Zoektocht in het zuiden: Celtic fields op ongestuwde afzettingen in Zuid-Nederland

Samenvatting

Celtic fields in the South? The quest for Celtic fields in the coversand landscapes of the Southern Netherlands. The Iron Age field systems known as ‘Celtic fields’ are particularly well-known from the Northern- and Central Netherlands, where they are situated in landscapes strongly influenced by Saale glaciation. Such areas pose both benefits (moisture retentive loam), but also setbacks (nutrient-poor and eluviation-prone soils) to prehistoric agriculture. If Celtic fields were once constructed to exploit soils with especially these particularities, then one would not suspect similar agricultural strategies in the coversand landscapes of the Southern Netherlands, which were unaffected by Saale period glaciation. This paper describes the prospection and evaluation of two locations of suspected Celtic fields in this region of the Netherlands: Herkenbosch-De Meinweg and Someren-Hoenderboom. Only in the latter field, the Celtic field ridges were preserved as (70 cm thick) layers of anthropogenic sediment, which, unfortunately, the top layer was disturbed by sub-recent forestry.