DOI chapter:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI chapter:Amkreutz, Luc: A view from Doggerland – interpreting the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the wetlands of the Rhine-Meuse delta (5,500 – 2,500 calBC)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0320
Luc Amkreutz
319
ronment in the west did not stabilise until the start of
the 4th millennium calBC. East of this zone there was
an area with tidal flats, salt marshes and low dunes.
This area knew both brackish and freshwater envi-
ronments that shifted over time. Further east in the
riverine area and the Scheldt basin further south the
freshwater wetlands consisted of peat swamps, lakes
and streams where Pleistocene river dunes - ‘donken’
- formed dry inhabitable patches. In the Ijsselmeer
basin and around Swifterbant there also largely was a
freshwater environment with habitation on levees and
river dunes (Dusseldorp / Amkreutz 2020, and refer-
ences). While this wetland landscape geographically
may be characterised as diverse it moreover changed
over time. The transgression of the sea until c. 4,000
calBC resulted in peat growth and an eastward shift of
the system of beach barriers, lagunas and peat marsh,
while later on, after the drop in sea level rise, there
was an outwards extension of the beach barriers (Vos
/ Kiden 2005; Dusseldorp / Amkreutz 2020). The
many shifts over time also will have had their effects
on the vegetation and wildlife, while marine incur-
sions and peat growth at times made certain areas
uninhabitable. In conclusion it may be stated that this
landscape was never stable and always in flux. In turn,
its occupants, while benefiting from the riches of a
wetland environment could only do so by operating in
a flexible and pragmatic manner - although the latter
is more of a modern research frame.
If we review the characteristics of the communi-
ties in the LRA wetlands between c. 5,000 and 3,000
calBC, focussing on the human-environment relation-
ship, then many aspects of their habitation and liveli-
hood (cf. Whittle 2003) can be connected to such a
flexible disposition and interaction with the environ-
ment. While this has been elaborately discussed else-
where (Amkreutz 2013a, ch. 8 and 9) I will underline
some of the major points.
Subsistence
Food procurement offers an essential insight into
community-environment relationships. The rich wet-
land landscape offered many resources to its inhab-
itants. As such there was little incentive to quickly
adopt agriculture also in view of the fact that many
locations were likely unsuitable for large scale crop
farming or husbandry. Instead the new Neolithic ele-
ments were incorporated in what has been termed an
‘extended broad spectrum economy’, broadening the
range of available resources (cf. Louwe Kooijmans
1998; 2007). At the same time while domesticates
and cultigens increasingly contributed to subsis-
tence, the practices and native knowledge of hunt-
ing, gathering and fishing also remained important
(Amkreutz 2013a, 427; see Fig. 6). If we take the
faunal remains as an indicator of neolithisation then
these primarily reflect the natural exploitation pos-
Mesolithic | | Swifterbant || Hazendonkgrp. || TRB-Vlaardingen culture
5300 5000 5100 4800 4459 4400 4700- 4200- 4000 4000 3510 3790 4400- 3100 3610 3400 3380 3600- 3200- 3200- 3200- 3200- 2960 2850- 2500 2480 3250-
3500 3900 4100 3400 3000 2800 2800 2600 2500 2500?
179 1577 179 1577 1757 1294 1757 261 3825 600 214 161 888 672 445 610 7481 359 718 1227 391 2217 462 465 120 398 2330 N counts
Fig. 6 Faunal spectra documented at a number of wetland and wetland margin sites between 5,500 and 2,500 calBC. Clearly visible
is the continued importance of wild faunal resources until well into the Late Neolithic (adapted from Dusseldorp/Amkreutz 2015, fig. 3).
319
ronment in the west did not stabilise until the start of
the 4th millennium calBC. East of this zone there was
an area with tidal flats, salt marshes and low dunes.
This area knew both brackish and freshwater envi-
ronments that shifted over time. Further east in the
riverine area and the Scheldt basin further south the
freshwater wetlands consisted of peat swamps, lakes
and streams where Pleistocene river dunes - ‘donken’
- formed dry inhabitable patches. In the Ijsselmeer
basin and around Swifterbant there also largely was a
freshwater environment with habitation on levees and
river dunes (Dusseldorp / Amkreutz 2020, and refer-
ences). While this wetland landscape geographically
may be characterised as diverse it moreover changed
over time. The transgression of the sea until c. 4,000
calBC resulted in peat growth and an eastward shift of
the system of beach barriers, lagunas and peat marsh,
while later on, after the drop in sea level rise, there
was an outwards extension of the beach barriers (Vos
/ Kiden 2005; Dusseldorp / Amkreutz 2020). The
many shifts over time also will have had their effects
on the vegetation and wildlife, while marine incur-
sions and peat growth at times made certain areas
uninhabitable. In conclusion it may be stated that this
landscape was never stable and always in flux. In turn,
its occupants, while benefiting from the riches of a
wetland environment could only do so by operating in
a flexible and pragmatic manner - although the latter
is more of a modern research frame.
If we review the characteristics of the communi-
ties in the LRA wetlands between c. 5,000 and 3,000
calBC, focussing on the human-environment relation-
ship, then many aspects of their habitation and liveli-
hood (cf. Whittle 2003) can be connected to such a
flexible disposition and interaction with the environ-
ment. While this has been elaborately discussed else-
where (Amkreutz 2013a, ch. 8 and 9) I will underline
some of the major points.
Subsistence
Food procurement offers an essential insight into
community-environment relationships. The rich wet-
land landscape offered many resources to its inhab-
itants. As such there was little incentive to quickly
adopt agriculture also in view of the fact that many
locations were likely unsuitable for large scale crop
farming or husbandry. Instead the new Neolithic ele-
ments were incorporated in what has been termed an
‘extended broad spectrum economy’, broadening the
range of available resources (cf. Louwe Kooijmans
1998; 2007). At the same time while domesticates
and cultigens increasingly contributed to subsis-
tence, the practices and native knowledge of hunt-
ing, gathering and fishing also remained important
(Amkreutz 2013a, 427; see Fig. 6). If we take the
faunal remains as an indicator of neolithisation then
these primarily reflect the natural exploitation pos-
Mesolithic | | Swifterbant || Hazendonkgrp. || TRB-Vlaardingen culture
5300 5000 5100 4800 4459 4400 4700- 4200- 4000 4000 3510 3790 4400- 3100 3610 3400 3380 3600- 3200- 3200- 3200- 3200- 2960 2850- 2500 2480 3250-
3500 3900 4100 3400 3000 2800 2800 2600 2500 2500?
179 1577 179 1577 1757 1294 1757 261 3825 600 214 161 888 672 445 610 7481 359 718 1227 391 2217 462 465 120 398 2330 N counts
Fig. 6 Faunal spectra documented at a number of wetland and wetland margin sites between 5,500 and 2,500 calBC. Clearly visible
is the continued importance of wild faunal resources until well into the Late Neolithic (adapted from Dusseldorp/Amkreutz 2015, fig. 3).