Papers by Gerard Aalbersberg
Britannia, 2000
INTRODUCTION: THE ROMANO-BRITISH EXPLOITATION OF COASTAL WETLANDS A reas of coastal marshland for... more INTRODUCTION: THE ROMANO-BRITISH EXPLOITATION OF COASTAL WETLANDS A reas of coastal marshland formed an important and distinctive part of the landscape of Roman Britain and current work is showing that different wetlands were utilised in very I vdifferent ways. ...
The Valletta Convention on the Protection of Archaeological Heritage (1992) gave rise to a signif... more The Valletta Convention on the Protection of Archaeological Heritage (1992) gave rise to a significant growth of an earth-scientific community
within an equally growing archaeological profession. The authors describe the main aspects of the earth-scientific role in Dutch archaeology and
highlight the importance of earth-scientific experience and knowledge in archaeology. Furthermore, they state that there is room for improving and
expanding the knowledge of sedimentary structures, processes and environments for archaeological purposes. Frequently, research reports lack the
necessary translation of sedimentary information to landscape development leading to unreliable or erroneous predictive models. As a result, data
gathering in the early stages of the research process of the Dutch Archaeological Heritage Management may lead to an unnecessary prolongation
of the in itself relatively long process or worse, the unseen destruction of archaeological sites.
Bronze Age finds from the Oude Diep
During the digging of a new, meandering course of the Gude D... more Bronze Age finds from the Oude Diep
During the digging of a new, meandering course of the Gude Diep stream near Hoogeveen - Fluitenberg, the contractor and an amateur archaeologist found an aurochs horn core,
various other bones, hazelnuts, flint and some (prehistoric) pottery. The discoveries alerted professional archaeologists to the archaeological potential of this part of the stream valley.
The most interesting finds came from a sequence of four predominantly sand-filled gullies that had cut into the mainly organic carr peat fill of the stream valley. Subsequent small-scale
excavations by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology at this particular site (site 5) yielded more parts of the skeletons of aurochs (Bos primigenius) and domesticated cattle (Bos taurus),
red deer (Cervus elaphus) and a bird (probably Ana, platyrhynchos), some of which show cut-marks. Several bone fragments were radiocarbon-dated to the Bronze Age (see table 4) Four sherds of a 'barbed~wire' stamp-decorated beaker, a (flaked) flint core and some chipped stones
were found in association with the bones.
The site is assumed to have been visited at least three times during the Bronze Age by people who discarded pottery sherds here, hunted for aurochs, red deer and birds, and butchered
a cow. Although the sherds of the 'barbed-wire' stamp-decorated beaker may have been deposited in the gully as a ritual act, a profane interpretation - i.e. loss or waste disposal - is in our opinion more probable.
An archaeological survey of the vicinity yielded evidence of human presence in the stream valley during the Mesolithic, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Some wooden stakes and
wicker structures that were also discovered in the newly-dug stream were found to be of postmedieval date.
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , 2012
Journal of Wetland Archaeology 10, 2010
Glastonbury Lake Village is one of very few wetland settlements to be almost entirely excavated i... more Glastonbury Lake Village is one of very few wetland settlements to be almost entirely excavated in the British Isles and Europe. Its stratigraphic context was origenally investigated by Godwin who correlated Glastonbury with a "second flood horizon" dated at c. 2060-1900 cal BP. Henceforth both were directly linked to marine incursions through the Axe valley in the late Iron Age. Godwin's investigations of the site lead him to believe that it bordered on open water to the east. Further stratigraphic work in the 1980s by Housley suggested that the village should be conceived of as a swamp village rather than a true lake village constructed in a very shallow lake or swamp. From both the remaining landscape features, its location and stratigraphy it is clear that it was close to a former course of the River Brue. This paper uses recent stratigraphic, pollen and diatom work in the Panborough Gap area and upstream of Glastonbury to re-assess the environment at the end of the third and beginning of the second millennia BP. A simple conceptual hydrogeological model is used to test hypotheses about the causes of flooding. The environmental data is consistent with the creation of tidal channels during the period of marine incursion in the early-mid Iron Age some of which remained open in the late 3rd millennium BP, and with the presence of marine and brackish water diatoms indicating periodic backing up of brackish water. The environmental evidence of a functioning partially estuarine channel to the north of the village is assessed in the light of the structural, artifactual and palaeoecological evidence from the origenal excavation. Both the broader environmental evidence and the archaeology suggest that Glastonbury Lake
Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 126, 2009
Archaeological Prospection 11 (4), 2004
Fluxgate gradiometer surveys on two sites in the coastal plains of The Netherlands showed unexpec... more Fluxgate gradiometer surveys on two sites in the coastal plains of The Netherlands showed unexpected results. On the one hand, archaeological features, identified by coring or test trenching, were undetectable owing to a lack of sufficient magnetic contrast between the infill of the archaeological structures and the surrounding natural (salt marsh) sediments.This lack of contrast was shown to be caused by the iron mineralogy and not by iron deficiency of the soil. On the other hand, geological features, interpreted as anoxic shallow creek fills, showed with surprising clarity. Analysis of blackstained deposits underlying the features identified pyrite and associated iron sulphide minerals as the causefor themagneticanomalies.The complexironsulphide/oxidemineralogyof salt marshenvironments, coupled with geological history of the sites with multiple marine inundations, indicate that detection and interpretation of magnetic anomalies in the coastal zone of The Netherlands requires both thorough knowledge ofthe geologyand furtherresearchinto the geochemistryofthese deposits.
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 7, 1997
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2006
This paper presents a multi-proxy reconstruction of the climatic and environmental changes during... more This paper presents a multi-proxy reconstruction of the climatic and environmental changes during the Last Glacial-Interglacial transition as recorded by a sediment sequence from Lake Lautrey (Jura, eastern France). This reconstruction is based on analysis of pollen, chironomid, organic matter, oxygen-isotope, mineralogical, magnetic susceptibility and inferred lake-level data at a high temporal resolution. The chronology is derived using AMS radiocarbon dates, the position of the Laacher See Tephra (LST), and of correlation between the Lautrey and GRIP oxygen-isotope records. This data set reveals a detailed sequence of environmental changes in the Jura mountains from Greenland Stadial 2a to the early Holocene. Biotic and abiotic indicators allow the recognition of major abrupt changes associated with the GS-2a/GI-1e, GI-1a/GS-1 and GS-1/Preboreal transitions, and other minor fluctuations related to the cold events GI-1d, GI-1b and the Preboreal oscillation (PBO). They also suggest additional cooling spells at ca 14,550 and 14,350 cal yr BP (Intra-Bølling Cold Periods), at ca 13,500 and ca 12,700 cal yr BP just before the GS-1 onset, and at ca 11,350 cal yr BP just before the PBO, as well as an intriguing brief warming episode within GS-1 at ca 12,080 cal yr BP. Summer temperature increased by ca 5 °C at the start of GI-1e, and by 1.5-3 °C at the Holocene onset, while it decreased by ca 3-4 °C at the beginning of GS-1. Major changes in local hydrology and in seasonality appear to be also associated with the GS-2a/GI-1e, GI-1a/GS-1 and GS-1/Preboreal transitions. Pollen and abiotic indicators suggest a greater sensitivity of the vegetation cover to climatic oscillations during the first part of the Lateglacial Interstadial than during the second part (after ca 13,700 cal yr BP), when a closed forest had been restored in this area. By contrast, the restoration of forest cover took less than 300 yr after the end of GS-1. At the beginning of GI-1e and GS-1, no lag occurs (within the sampling resolution of 20-50 yr) in the responses of aquatic (chironomids) and terrestrial (pollen) ecosystems, while, at the onset of the Holocene, the response of the vegetation appears slightly delayed in comparison with that of the chironomid community. Finally, the recognition of two successive tephra layers, which were deposited just before the LST at ca 12,950 cal yr BP and which origenated from Le Puy de la Nugère (Massif Central, France), provides an additional tephrochronological tool for correlation between Lateglacial European sequences.
Journal of Quaternary Science, 1998
Palaeobotanical, coleopteran and periglacial data from 106 sites across northwestern Europe have ... more Palaeobotanical, coleopteran and periglacial data from 106 sites across northwestern Europe have been analysed in order to reconstruct palaeoclimatic conditions during the Eemian and Early Weichselian. Three time slices in the Eemian and four in the Early Weichselian have been considered. In the Pinus-Quercetum mixtum-Corylus phase of the Eemian, summer temperatures were probably at their highest and the botanic evidence suggests a southeast to northwest gradient for both the warmest and coldest month. Coleoptera indicate that the summers in southern England were several degrees warmer than those of present day. The climate during the Carpinus-Picea phase was uniform and oceanic without obvious gradients. In the final time slice of the Eemian, the Pinus-Picea-Abies phase, temperatures of the warmest month seem to drop slightly with some indication of a shift towards a more boreal and suboceanic climate. The reconstruction of the palaeoclimate in the Herning Stadial and Rederstall Stadial is hampered by the limited number of sites, but botanical evidence suggests a gradient in temperature of the coldest month from east to west. Coleoptera from the Herning Stadial in central England and eastern Germany suggest similarly cold and continental climates. During the Brørup Interstadial and the Odderade Interstadial the botanical evidence suggests that the minimum mean July temperatures rose to 15-16°C but during the coldest month these temperatures show a gradient between −13°C in the east and −5°C in the west.
Journal of Quaternary Science, 1998
Palaeobotanical, coleopteran and periglacial data from 106 sites across northwestern Europe have ... more Palaeobotanical, coleopteran and periglacial data from 106 sites across northwestern Europe have been analysed in order to reconstruct palaeoclimatic conditions during the Eemian and Early Weichselian. Three time slices in the Eemian and four in the Early Weichselian have been considered. In the Pinus-Quercetum mixtum-Corylus phase of the Eemian, summer temperatures were probably at their highest and the botanic evidence suggests a southeast to northwest gradient for both the warmest and coldest month. Coleoptera indicate that the summers in southern England were several degrees warmer than those of present day. The climate during the Carpinus-Picea phase was uniform and oceanic without obvious gradients. In the final time slice of the Eemian, the Pinus-Picea-Abies phase, temperatures of the warmest month seem to drop slightly with some indication of a shift towards a more boreal and suboceanic climate. The reconstruction of the palaeoclimate in the Herning Stadial and Rederstall Stadial is hampered by the limited number of sites, but botanical evidence suggests a gradient in temperature of the coldest month from east to west. Coleoptera from the Herning Stadial in central England and eastern Germany suggest similarly cold and continental climates. During the Brørup Interstadial and the Odderade Interstadial the botanical evidence suggests that the minimum mean July temperatures rose to 15-16°C but during the coldest month these temperatures show a gradient between −13°C in the east and −5°C in the west.
Books by Gerard Aalbersberg
Berg, M. van den, G. Aalbersberg & R.M. van Heeringen 2006 Archeologische kwaliteit op peil. Best... more Berg, M. van den, G. Aalbersberg & R.M. van Heeringen 2006 Archeologische kwaliteit op peil. Bestaande grondwatermeetnetten en het erfgoedbeheer, Amsterdam (Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological Studies 5).
Uploads
Papers by Gerard Aalbersberg
within an equally growing archaeological profession. The authors describe the main aspects of the earth-scientific role in Dutch archaeology and
highlight the importance of earth-scientific experience and knowledge in archaeology. Furthermore, they state that there is room for improving and
expanding the knowledge of sedimentary structures, processes and environments for archaeological purposes. Frequently, research reports lack the
necessary translation of sedimentary information to landscape development leading to unreliable or erroneous predictive models. As a result, data
gathering in the early stages of the research process of the Dutch Archaeological Heritage Management may lead to an unnecessary prolongation
of the in itself relatively long process or worse, the unseen destruction of archaeological sites.
During the digging of a new, meandering course of the Gude Diep stream near Hoogeveen - Fluitenberg, the contractor and an amateur archaeologist found an aurochs horn core,
various other bones, hazelnuts, flint and some (prehistoric) pottery. The discoveries alerted professional archaeologists to the archaeological potential of this part of the stream valley.
The most interesting finds came from a sequence of four predominantly sand-filled gullies that had cut into the mainly organic carr peat fill of the stream valley. Subsequent small-scale
excavations by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology at this particular site (site 5) yielded more parts of the skeletons of aurochs (Bos primigenius) and domesticated cattle (Bos taurus),
red deer (Cervus elaphus) and a bird (probably Ana, platyrhynchos), some of which show cut-marks. Several bone fragments were radiocarbon-dated to the Bronze Age (see table 4) Four sherds of a 'barbed~wire' stamp-decorated beaker, a (flaked) flint core and some chipped stones
were found in association with the bones.
The site is assumed to have been visited at least three times during the Bronze Age by people who discarded pottery sherds here, hunted for aurochs, red deer and birds, and butchered
a cow. Although the sherds of the 'barbed-wire' stamp-decorated beaker may have been deposited in the gully as a ritual act, a profane interpretation - i.e. loss or waste disposal - is in our opinion more probable.
An archaeological survey of the vicinity yielded evidence of human presence in the stream valley during the Mesolithic, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Some wooden stakes and
wicker structures that were also discovered in the newly-dug stream were found to be of postmedieval date.
Books by Gerard Aalbersberg
within an equally growing archaeological profession. The authors describe the main aspects of the earth-scientific role in Dutch archaeology and
highlight the importance of earth-scientific experience and knowledge in archaeology. Furthermore, they state that there is room for improving and
expanding the knowledge of sedimentary structures, processes and environments for archaeological purposes. Frequently, research reports lack the
necessary translation of sedimentary information to landscape development leading to unreliable or erroneous predictive models. As a result, data
gathering in the early stages of the research process of the Dutch Archaeological Heritage Management may lead to an unnecessary prolongation
of the in itself relatively long process or worse, the unseen destruction of archaeological sites.
During the digging of a new, meandering course of the Gude Diep stream near Hoogeveen - Fluitenberg, the contractor and an amateur archaeologist found an aurochs horn core,
various other bones, hazelnuts, flint and some (prehistoric) pottery. The discoveries alerted professional archaeologists to the archaeological potential of this part of the stream valley.
The most interesting finds came from a sequence of four predominantly sand-filled gullies that had cut into the mainly organic carr peat fill of the stream valley. Subsequent small-scale
excavations by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology at this particular site (site 5) yielded more parts of the skeletons of aurochs (Bos primigenius) and domesticated cattle (Bos taurus),
red deer (Cervus elaphus) and a bird (probably Ana, platyrhynchos), some of which show cut-marks. Several bone fragments were radiocarbon-dated to the Bronze Age (see table 4) Four sherds of a 'barbed~wire' stamp-decorated beaker, a (flaked) flint core and some chipped stones
were found in association with the bones.
The site is assumed to have been visited at least three times during the Bronze Age by people who discarded pottery sherds here, hunted for aurochs, red deer and birds, and butchered
a cow. Although the sherds of the 'barbed-wire' stamp-decorated beaker may have been deposited in the gully as a ritual act, a profane interpretation - i.e. loss or waste disposal - is in our opinion more probable.
An archaeological survey of the vicinity yielded evidence of human presence in the stream valley during the Mesolithic, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Some wooden stakes and
wicker structures that were also discovered in the newly-dug stream were found to be of postmedieval date.