Archaeology and Coastal Change in the Netherlands

Abstract

The archaeology and coastal change of the Netherlands are best seen from an ecological point of view. Governed by the rise of sea-level, sediment was laid upon Sediment and a vast stratigraphy originated, in which all environmental changes are documented: a sequence of changing landscape-patterns. A major framework of this sequence is embodied in cyclic processes, known as transgression/ regression cycles. The balance between land and sea was now in favour of the sea, a transgression phase during which estuarine creek Systems were gradually extended and tidal flat areas were enlarged. This was followed by periodical Sedimentation, during which creek Systems were silted up and tidal flats changed into salt marshes. Mostly this Sedimentation phase is included in the transgression part of the cycle, but it represents, in effect, the first part of a regression phase, which culminated in widespread peat formation. The transgression/regression cycle is a major topic in the present study: to what extent is this cyclicity periodical (with regular intervals) or aperiodical (with more or less random intervals)? Are there other processes that show a similar cyclicity, such as fluviatile Sedimentation or dune formation? What are the agencies governing these cyclicites, and a practical consideration: are predictions for the near future possible? In this study the earth-sciences and palaeobiological disciplines combine forces: the Vegetation is reconstructed by a palaeobotanist with the help of pollen, while macrofossils (seeds, wood), molluscs, foraminifera and diatoms help to reconstruct water conditions (tidal ranges, stream velocity, presence of mud and salt). Sometimes skeletal material of fishes and mammals permit a glimpse of the macrofauna.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 22 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.