuwegein that is made up of several much
smaller sites; see Molthof / Baetsen, this volume).
Finds
The overwhelming majority of finds - some 600,000
belong to the Swifterbant period - comes from the
settlement layer in the top of the levee. In the channel,
several thin layers with refuse were discovered. These
wild animals
wild or domesticate (cattle, aurochs, horse)
pig / wild boar
domesticates (pig, cattle, sheep / goat, dog)
Fig. 3a Identified animal species: all mammals subdived into different groups (for numbers see Fig. 3b).
165
consisting mainly of alder and oak, in general provided
a rather dry environment, accessible by foot and by
canoe. The Swifterbant occupation started when the
channel was already silted up to a considerable degree,
though still connected to the active river system. By
then, the prevailing calm conditions made the levee
a convenient location for a settlement, at least for a
considerable time. However, regular flooding led to the
silting up of the surrounding flood plain, ultimately cov-
ering the levee. This meant that in the long run the levee
ceased to be a relatively high and mostly dry element,
thereby losing its suitability for use as a dwelling place.
Duration of habitation and settlement
size
Eleven 14C dates (from burnt bone, charred hazel
nutshell, charred and uncharred seeds, charred
grain kernels and charcoal) belong to the period
4,325/4,225-4,000 calBC, and two more (from burnt
bone and charred hazel nutshell) attest to a relatively
late use during 4,065-3,965 calBC. So Medel is firmly
dated in phase SW2, its occupation spanning presum-
ably around 200-300 years and some 350 years at most.
Situated outside the provisional boundaries of the
business park, the eastern counterpart of the excavated
levee remains unknown. There is a chance that it has
been largely eroded already, perhaps even before the
Swifterbant inhabitation of the western levee started.
On the other hand, the eastern levee potentially could
have played an important role in the Medel settlement
system, for example as a nearby arable field, a graz-
ing/feeding ground for cattle and pigs, or as a burial
ground - contrary to expectations no graves were
found on the western levee. So it should be realised
that part of the puzzle is missing. Although a large
tract of the settlement area was excavated and the find
abundance was dwindling towards the south and the
north where the levee was sloping down, it cannot be
excluded that it continued beyond the excavated area,
again on higher parts of the western levee, perhaps
constituting a chain of sites.
The southern concentration of finds and features
covers about 11,000 m2, the northern concentration
measures around 1,500 m2. For easy reference, they
are called the southern and the northern site though
they belong to the same settlement, subdivided by a
natural depression in the surface of the levee. The
northern site lies several decimeters lower than the
southern site. Presumably, both sites were largely con-
temporaneous, though the occupation of the much
larger and higher southern site may have lasted a
century or so longer.
For a Swifterbant settlement the size of Medel-De
Roeskamp is astonishing. It is twice the size of all the ex-
cavated Swifterbant sites in the Netherlands combined
(except for Nieuwegein that is made up of several much
smaller sites; see Molthof / Baetsen, this volume).
Finds
The overwhelming majority of finds - some 600,000
belong to the Swifterbant period - comes from the
settlement layer in the top of the levee. In the channel,
several thin layers with refuse were discovered. These
wild animals
wild or domesticate (cattle, aurochs, horse)
pig / wild boar
domesticates (pig, cattle, sheep / goat, dog)
Fig. 3a Identified animal species: all mammals subdived into different groups (for numbers see Fig. 3b).