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What’s in a hearth? Seeds and fruits from the Neolithic fishing and fowling camp at Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands, in a wider context

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Abstract

This paper presents new results from the Early Neolithic Dutch wetland site of Bergschenhoek (ca. 4200 cal b.c., Swifterbant Culture), which are compared with finds from similar features and sites. The data indicate the presence of predominantly eutrophic, nutrient-rich reed and forb vegetation and suggest the preparation of meals consisting of fish and fruits. The finds from the hearth, dominated by uncarbonised remains of wetland taxa, form a remarkable part of the find assemblage. Therefore, the discussion concerns assemblages, deposition processes and interpretations of uncarbonised and carbonised finds from hearths at comparable, contemporary sites. The wide variation of macroremains assemblages of hearths indicates that plant deposition in hearths is understood only partly and remains a topic for further research.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank W. van Zeist for kindly making the data and context information available, L. P. Louwe Kooijmans, M. Schepers, K.-E. Behre, O. Brinkkemper and J. Greig for valuable discussion and suggestions, and R. T. J. Cappers, R. Palfenier-Vegter (Groningen Institute for Archaeology), I. L. M. Stuijts, C. Fredengren, L. Verhart, L. Amkreutz (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) and the members of the Archaeobotany mailing list for their kind and valuable efforts. This paper is partly based on research carried out at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University and funded by NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research).

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  1. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institution Milà and Fontanals, Spanish National Research Centre (CSIC), C/Egicíaques, 15, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Welmoed A. Out

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Correspondence to Welmoed A. Out.

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Communicated by K.-E. Behre.

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334_2011_338_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

ESM 1 Bergschenhoek, section of the hearth (Louwe Kooijmans 1985). See Fig. 2 for the scale. The section shows from top to bottom the presence of clay, the hearth, wood peat and clay, while the hearth shows thick layers of charcoal and thin layers of reed and peat mud (JPEG 1494 kb)

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Out, W.A. What’s in a hearth? Seeds and fruits from the Neolithic fishing and fowling camp at Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands, in a wider context. Veget Hist Archaeobot 21, 201–214 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-011-0338-7

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