Leiden University Student Repository

As, Stijn van (2010)

The settlement within the landscape. A critical view on Iron Age habitation in the southern Netherlands

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

The southern Netherlands is a highly discussed and intensely investigated area in the archaeology of the Netherlands. Large projects like Someren, Weert and Oss provide large amounts of information. This fuels the discussion about prehistoric habitation in the area, like the Iron Age which is a crucial period of changes. A few subjects concerning this discussion are the decline of ‘wandering farmsteads’, the increase of diversity and the change towards a settled or nucleated habitation. In order to add a useful contribution to the discussion, two main research questions were constructed for this study and thesis. How are Iron Age ‘settlements’ characterised throughout the Iron Age in the southern Netherlands? Is the nucleation of habitation an abrupt change at the end of the Iron Age or is it a gradual process throughout the Iron Age? With critical notes on every step of the research, the main case study is done for the site of Oss-Horzak. The results of five other sites are...Show moreThe southern Netherlands is a highly discussed and intensely investigated area in the archaeology of the Netherlands. Large projects like Someren, Weert and Oss provide large amounts of information. This fuels the discussion about prehistoric habitation in the area, like the Iron Age which is a crucial period of changes. A few subjects concerning this discussion are the decline of ‘wandering farmsteads’, the increase of diversity and the change towards a settled or nucleated habitation. In order to add a useful contribution to the discussion, two main research questions were constructed for this study and thesis. How are Iron Age ‘settlements’ characterised throughout the Iron Age in the southern Netherlands? Is the nucleation of habitation an abrupt change at the end of the Iron Age or is it a gradual process throughout the Iron Age? With critical notes on every step of the research, the main case study is done for the site of Oss-Horzak. The results of five other sites are incorporated in the thesis for a more broad view and comparison in the area of the southern Netherlands. These sites are: Oss-Schalkskamp, Oss-Almstein, Oss-Ussen, Weert-Molenakker, Someren-Waterdael and the four coversand ridges in Breda-west. Basically, the Early and Middle Iron Age settlements can be described as dispersed, or ‘open’. More than one farmyard on one coversand ridge might have wandered, but they could have lived as ‘open communities’. Some sites proved to have a decline of habitation in the Middle Iron Age. Oss-Horzak seems to fit in this picture, although there was a continuous habitation during the Iron Age. This, however, is not typical for the entire Oss region as Oss-Ussen proves otherwise with a gradual increase of population. The habitation in the Horzak is reinstituted before the Roman period, probably in the beginning of the Late Iron Age, considering the presence of contemporary large Iron Age ditch structure. Apart from Breda, all case study sites seem to have proof for a gradual, pre-Roman, process towards a nucleated settlement. In these cases, the term nucleation is not only based on spatial terms, but also on the cultural aspects of its meaning. Jointly features like ditch structures or enclosures have influence on the arrangements of settlements and the cultural landscape. The choice of constructing such features is probably done by leading organs, and constructed by more than one household. This suggests nucleation in a way, or at least a local community and a sense of cohesion.Show less

Author

As, Stijn van

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Jansen, R.
Fokkens, H.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en