Neolithische vindplaatsen op de keileemrug Noordhorn-Zuidhorn (Gr.)

Samenvatting

Neolithic sites on the Noordhorn-Zuidhorn boulderclay ridge (province of Groningen). In the late 1970s / early 1980s extensive surface scatters of flint artefacts were discovered by amateur-archaeologists O. De Graaf and E. Ameling. The sites are located on a boulderclay ridge situated approximately 15 km northwest of the city of Groningen. Most of the artefacts (more than 7000 were found) can be attributed to the Funnelbeaker Culture (transverse points, strike-a-lights, and fragments of flint axes), the Bell Beaker Culture and the Bronze Age (points with surface retouche, fragments of Scandinavian-type flint daggers). The presence of severely weathered (patinated, rolled, scratched) artefacts initially suggested a Middle Palaeolithic age and prompted an excavation in 1983. How-ever, no evidence of a Middle Palaeolithic origin for these artefacts was found. During the excavation and geological corings it became clear that the Neolithic/Bronze Age artefacts had been sub-jected to severe weathering, possibly during the Early Middle Ages. It is suggested that the sites can be interpreted as locations were flint nodules were collected and underwent the first stages of preparation and reduction: ‘finished’ tools are rare and preforms are relatively abundant.