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Chronology of Wetland Hydrological Dynamics and the Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition along the Lower Scheldt: A Bayesian Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Jeroen Verhegge ,
Tine Missiaen ,
Mark van Strydonck  and
Philippe Crombé
Jeroen Verhegge*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Tine Missiaen
Affiliation:
Renard Centre for Marine Geology, Dept. of Geology & Soil Science, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Mark van Strydonck
Affiliation:
14C laboratory, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Philippe Crombé
Affiliation:
Dept. of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
2. Corresponding author. Email: Jeroen.Verhegge@ugent.be.
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Abstract

The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the wetland margins of the southern North Sea basin occurred well over a millennium after the transition in neighboring loess regions. This article investigates the possible role of hydrological dynamics in the presence of the last hunter-gatherer-fishermen in these wetland regions. A Bayesian modeling approach is used to integrate stratigraphic information and radiocarbon dates both from accurately datable archaeological remains and key horizons in peat sequences in the Scheldt floodplain of northwestern Belgium. This study tests whether the Swifterbant occupation of the study area was contemporaneous with hiatuses in peat growth caused by organic clastic sedimentation due to increased tidal influences and local groundwater rise. The results suggest that the appearance of this culture followed shortly after the emergence of a brackish tidal mudflat landscape replacing a freshwater marsh.

Type
Statistics and Modeling
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , 2014 , pp. 883 - 898
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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