No abstract

Celtic field research has so far been strongly focused on prospection and mapping. As a result of this there is a serious lack of knowledge of formation and land-use processes of these fields. This article describes a methodological case study in The Netherlands that may be applied to other European Celtic fields in the future. By interdisciplinary use of pedological, palynological and micromorphological research methods the authors were able to discern five development stages in the history of the field, dating from the late Bronze Age to the early Roman Period. There are strong indications that the earthen ridges, very typical for Celtic fields in the sandy landscapes of north-west Europe, were only formed in the later stages of Celtic field agriculture (late Iron Age and early Roman period). They were the result of a determined raising of the surface by large-scale transportation of soil material from the surroundings of the fields. Mainly the ridges were intensively cultivated and manured in the later stages of Celtic field cultivation. In the late Iron Age a remarkable shift in Celtic field agriculture took place from an extensive system with long fallow periods, a low level of manuring and extensive soil tillage to a more intensive system with shorter fallow periods, a more intensive soil tillage and a higher manuring intensity. There are also strong indications that rye (Secale cereale) was the main crop in the final stage of Celtic field agriculture.

During the Roman and early-medieval period in the Netherlands, an extensive network of routes connected settlements on the local, regional and supraregional scale. The orientation of these route networks in part was determined by settlement locations, and in part by environmental factors (e.g. soil type, relief). Therefore these route networks provide a key in understanding the dynamic interplay between cultural and environmental factors.This study focuses on modelling Roman and early-medieval routes using a multi-proxy approach. By combining network friction with archaeological data representing settlements, burial sites and shipping-related finds we wish to investigate the possibilities of using these large-scale datasets for modelling Roman and earlymedieval route networks in the Netherlands. Data representing past infrastructure and isolated archaeological finds were used to validate the model output.Results show that in geomorphologically diverse lowland regions, such as the Netherlands, network friction is extremely useful for modelling historical route networks. We found a clear relationship between environmental conditions, settlement locations and the spatial distribution of infrastructure. Using evidence-based modelling, we were able to correctly predict the location of 89% of the currently identified Roman infrastructure, and 85% of the known early-medieval infrastructure in the Netherlands within a 1000 m buffer. Additionally, despite only roughly covering a surface area of 13% in the Roman and 11% in the early-medieval period of the Netherlands, 82% and 72% of all known isolated finds were located within the same buffer.

No abstract

No abstract