The Netherlands are internationally renowned for the archaeology of its wetland environments. The reclamation of the Flevoland Polders in the early half of the 20th century not only exposed hundreds of shipwrecks, but also remnants of prehistoric landscapes and traces of human occupation dating to Mesolithic and Neolithic times. Ultimately, this led to the 'discovery' of the Swifterbant Culture in the 1960s-1970s, and which was initially seen as a Dutch equivalent of the Erteb²lle Culture. Archaeological investigations conducted by the University of Groningen, and later also the University of Amsterdam, delivered important new data on the nature of the Swifterbant Culture. It became key in the discussion about the adoption of crop cultivation and animal husbandry by hunter-gatherers living in wetland environments. Also, the Swifterbant Culture became central in the debate on the meaning of archaeologically defined 'cultures', questioning relationships between social interaction and material culture. With the increase of urbanisation and infrastructural works, alongside changes in the Dutch Monuments Act, dozens of small and large-scale development-led investigations got initiated at the turn of the century. One project involved the construction of the Hanzelijn railway, crossing one of the polders from West to East. Archaeologists became aware that much of what was known - and unknown - about the prehistoric past of the Flevoland Polders, was not easily accessible. It was therefore decided to bring together, as much as possible, all the information from the many scattered sources, and make it accessible to professionals, both inside and outside the Netherlands. The result is this book, which presents an overview of the most important sites and data, and what these learn us about the nature of the archaeological record, landscape change,. prehistoric subsistence, ritual behaviour, as well as socio-cultural developments during the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Previously considered an impossibility, 'fossilised' fields, discovered at Swifterbant, demonstrate crop cultivation in wetland environments in an early stage of the Neolithic. In fact, the prehistory of the Flevoland Polders is tightly connected to the dynamic nature of the extended wetlands that characterised the landscape since the end of the last glacial. Although often regarded as the 'margin' of cultural dynamics in the past, we can now see that the Flevoland Polders were right in the centre of fundamental long-term changes in human existence in NW Europe.

Intro -- List of contributors -- Preface -- Introduction of the Hanzelijn Archaeological Project -- 1.1 Organisation -- 1.2 The archaeological project -- 1.3 Knowledge Development Program Archaeology Hanzelijn 2012‑2020 -- 1.4 Some retrospective remarks -- 1.5 Acknowledgements -- 1.6 In memoriam Dr. Karen E. Waugh -- The cradle of the Swifterbant culture -- 50 years of archaeological investigations in the province of Flevoland -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 History of the polders -- 2.3 Research traditions in the polder -- 2.4 Research topics and approaches -- 2.5 The positioning of the Swifterbant culture -- 2.6 Archaeology and the public -- 2.7 Conclusions -- Hidden landscapes -- Mapping and evaluating deeply buried remains of human activity -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Climate, sea level rise and the structure of the subsurface -- 3.2.1 Overview of developments -- 3.2.2 Sea-level and groundwater-level rise in Flevoland -- 3.2.3 The structure of the subsurface -- 3.3 The character and quality of archaeological remains -- 3.3.1 Differences in character -- 3.3.2 Differences in preservation -- 3.4 Mapping hidden landscape units -- 3.4.1 Site versus landscape perspective -- 3.4.2 The practice of field surveys -- 3.5 The identification of sites: on statistics and indicators -- 3.5.1 The statistical uncertainty of sampling -- 3.5.2 Indicators as evidence of the presence of sites -- 3.6 Excavations: windows on the past -- 3.7 Conclusions -- Exploiting a changing landscape: subsistence, habitation and skills -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Taphonomy and analysis: the representativeness and interpretive value of find assemblages -- 4.3 Wild and domesticated mammals as sources of food -- 4.4 Fishing in a drowning landscape -- 4.5 Birds in the diet -- 4.6 Plant resources in the food economy -- 4.6.1 Wild plants -- 4.6.2 Cultivated crops -- 4.6.3 Cultivation. 4.7 Food preparation and consumption -- 4.7.1 Animal foods -- 4.7.2 Plant food sources -- 4.7.3 Consumption -- 4.8 Resources and technology -- 4.8.1 Availability of and animal resources -- 4.8.2 Use and selection of plant resources -- 4.8.3 The utilisation of animal resources -- 4.8.4 Origin of lithic materials -- 4.8.5 Use of flint and other lithic material -- 4.8.6 Pottery production -- 4.8.7 Wood tar production? -- 4.9 Habitation patterns -- 4.9.1 Mesolithic -- 4.9.2 Swifterbant, Pre-Drouwen and Funnel Beaker occupation -- 4.9.3 Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age -- 4.9.4 People on the move -- 4.10 Conclusions -- People, ritual and meaning -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Burial practice -- 5.2.1 Introduction -- 5.2.2 Late Mesolithic and Early Swifterbant -- 5.2.3 Classical Swifterbant and Pre-Drouwen -- 5.2.4 Late Neolithic -- 5.2.5 Conclusions -- 5.3 Other cultural practices with human bones -- 5.4 Depositions -- 5.5 Materiality -- 5.6 Conclusions -- From land to water -- Geomorphological, hydrological and ecological developments in Flevoland from the Late Glacial to the end of the Subboreal -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Study of the history of the Flevoland landscape in broad outline -- 6.3 Landscape dynamics in Flevoland -- 6.3.1 Late Glacial: c. 12,500 - 9800 cal. BC (Late Palaeolithic) -- 6.3.2 Preboreal: c. 9800 - 8200 cal. BC (Early and start of Middle Mesolithic) -- 6.3.3 Boreal: 8200 - 7000 cal. BC (Middle Mesolithic) -- 6.3.4 Early Atlantic : 7000 - 6000 cal. BC (Middle and early Late Mesolithic) -- 6.3.5 Middle and Late Atlantic : 6000 - 3700 cal. BC (Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic) -- 6.3.6 Subboreal: c. 3700 - 1100 cal. BC (Middle Neolithic - Late Bronze Age) -- 6.4 A new view of the landscape -- 6.4.1 Pine woodlands and heathlands in the Atlantic (7000 - 3700 cal. BC). 6.4.2 No salt marshes or tides in the Late Atlantic (5000 - 3700 cal. BC) -- 6.4.3 Lakes and large-scale peat accumulation in the Subboreal (circa 3700 - 1100 cal. BC) -- 6.5 Three windows of observation -- 6.5.1 Zuidelijk Flevoland: Hoge Vaart-Eem microregion between 7000 and 4000 cal. BC -- 6.5.2 Oostelijk Flevoland: Swifterbant microregion between 8300 and 3700 BC -- 6.5.3 Noordoostpolder: Schokland-Urk microregion between 5000 and 1250 cal. BC -- 6.6 Conclusions -- Transformations in a forager and farmer landscape -- A cultural biography of prehistoric Flevoland -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 The landscape as a source of subsistence -- 7.3 Cultural structuration of the environment -- 7.4 Socio-cultural relationships -- 7.5 Conclusions -- Appendix I. Site Atlas Windows of observation -- The quality, nature and context of excavated prehistoric sites in Flevoland: site atlas -- I.1 Introduction -- I.2 Zuidelijk Flevoland -- I.2.1 Almere - Hoge Vaart/A27 -- I.2.2 Almere - Europakwartier Site 7 -- I.2.3 Almere - Zwaanpad -- I.2.4 Zeewolde - Oz35/Oz36 -- I.3 Oostelijk Flevoland -- I.3.1 Dronten N23/N307 - Site 5 -- I.3.2 Hanzelijn - Area VIII -- I.3.3 Hanzelijn - Drontermeer Tunnel (area XVI) -- I.3.4 Swifterbant Cluster -- I.4 Noordoostpolder -- I.4.1 Emmeloord J97 -- I.4.2 Schokkerhaven-E170 -- I.4.3 Schokland P14 -- I.4.4 Urk - E4 -- Appendix II. Glossary plant species -- Literature -- Blank Page.