Schipluiden: A Neolithic Settlement on the Dutch North Sea Coast c. 3500 Cal BC: No. 37/38 (Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia S.)

The neolithic settlement of Schipluiden was discovered by archaeologists called in to the Delfland region in 2000, where a new wastewater treatment plant was planned. It is a particularly interesting site, as it dates from a time when the local inhabitants switched from a hunter-gatherer-fisher lifestyle to one based around arable and stock farming, and was also a time of significant environmental change. The Schipluiden site is a unique document for a crucial phase in the neolithisation process of the Lower Rhine Area. The rescue excavation profited from available funding for a full recovery of the site by a large multidisciplinary team. The site dates to c. 3500 cal BC and was situated on a low coastal dune, now 3 m below sea level. It was surrounded by a collective, multiple fence and dense post clusters indicate long-term habitation. Over a hundred temporary wells were a measure to ensure access to fresh water in the coastal environment. It shows us the first step to a year-round settled way of life, north of the Dutch loess zone. Exotic raw materials such as flint and stone, but also beads of amber and jet demonstrate wide connections, especially far to the south, into the Michelsberg culture area. A number of human burials and dispersed skeletal remains reflect a variety of mortuary practices. The waterlogged condition of the site meant a wealth of preserved organic remains: spectacular wooden equipment, like paddles and axe hafts and even some fragments of woven fabric. Bones of mammals, birds and fish, molluscs, diatoms and insects, pollen and botanical macroremains inform us in detail on the Neolithic landscape and subsistence. It appeared that the inhabitants combined the ‘new'husbandry and crop cultivation with the ‘old'tradition of hunting and fishing in the various surrounding landscape zones. All evidence together allows a detailed synthesis of a community in the delta environment on the threshold to a fully Neolithic way of life. (Second edition print, first edition published in 2006) Contents Preface PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Discovery and working method 2 Stratigraphy and chronology of the site 3 Features 4 The archaeological remains: a critical spatial approach PART II MAN AND MATERIALS 5 Graves and human remains 6 The Schipluiden pottery 7 Flint, procurement and use 8 Stone, procurement and use 9 Ornaments of jet, amber and bone 10 Implements of bone and antler: a Mesolithic tradition continued 11 Wooden artefacts 12 Fabrics of . bres and strips of bark 13 Birch bark tar PART III ECOLOGY AND ECONOMY 14 Coastal evolution of Del. and and the Schipluiden microregion in relation to Neolithic settlement 15 Diatoms 16 Molluscs 17 Coprolites, macroscopic analysis 18 Pollen analysis and the reconstruction of the former vegetation 19 Botanical remains and plant food subsistence 20 Roots, tubers and processed plant food in the local diet 20a Analytical report on some archaeological charred residues from Schipluiden 21 Wood and charcoal 22 Mammals 23 Birds 24 Background fauna: small mammals, amphibians and reptiles 25 Fish 26 Insects PART IV SYNTHESIS 27 Schipluiden: a synthetic view Acknowledgements of the illustrations Edited By Leendert P. Louwe Kooijmans And Peter F.b. Jongste. Two Folded Leaves In Pocket. Includes Bibliographical References.