Een afslag van rode Helgoland-vuursteen uit Emmen (Dr.)

Samenvatting

A flake of red Heligoland flint from Emmen (province of Drenthe). This article discusses a flake made of red Heligoland (German: Helgoland) flint that was found at Emmen. As far as known, the only natural occurrence of this flint type is located on Heligoland, a small German island off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. Therefore, the flake indicates the import of flint. Most probably the artefact under consideration belongs to the Middle Neolithic West Group of the Funnel Beaker Culture or the Late Neolithic Single Grave Culture or Bell Beaker Culture, all together c. 3400/ 3350-1900 BC. Presumably it stems from a settlement. As a working hypothesis it is postulated here that during the Neolithic and Bronze Age the transport of red Heligoland flint to the province of Drenthe took place largely over water. The proposed transport route run across the North Sea along the German and Dutch coast and Wadden Isles. Via an inlet between the (present-day) islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog, this navigable route penetrated deeply into the province of Groningen. Perhaps it should be extended into Drenthe, as the palaeogeographical maps indicate that it may even have been possible to reach this region by boat.