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Meaningful stones: megalithic tombs as heritage and actor. The Dutch megalithic tombs have seen a long history of protective measures by the government. These measures have resulted in our present-day appreciation of these monuments. They also created the tranquil, ‘natural’ setting, and thus affect our behaviour as visitors. At the same time, these tombs are very much part of the fabric of the present-day society where people have various personal associations with these tombs and their environs memories. As a rule, both aspects (formal heritage policies and personalassociations) reinforce one another, but always within a spatial and behavioural framework defined by governmental policies.

Suids (Sus sp.) played a crucial role in the transition to farming in northern Europe and, like in many regions, in the Netherlands pig husbandry became an important subsistence activity at Neolithic sites. Yet little is known about wild boar palaeoecology and hunting in the Late Mesolithic Netherlands with which to contextualize this transition. This paper presents the first multi-proxy analysis of archaeological suid remains in the Netherlands. It explores human-suid interactions at the Swifterbant culture sites of Hardinxveld-Giessendam Polderweg and De Bruin (5450–4250 BC) through biometric analysis, estimation of age-at-death, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. The results reveal targeted hunting of adult wild boar in the Late Mesolithic (5450–4850 BC), with a possible shift over time towards more juveniles. The wild boar in this period are demonstrated to be of comparably large size to contemporary northern European populations and exhibiting a wide range of dietary regimes. In the final occupational period (4450–4250 BC), small suids are present, possibly domestic pigs, but there is no evidence of pig management. This study demonstrates that the nature of human-suid interactions varied over time, which may have been connected to changing environmental conditions, human mobility, and wild boar behaviour. This study also contributes the first biometric and dietary baseline for mid-Holocene wild boar in the Netherlands.

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.

On the shoulders of giants: the archaeology of northwestern Europe. From its founding in 1918, the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut has carried out research on stone-age hunter-gatherers, the start and the development of prehistoric farming communities, burial mounds and settlements on the sandy soils, and the occupation of the terp-mound district. This article presents the highlights of a century-long research history and identifies current developments.

This paper focuses on the functional analysis of Swifterbant pottery (c. 5000–3800 cal BC) in the Lower Rhine-Meuse area (the Netherlands). It examines pottery use across the transition to agriculture and aims to assess temporal changes in human-animal relations during the 5th millennium BC in the Lower Rhine-Meuse area through lipid residue analysis. We conducted lipid residue analysis of 49 samples from four Swifterbant sites: Hardinxveld-Giessendam Polderweg, Hardinxveld-Giessendam De Bruin, Brandwijk-het Kerkhof, and Hazendonk. A combined approach using both GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS of residues absorbed into the ceramic was employed to identify their context. Their context was then compared to published faunal datasets to present the relative abundance of taxa detected in the lipid residues. Evidence of processing freshwater fish was found in all sites, presenting that it was a continuous and primary function of Swifterbant pottery in the Lower Rhine-Meuse area starting from its first appearance at c. 5000 cal BC till the end of 5th millennium BC regardless of vessel form, size, decoration or temper. The results of our analysis also present temporal changes in the exploitation of food resources from the early to the late 5th millennium BC. From the mid 5th millennium BC onwards, vessels were also used to process different ranges of foodstuffs such as terrestrial resources and dairy products. The identification of dairy residue is the first direct evidence so far from Swifterbant pottery. We tentatively explain these results as an indication of presence of different culinary practices that had developed through the 5th millennium in the Lower Rhine-Meuse area and that the use of Swifterbant pottery is a direct reflection of changing cultural preferences on food preparation and consumption.

Schipluiden (3630-3380 cal BC), the earliest known year-round settlement in the Rhine-Meuse Delta in the Netherlands, is a key site for addressing the nature of Neolithic subsistence in the wetlands of northwestern Europe. A preliminary zooarchaeological study suggested that cattle husbandry was a major activity at Schipluiden. In contrast, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human remains from the site indicated a marine-oriented diet, implying that the Mesolithic-Neolithic dietary transition continued well into the mid-4th Millennium BC in this region. Here, we re-investigate the role and nature of cattle husbandry at Neolithic Schipluiden using mortality profiles and stable isotope analysis (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) of animal bone collagen and tooth enamel. The age-at-death analysis suggests that cattle were managed for both meat and milk production. The δ18O and δ13C analysis of tooth enamel provide evidence that calving spread over five-and-a-half-months, which would have led to a longer availability of milk throughout the year. Cattle were grazing in open, marshy environments near the site and winter foddering was practiced occasionally. The faunal isotopic data also reveal that the high 15N in human bone collagen is more likely to signal the consumption of products from cattle that grazed on 15N-enriched salt marsh plants around the site, rather than a marine-oriented diet. This undermines the previous interpretation of the dietary practices at Schipluiden by showing that human diet in mid-4th millennium BC Rhine-Meuse area was fully "Neolithic", based primarily on products from domesticates, especially cattle, with some input from wild terrestrial and aquatic resources available in their surroundings, contrary to what has been proposed before. Collating these results demonstrates a high level of investment in cattle husbandry, highlighting the social and economic importance of cattle at the lower Rhine-Meuse Delta during the 4th millennium BC. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The Middle Neolithic (4300–4000 cal. yr BC) archaeological sites in the Swifterbant area were typically regarded to represent a transitional phase between a hunter-gatherer and agricultural subsistence. The discovery of a tilled layer on one of the sites (S4) site in 2007 during a renewed excavation campaign (2004–2007) was made possible by a close cooperation between archaeologists, diatom specialists and micromorphologists. Intensive sampling and micromorphological investigation revealed that the Swifterbant cultural layers typically consists of micro-laminated deposits of phytoliths and charred plant remains with waste. This led to the reinterpretation of the sites as middens rather than settlements. At least five levels could be identified that had been tilled with some kind of hand-tool. These levels were separated by natural clay deposits and midden layers. These results, and reinterpretation of observations from two other sites in the Swifterbant area (S2 and S3) indicate that tillage and crop production formed a regular part of the subsistence of the inhabitants during the Middle Neolithic. Rather than a transitional phase, the sites investigated probably should be regarded as traces of a fully agricultural society.

In the Swifterbant area in The Netherlands, a complete Neolithic landscape is preserved, buried in a wetland environment. A dozen sites (dating from ca. 4300-4000 cal. BC) on levees of a former creek system are characterized by a black layer containing large amounts of carbonized plant remains, burnt bone, flint and pottery. These sites are usually interpreted as occupation sites with accumulated refuse of a society in transition from a Mesolithic to a Neolithic lifestyle (hunting and herding), in an area that was too wet for crops.In the context of a new research campaign in the area, we investigated the site- and land-use on two locations (S2 and S4) using micromorphological techniques.On S2, the soil matrix in the archaeological horizon has a heterogeneous, non-sedimentary appearance due to the ubiquitous presence of rounded and subrounded aggregates. These aggregates indicate that the sediment was disturbed after deposition, but it is unclear by what human activity. This disturbance is not restricted to the archaeological site horizon, but extends also into the under- and overlying layers.On S4, three layers can be distinguished. Only the lower and central parts are usually regarded as archaeological layers. The lower layer shows thorough mixing of the (partly decalcified) groundmass and the incorporation of anthropogenic materials (carbonized plant remains, burnt bone, etc.). Most probably, the thorough mixing is a result of tillage. The central layer consists of thinly laminated phytoliths and carbonized plant remains with ample fragments of (burnt) bone, angular sediment clods and some dog coprolites. Mineral sediments are absent. Apparently, the layer was formed by human activities that resulted in a massive accumulation of burnt organic materials and anthropogenic debris. The preservation of the microlayering formed by phytoliths and carbonized is remarkable, since trampling would have deformed or disturbed the layering. The surprising conclusion therefore has to be that this location was not the main settlement area-as was implicitly thought until now. Rather, the area should be interpreted as a location where specific activities resulted in the accumulation of burnt plant material, e.g. a waste dump. The upper layer again has indications of anthropogenic soil disturbance. Samples from the basin adjacent to the levee site show sediments that are deformed by trampling. The transition of the site to the channel shows no signs of trampling, but rather interfingering of site layers with channel sediments. Lack of trampling in the central zone of S4 and the adjacent channel shore is at odds with the classical interpretation that the site represents a settlement area. The black layers that up till now were thought to encompass a complete settlement, could very well be a very prominent part of larger sites with remains of human activities during the Neolithic. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The transition to early agriculture on the North European Plain is a much debated issue in which emphasis is placed on the available pollen evidence. It has been suggested that cereal cultivation was probably practiced in the upland areas and surplus yields were brought to the wetland sites. An alternative model that gives special attention to crop assemblages, flooding, and yields and is illustrated with evidence from the type-location sites of Swifterbant, dated between 4300 and 4000 BC, envisions cereal cultivation in the wetlands themselves. Evidence for early agriculture is found in particular in pollen diagrams, diatom analysis, and large numbers of cereal remains. It appears that small-scale cereal cultivation may have been possible and attractive in addition to hunting and gathering in wetland sites because of their variety of biotopes, including areas suitable for agriculture.

We tested whether micro CT scanning could be used to study phytoliths and bone fragments on samples from a Middle Neolithic midden deposit from Swifterbant (The Netherlands). We scanned an untreated block sample, and an impregnated sample that was used to make a thin section of. Ample small bones or bone fragments could be discerned and identified – most of them from fish – although sieving showed that many went undetected. It was possible, however, to identify several deposition events within a few cm of stratigraphy, and distinguish deposits with cleaning refuse from bones that were discarded during or after meals. Bone fragments embedded in coprolitic material represented the ingested and excreted bone fragments. Moreover, it proved to be possible to identify articulated bones or bone fragments that would become separated and unidentifiable during sieving and to recognize specific decay patterns. Silica phytoliths could be discerned, but the resolution was not enough to use it for species identification. Overall, the greatest advantage of microCT scanning of undisturbed samples form archaeological sites seem to lie in non-destructively providing context and taphonomical information on which further sample treatment and analyses – including microsampling and micromorphology – can be based.

La presente etude concerne la transition vers l'agriculture aux Pays-Bas, qui survient au Ve millenaire et est associee a la culture de Swifterbant. L'auteur critique en particulier le parallele suggere a maintes reprises avec les developpements contemporains survenus au sein des cultures prehistoriques du Danemark, surtout avec la culture d'Ertebolle. L'interpretation de la culture de Swifterbant en relation avec celle d'Ertebolle est mise en question dans cet article. L'auteur montre qu'une reproduction depourvue d'esprit critique d'interpretations formulees avec prudence mene eventuellement a des idees fixes, qui deviennent des verites scientifiques ; l'abolition de ces idees requiert beaucoup d'efforts

Stilborg's comment on my 1997 article singles out two related subjects. The first is of a methodological nature. He states that a comparison of two ‘objects’ requires a third ‘object’ as a point of reference. In the case of my comparison of the Swifterbant and Ertebølle cultures, this point of reference is provided by the neolithic cultures to the South. His second argument is that the Ertebølle culture is not an homogenous entity, but rather comprises a series of regional groups with distinct aspects, especially in material culture. In the following response, I will discuss these two subjects.

This paper focuses on the functional analysis of Swifterbant pottery from North-western Europe (ca. 4300–4000 BC) through lipid residue analysis. The main aim is to understand the role of pottery in terms of its relation to hunter-fisher-gatherer lifestyle, and the change in available food resources brought about by the arrival of domesticated animal and plant products. We conducted lipid residue analysis of 62 samples from three Swifterbant sites S2, S3 and S4. A combined approach using both GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS of residues absorbed into the ceramic was employed to identify their context. Our results demonstrate that Swifterbant ceramics were used exclusively for processing aquatic resources. We also found no evidence of inter-site variation in the use of pottery or variation based on both typological and technological features of the pottery. We found no evidence for any domesticated resources despite their presence in the faunal and botanical assemblages.