Prehistory of the Netherlands

Last updated

The prehistory of the Netherlands was heavily influenced by the region's constantly changing, low-lying geography. Inhabited by humans for at least 37,000 years, the landscape underwent significant transformations, from the last ice age's tundra climate to the emergence of various Paleolithic groups. The region witnessed the development of the Swifterbant culture, which was closely linked to rivers and open water, while the Mesolithic era saw the creation of the world's oldest recovered canoe, the Pesse canoe. The arrival of agriculture around 5000–4000 BC marked the beginning of the Linear Pottery culture, which gradually transformed prehistoric communities.

Contents

A succession of cultural groups, such as the Funnelbeaker, Corded Ware, and Bell Beaker cultures, left their mark on the area. The Bronze Age heralded increased prosperity and trade, with the construction of notable monuments such as the dolmens in Drenthe. The Iron Age, on the other hand, brought about the spread of Germanic and Celtic influences in the region, exemplified by the Elp and Hilversum cultures. The pre-Roman period was characterized by a complex interplay of different cultures and ethnicities, including the emergence of early Frisians, Saxons and Salian Franks.

Historical changes to the landscape

The prehistory of the area that is now the Netherlands was largely shaped by its constantly shifting, low-lying geography.

  tidal sand flats, tidal mudflats, salt marshes
  peat marshes and floodplain silt areas
(including old river courses and riverbank breaches which have filled up with silt or peat)
  Valleys of the major rivers (not covered with peat)
  River dunes (Pleistocene dunes)
  open water (sea, lagoons, rivers)
  Pleistocene landscape (> −6 m compared to NAP)
  Pleistocene landscape (−6 to 0 m; –20 to 0 ft)
  Pleistocene landscape (0–10 m; 0–33 ft)
  Pleistocene landscape (10–20 m; 33–66 ft)
  Pleistocene landscape (20–50 m; 66–164 ft)
  Pleistocene landscape (50–100 m; 164–328 ft)
  Pleistocene landscape (100–200 m; 328–656 ft)

Earliest groups of hunter-gatherers (before 5000 BC)

An oak figurine found in Willemstad, c. 4500 BC. Height: 12.5 cm (4.9 in). Mannetje van Willemstad.jpg
An oak figurine found in Willemstad, c. 4500 BC. Height: 12.5 cm (4.9 in).

The oldest human (Neanderthal) traces, believed to be about 70,000 years old, were found in higher soils near Maastricht.

The area that is now the Netherlands was inhabited by early humans at least 37,000 years ago, as attested by flint tools discovered in Woerden in 2010. [1] In 2009 a fragment of a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal skull was found in sand dredged from the North Sea floor off the coast of Zeeland. [2]

During the last ice age, the Netherlands had a tundra climate with scarce vegetation and the inhabitants survived as hunter-gatherers. After the end of the ice age, various Paleolithic groups inhabited the area. It is known that around 8000 BC a Mesolithic tribe resided near Burgumer Mar (Friesland). Another group residing elsewhere is known to have made canoes. The oldest recovered canoe in the world is the Pesse canoe. [3] [4] According to C14 dating analysis it was constructed somewhere between 8200 BC and 7600 BC. [4] This canoe is exhibited in the Drents Museum in Assen.

At the end of the Ice Age, the nomadic late Upper Palaeolithic Hamburg culture (13,000–10,000 BC) hunted reindeer in the area, using spears. The later Ahrensburg culture (11,200–9,500 BC) used bow and arrow. From Mesolithic Maglemosian-like tribes (c. 8000 BC), the world's oldest canoe was found in Drenthe. [5]

Autochthonous hunter-gatherers from the Swifterbant culture are attested from around 5600 BC onwards. [6] They are strongly linked to rivers and open water and were related to the southern Scandinavian Ertebølle culture (5300–4000 BC). To the west, the same tribes might have built hunting camps to hunt winter game, including seals.

The arrival of farming (around 5000–4000 BC)

There are a number of theories about the arrival of agriculture in the Netherlands. The first is that between 4800 and 4500 BC, the Swifterbant people started to adopt from the neighbouring Linear Pottery culture the practice of animal husbandry, and between 4300 and 4000 BC the practice of agriculture. [7] The Funnelbeaker culture (4300–2800 BC), related to the Swifterbant culture, erected the dolmens, large stone grave monuments found in Drenthe. There was a quick and smooth transition from the Funnelbeaker farming culture to the pan-European Corded Ware pastoralist culture (c. 2950 BC). In the southwest, the Seine-Oise-Marne culture — related to the Vlaardingen culture (c. 2600 BC), an apparently more primitive culture of hunter-gatherers — survived well into the Neolithic period, until it too was succeeded by the Corded Ware culture.

The second is that agriculture arrived in the Netherlands somewhere around 5000 BC with the Linear Pottery culture, who were probably central European farmers. Agriculture was practiced only on the loess plateau in the very south (southern Limburg), but even there it was not established permanently. Farms did not develop in the rest of the Netherlands.

There is also a third theory that there is some evidence of small settlements in the rest of the country. These people made the switch to animal husbandry sometime between 4800 BC and 4500 BC. Dutch archaeologist Leendert Louwe Kooijmans wrote, "It is becoming increasingly clear that the agricultural transformation of prehistoric communities was a purely indigenous process that took place very gradually." [6] This transformation took place as early as 4300 BC–4000 BC [8] and featured the introduction of grains in small quantities into a traditional broad-spectrum economy. [9]

Funnelbeaker and other cultures (around 4000–3000 BC)

Hunebed D27, the largest dolmen in the Netherlands, located near Borger in Drenthe. Grootste hunebed van Nederl.jpg
Hunebed D27, the largest dolmen in the Netherlands, located near Borger in Drenthe.

The Funnelbeaker culture was a farming culture extending from Denmark through northern Germany into the northern Netherlands. In this period of Dutch prehistory, the first notable remains were erected: the dolmens, large stone grave monuments. They are found in Drenthe, and were probably built between 4100 BC and 3200 BC.

To the west, the Vlaardingen culture (around 2600 BC), an apparently more primitive culture of hunter-gatherers survived well into the Neolithic period.

Corded Ware and Bell Beaker cultures (around 3000–2000 BC)

Around 2950 BCE there was a transition from the Funnelbeaker farming culture to the Corded Ware pastoralist culture, a large archeological horizon appearing in western and central Europe, that is associated with the advance of Indo-European languages. This transition was probably caused by developments[ clarification needed ] in eastern Germany, and it occurred within two generations. [10]

The Bell Beaker culture was also present in the Netherlands. [11] [12] from around 2700 to 2100 BC. [13] It introduced metalwork in copper, gold and later bronze and opened international trade routes not seen before, reflected in copper artifacts. Finds of rare bronze objects suggest that Drenthe was a trading centre in the Bronze Age (2000–800 BC). The Bell Beaker culture developed locally into the Barbed-Wire Beaker culture (2100–1800 BC) and later the Elp culture (1800–800 BC), [14] a Middle Bronze Age archaeological culture with earthenware low-quality pottery as a marker. The initial phase of the Elp culture was characterised by tumuli (1800–1200 BC). The subsequent phase was that of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields, following the customs of the Urnfield culture (1200–800 BC). The southern region became dominated by the related Hilversum culture (1800–800 BC), with apparently cultural ties with Britain of the previous Barbed-Wire Beaker culture.

The Corded Ware and Bell Beaker cultures were not indigenous to the Netherlands but were pan-European in nature, extending across much of northern and central Europe.

The first evidence of the use of the wheel dates from this period, about 2400 BC.[ citation needed ] This culture also experimented with working with copper. Evidence of this, including stone anvils, copper knives, and a copper spearhead, was found on the Veluwe.[ citation needed ] Copper finds show that there was trade with other areas in Europe, as natural copper is not found in Dutch soil.

Bronze Age (around 2000–800 BC)

Location of the Elp and Hilversum cultures in the Bronze Age. BronzAgeElp.png
Location of the Elp and Hilversum cultures in the Bronze Age.

The Bronze Age probably started somewhere around 2000 BC and lasted until around 800 BC. The earliest bronze tools were in the Wageningen hoard, found in the grave of a Bronze Age metalworker. [15] More Bronze Age objects from later periods have been found in Epe, Drouwen and elsewhere.[ citation needed ] Broken bronze objects found in Voorschoten were apparently destined for recycling.[ citation needed ] This indicates how valuable bronze was considered in the Bronze Age. Typical bronze objects from this period included knives, swords, axes, fibulae and bracelets.

Most of the Bronze Age objects found in the Netherlands have been found in Drenthe.[ citation needed ] One item shows that trading networks during this period extended a far distance. Large bronze situlae (buckets) found in Drenthe were manufactured somewhere in eastern France or in Switzerland. They were used for mixing wine with water (a Roman/Greek custom). The many finds in Drenthe of rare and valuable objects, such as tin-bead necklaces, suggest that Drenthe was a trading centre in the Netherlands in the Bronze Age.[ citation needed ]

The Bell Beaker cultures (2700–2100) locally developed into the Bronze Age Barbed-Wire Beaker culture (2100–1800). In the second millennium BC, the region was the boundary[ citation needed ] between the Atlantic and Nordic horizons and was split into a northern and a southern region, roughly divided by the course of the Rhine.

In the north, the Elp culture (c. 1800 to 800 BC) [16] was a Bronze Age archaeological culture having earthenware pottery of low quality known as "Kümmerkeramik" (or "Grobkeramik") as a marker. The initial phase was characterized by tumuli (1800–1200 BC) that were strongly tied to contemporary tumuli in northern Germany and Scandinavia, and were apparently related to the Tumulus culture (1600–1200 BC) in central Europe. This phase was followed by a subsequent change featuring Urnfield (cremation) burial customs (1200–800 BC). The southern region became dominated by the Hilversum culture (1800–800), which apparently inherited the cultural ties with Britain of the previous Barbed-Wire Beaker culture.

The pre-Roman period (800 BC – 58 BC)

Iron Age

Finds from the King's grave of Oss Vorstengraf Oss - bronzen situla met inhoud en zwaard - 700 v Chr - RMO.png
Finds from the King's grave of Oss

The Iron Age brought a measure of prosperity to the people living in the area of the present-day Netherlands. Iron ore was available throughout the country, including bog iron extracted from the ore in peat bogs (moeras ijzererts) in the north, the natural iron-bearing balls found in the Veluwe and the red iron ore near the rivers in Brabant. Smiths travelled from small settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand, including axes, knives, pins, arrowheads and swords. Some evidence[ citation needed ] even suggests the making of Damascus steel swords using an advanced method of forging that combined the flexibility of iron with the strength of steel.

Iron ore brought a measure of prosperity and was available throughout the country, including bog iron. Smiths travelled from settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand. The King's grave of Oss (700 BC) was found in a burial mound, the largest of its kind in Western Europe and containing an iron sword with an inlay of gold and coral.

In Oss, a grave dating from around 500 BC was found in a burial mound 52 metres wide (and thus the largest of its kind in western Europe). Dubbed the "king's grave" ( Vorstengraf (Oss) ), it contained extraordinary objects, including an iron sword with an inlay of gold and coral.

In the centuries just before the arrival of the Romans, northern areas formerly occupied by the Elp culture emerged as the probably Germanic Harpstedt culture [17] while the southern parts were influenced by the Hallstatt culture and assimilated into the Celtic La Tène culture. The contemporary southern and western migration of Germanic groups and the northern expansion of the Hallstatt culture drew these peoples into each other's sphere of influence. [18] This is consistent with Caesar's account of the Rhine forming the boundary between Celtic and Germanic tribes.

Arrival of Germanic groups

Distribution of the primary Germanic groups c. 1 AD Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD).png
Distribution of the primary Germanic groups c. 1 AD

The Germanic tribes originally inhabited southern Scandinavia, Jutland peninsula and northern Germany, [19] but subsequent Iron Age cultures of the same region, like Wessenstedt (800–600 BC) and Jastorf, also belonged to this grouping. [20] The climate deteriorating in Scandinavia around 850 BC to 760 BC and later and faster around 650 BC might have triggered migrations. Archaeological evidence suggests around 750 BC a relatively uniform Germanic people came to the Netherlands from the Vistula and southern Scandinavia. [19] In the west, the newcomers settled the coastal floodplains for the first time, since in adjacent higher grounds the population had increased and the soil had become exhausted. [21]

By the time this migration was complete, around 250 BC, a few general cultural and linguistic groupings had emerged. [22] [23]

One grouping – labelled the "North Sea Germanic" – inhabited the northern part of the Netherlands (north of the great rivers) and extending along the North Sea and into Jutland. This group is also sometimes referred to as the "Ingvaeones". Included in this group are the peoples who would later develop into, among others, the early Frisians and the early Saxons. [23]

A second grouping, which scholars subsequently dubbed the "Weser–Rhine Germanic" (or "Rhine–Weser Germanic"), extended along the middle Rhine and Weser and inhabited the southern part of the Netherlands (south of the great rivers). This group, also sometimes referred to as the "Istvaeones", consisted of tribes that would eventually develop into the Salian Franks. [23]

Celts in the south

Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples, showing expansion into the southern Netherlands: core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC Lusitanian area of Iberia where Celtic presence is uncertain areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today Celtic expansion in Europe.png
Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples, showing expansion into the southern Netherlands:
  core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC
  maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC
   Lusitanian area of Iberia where Celtic presence is uncertain
  areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today

The Celtic culture had its origins in the central European Hallstatt culture (c. 800–450 BC), named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria. [24] By the later La Tène period (c. 450 BC up to the Roman conquest), this Celtic culture had, whether by diffusion or migration, expanded over a wide range, including into the southern area of the Netherlands. This would have been the northern reach of the Gauls.

In March 2005 17 Celtic coins were found in Echt (Limburg). The silver coins, mixed with copper and gold, date from around 50 BC to 20 AD. In October 2008 a hoard of 39 gold coins and 70 silver Celtic coins was found in the Amby area of Maastricht. [25] The gold coins were attributed to the Eburones people. [26] Celtic objects have also been found in the area of Zutphen. [27]

Although it is rare for hoards to be found, in past decades loose Celtic coins and other objects have been found throughout the central, eastern and southern part of the Netherlands. According to archaeologists these finds confirmed that at least the Meuse (Dutch : Maas) river valley in the Netherlands was within the influence of the La Tène culture. Dutch archaeologists even speculate that Zutphen (which lies in the centre of the country) was a Celtic area before the Romans arrived, not a Germanic one at all. [27]

Scholars debate the actual extent of the Celtic influence. [21] [28] The Celtic influence and contacts between Gaulish and early Germanic culture along the Rhine is assumed to be the source of a number of Celtic loanwords in Proto-Germanic.[ citation needed ] But according to Belgian linguist Luc van Durme, toponymic evidence of a former Celtic presence in the Low Countries is near to utterly absent. [29] Although there were Celts in the Netherlands, Iron Age innovations did not involve substantial Celtic intrusions and featured a local development from Bronze Age culture. [21]

The Nordwestblock theory

Some scholars (De Laet, Gysseling, Hachmann, Kossack & Kuhn) have speculated that a separate ethnic identity, neither Germanic nor Celtic, survived in the Netherlands until the Roman period. They see the Netherlands as having been part of an Iron Age "Nordwestblock" stretching from the Somme to the Weser. [30] [31] Their view is that this culture, which had its own language, was being absorbed by the Celts to the south and the Germanic peoples from the east as late as the immediate pre-Roman period.

The first author to describe the coast of Holland and Flanders was the Greek geographer Pytheas, who noted in c. 325 BC that in these regions, "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men." [32]

See also


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celts</span> Indo-European ethnolinguistic group

The Celts or Celtic peoples were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages and other cultural similarities. Major Celtic groups included the Gauls; the Celtiberians and Gallaeci of Iberia; the Britons, Picts, and Gaels of Britain and Ireland; the Boii; and the Galatians. The relation between ethnicity, language and culture in the Celtic world is unclear and debated; for example over the ways in which the Iron Age people of Britain and Ireland should be called Celts. In current scholarship, 'Celt' primarily refers to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single ethnic group.

The Chalcolithic was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in different areas, but was absent in some parts of the world, such as Russia, where there was no well-defined Copper Age between the Stone and Bronze ages. Stone tools were still predominantly used during this period.

The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Copper and Bronze Ages. It has also been considered as the final Age of the three-age division starting with prehistory and progressing to protohistory. In this usage, it is preceded by the Stone Age and Bronze Age. These concepts originated for describing Iron Age Europe and the Ancient Near East, but they now include other parts of the Old World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corded Ware culture</span> Type of Bronze Age culture

The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between c. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a vast area, from the contact zone between the Yamnaya culture and the Corded Ware culture in south Central Europe, to the Rhine on the west and the Volga in the east, occupying parts of Northern Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Early autosomal genetic studies suggested that the Corded Ware culture originated from the westward migration of Yamnaya-related people from the steppe-forest zone into the territory of late Neolithic European cultures; however, paternal DNA evidence fails to support this hypothesis, and it is now proposed that the Corded Ware culture evolved in parallel with the Yamnaya, with no evidence of direct male-line descent between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Beaker culture</span> Archaeological culture, 2800–1800 BC

The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age, arising from around 2800 BC. Bell Beaker culture lasted in Britain from c. 2450 BC, with the appearance of single burial graves, until as late as 1800 BC, but in continental Europe only until 2300 BC, when it was succeeded by the Unetice culture. The culture was widely dispersed throughout Western Europe, being present in many regions of Iberia and stretching eastward to the Danubian plains, and northward to the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and was also present in the islands of Sardinia and Sicily and some coastal areas in north-western Africa. The Bell Beaker phenomenon shows substantial regional variation, and a study from 2018 found that it was associated with genetically diverse populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jastorf culture</span> Iron Age material culture

The Jastorf culture was an Iron Age material culture in what is now northern Germany and the southern Scandinavian Peninsula, spanning the 6th to 1st centuries BC, forming the southern part of the Pre-Roman Iron Age. The culture evolved out of the Nordic Bronze Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funnelbeaker culture</span> North-central European culture around 4300–2800 BCE

The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK, was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of local neolithic and mesolithic techno-complexes between the lower Elbe and middle Vistula rivers. These predecessors were the (Danubian) Lengyel-influenced Stroke-ornamented ware culture (STK) groups/Late Lengyel and Baden-Boleráz in the southeast, Rössen groups in the southwest and the Ertebølle-Ellerbek groups in the north. The TRB introduced farming and husbandry as major food sources to the pottery-using hunter-gatherers north of this line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordwestblock</span> Hypothetical European cultural region

The Nordwestblock is a hypothetical Northwestern European cultural region that some scholars propose as a prehistoric culture in the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, far-northern France, and northwestern Germany, in an area approximately bounded by the Somme, Oise, Meuse and Elbe rivers, possibly extending to the eastern part of what is now England, during the Bronze and Iron Ages from the 3rd to the 1st millennia BCE, up to the onset of historical sources, in the 1st century BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Europe</span> History of Europe before written records

Prehistoric Europe refers to Europe before the start of written records, beginning in the Lower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional unevenness in cultural development emerges and grows. The region of the eastern Mediterranean is, due to its geographic proximity, greatly influenced and inspired by the classical Middle Eastern civilizations, and adopts and develops the earliest systems of communal organization and writing. The Histories of Herodotus is the oldest known European text that seeks to systematically record traditions, public affairs and notable events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordic Stone Age</span> Time period in Scandinavia

The Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia. During the Weichselian glaciation, almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent ice cover, thus, the Stone Age came rather late to this region. As the climate slowly warmed up by the end of the ice age, nomadic hunters from central Europe sporadically visited the region. However, it was not until around 12,000 BCE that permanent, but nomadic, habitation in the region took root.

The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Wales</span> History of Wales 230,000 years ago to AD 48

Prehistoric Wales in terms of human settlements covers the period from about 230,000 years ago, the date attributed to the earliest human remains found in what is now Wales, to the year AD 48 when the Roman army began a military campaign against one of the Welsh tribes. Traditionally, historians have believed that successive waves of immigrants brought different cultures into the area, largely replacing the previous inhabitants, with the last wave of immigrants being the Celts. However, studies of population genetics now suggest that this may not be true, and that immigration was on a smaller scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistory of France</span> Paleolithic to Iron Age prehistory of France

Prehistoric France is the period in the human occupation of the geographical area covered by present-day France which extended through prehistory and ended in the Iron Age with the Roman conquest, when the territory enters the domain of written history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Ireland</span> Ireland until c. 400 AD

The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological evidence, which has grown at an increasing rate over the last decades. It begins with the first evidence of permanent human residence in Ireland around 10,500 BC and finishes with the start of the historical record around 400 AD. Both the beginning and end dates of the period are later than for much of Europe and all of the Near East. The prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age societies of Ireland. For much of Europe, the historical record begins when the Romans invaded; as Ireland was not invaded by the Romans its historical record starts later, with the coming of Christianity.

The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age. It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC, lasting until c. 800 BC in central Europe.

The Swifterbant culture was a Subneolithic archaeological culture in the Netherlands, dated between 5300 BC and 3400 BC. Like the Ertebølle culture, the settlements were concentrated near water, in this case creeks, riverdunes and bogs along post-glacial banks of rivers like the Overijsselse Vecht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Iberia</span>

Prehistory in the Iberian peninsula begins with the arrival of the first Homo genus representatives from Africa, which may range from c. 1.5 million years (Ma) ago to c. 1.25 Ma ago, depending on the dating technique employed, so it is set at c. 1.3 Ma ago for convenience. The end of Iberian prehistory coincides with the first entrance of the Roman army into the peninsula, in 218 before Christ (BC), which led to the progressive dissolution of pre-Roman peoples in Roman culture. This end date is also conventional, since pre-Roman writing systems can be traced to as early as 5th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elp culture</span> Archaeological culture

The Elp culture is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of the Netherlands having earthenware pottery of low quality known as "Kümmerkeramik" as a marker. The initial phase is characterized by tumuli, strongly tied to contemporary tumuli in Northern Germany and Scandinavia, and apparently related to the Tumulus culture in Central Europe. This phase was followed by a subsequent change featuring Urnfield (cremation) burial customs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronze Age Britain</span> Period of British history from c. 2500 until c. 800 BC

Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from c. 2500–2000 BC until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as the Bronze Age, it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular Celts</span> Speakers of the Insular Celtic languages in the British Isles and Brittany

The Insular Celts were speakers of the Insular Celtic languages in the British Isles and Brittany. The term is mostly used for the Celtic peoples of the isles up until the early Middle Ages, covering the British–Irish Iron Age, Roman Britain and Sub-Roman Britain. They included the Celtic Britons, the Picts, and the Gaels.

References

  1. ↑ "Neanderthal may not be the oldest Dutchman | Radio Netherlands Worldwide". Rnw.nl. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Neanderthal fossil discovered in Zeeland province | Radio Netherlands Worldwide". Rnw.nl. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  3. ↑ Van Zeist, W. (1957), "De steentijd van Nederland", Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak, vol. 75, pp. 4–11
  4. 1 2 "The Mysterious Bog People – Background to the exhibition". Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. 5 July 2001. Archived from the original on 9 March 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  5. ↑ Van Zeist, W. (1957), "De steentijd van Nederland", Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak, 75: 4–11
  6. 1 2 Louwe Kooijmans, L.P., "Trijntje van de Betuweroute, Jachtkampen uit de Steentijd te Hardinxveld-Giessendam", 1998, Spiegel Historiael 33, pp. 423–428
  7. ↑ Volkskrant 24 August 2007 "Prehistoric agricultural field found in Swifterbant, 4300–4000 BC Archived 19 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine "
  8. ↑ Volkskrant 24 August 2007 "Prehistoric agricultural field found in Swifterbant, 4300–4000 BC"
  9. ↑ Raemakers, Daan. "De spiegel van Swifterbant Archived 10 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine ", University of Groningen, 2006.
  10. ↑ [ full citation needed ], [ page needed ], in J.H.F. Bloemers & T. van Dorp (Eds), Pre- & protohistorie van de lage landen. De Haan/Open Universiteit, 1991. ISBN   90-269-4448-9, NUGI 644
  11. ↑ Lanting, J.N. & J.D. van der Waals, (1976), "Beaker culture relations in the Lower Rhine Basin", [ page needed ], in Lanting et al. (Eds) Glockenbechersimposion Oberried 1974. Bussum-Haarlem: Uniehoek N.V.
  12. ↑ [ full citation needed ], p. 93, in J. P. Mallory and John Q. Adams (Eds), The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
  13. ↑ Fokkens, Harry; Nicolis, Franco, eds. (2012). Background to beakers : inquiries in regional cultural backgrounds to the Bell Beaker complex. Leiden: Sidestone. p. 131. ISBN   978-90-8890-084-6.
  14. ↑ Fokkens, Harry. "The Periodisation of the Dutch Bronze Age: a Critical Review" (PDF). Open Access Leiden University. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  15. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Wageningen-hoard-comprising-amongst-others-a-stone-axe-flat-axe-halberd-with_fig4_365043233
  16. ↑ According to "Het Archeologisch Basisregister" (ABR), version 1.0 November 1992, , Elp Kümmerkeramik is dated BRONSMA (early MBA) to BRONSL (LBA) and this has been standardized by "De Rijksdienst voor Archeologie, Cultuurlandschap en Monumenten" (RACM) as being at the period starting at 1800 BC and ending at 800 BC.[ failed verification ][ dead link ]
  17. ↑ Mallory, J.P., In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth, London: Thames & Hudson, 1989, p. 87.
  18. ↑ Butler, J.J., Nederland in de bronstijd, Bussum: Fibula-Van Dishoeck, 1969, p. [ page needed ].
  19. 1 2 Kinder, Hermann and Werner Hilgemann, The Penguin Atlas of World History; translated by Ernest A. Menze ; with maps designed by Harald and Ruth Bukor. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN   0-14-051054-0 Volume 1. p. 109.
  20. ↑ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, 20:67
  21. 1 2 3 Verhart, Leo Op Zoek naar de Kelten, Nieuwe archeologische ontdekkingen tussen Noordzee en Rijn, ISBN   90-5345-303-2, 2006, pp. 67, 81–82
  22. ↑ The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, 22:641–642
  23. 1 2 3 de Vries, Jan W., Roland Willemyns and Peter Burger, Het verhaal van een taal, Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2003, pp. 12, 21–27
  24. ↑ Cunliffe, Barry. The Ancient Celts. Penguin Books, 1997, pp. 39–67.
  25. ↑ Achtergrondinformatie bij de muntschat van Maastricht-Amby, Municipality of Maastricht, 2008.
  26. ↑ Unieke Keltische muntschat ontdekt in Maastricht Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Archeonet.be, 15 November 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  27. 1 2 Het urnenveld van het Meijerink, Municipality of Zutphen, Retrieved 0 October 20116.
  28. ↑ Delrue, Joke, University of Ghent[ citation needed ]
  29. ↑ van Durme, Luc, "Oude taaltoestanden in en om de Nederlanden. Een reconstructie met de inzichten van M. Gysseling als leidraad" in Handelingen van de Koninklijke commissie voor Toponymie en Dialectologie, LXXV/2003.
  30. ↑ Hachmann, Rolf, Georg Kossack and Hans Kuhn, Völker zwischen Germanen und Kelten, 1986, pp. 183–212
  31. ↑ Lendering, Jona, "Germania Inferior" Archived 7 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine , Livius.org. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  32. ↑ Lendering, Jona. "The Edges of the Earth (3) – Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 28 February 2019.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.