The adoption of agriculture is one of the major
developments in human history. Archaeological studies have demonstrated
that the trajectories of Neolithisation in Northwest Europe were
diverse. This book presents a study into the archaeology of the
communities involved in the process of Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine
Area (5500-2500 cal BC). It elucidates the role played by the
indigenous communities in relation to their environmental context and in
view of the changes that becoming Neolithic brought about.
This volume contains the appendices to the thesis ‘Persistent
traditions. A long-term perspective on communities in the process of
Neolithisation in the Lower Rhine Area (5500-2500 cal BC)’. These
constitute a comprehensive inventory of 159, mostly excavated,
archaeological sites in the Lower Rhine Area for which general
characteristics were recorded. Their analysis shows that the succession
of Late Mesolithic, Swifterbant culture, Hazendonk group and Vlaardingen
culture societies represents a continuous long-term tradition of
inhabitation of the wetlands and wetland margins of this area, forming a
culturally continuous record of communities in the transition to
agriculture. The site catalogue forms both an overview of, and detailed
introduction into, the site-based archaeology of this time frame.
After demonstrating the diversity of the Mesolithic, the subsequent
developments regarding Neolithisation are studied from an indigenous
perspective. Foregrounding the relationship between local communities
and the dynamic wetland landscape, the archaeological evidence regarding
its regional inhabitation points to long-term flexible behaviour and
pragmatic decisions being made.
For the interpretation of Neolithisation this study offers a
complementary approach to existing research. Instead of arguing for a
short transition based on the economic importance of domesticates and
cultigens at sites, the emphasis is placed on the persistent traditions
of the communities involved. New elements, instead of bringing about
radical changes, are shown to be attuned to existing hunter-gatherer
practices. By documenting indications of the mentalité of the inhabitants of the wetlands, it is demonstrated that their mindset remained essentially ‘Mesolithic’ for millennia.