EEN VROEG-MESOLITHISCHE NEDERZETTING MET TRANCHETBIJLEN BIJ LAGELAND (GR.)

Samenvatting

In 1996 a new gas pipeline was laid in the province of Groningen. The most important archaeological remains discovered during the digging activities are of medieval house-mounds and dikes, a Roman-period settlement and sev­eral Mesolithic settlements. This article des­cribes the finds from one af these partly exca­vated settlements. In total 235 flint artefacts were recovered, af which 14 are retouched tools: two core-axes, a flake-axe, two burins, two points, a scraper, a truncated blade and five retouched blades and flakes. In addition, a fragment af a grinding-stone and a few un­worked stones were found. Organic remains consist mainly of charred hazelnut. No hearths or other anthropogenic features were found. In the northern Netherlands, core- and flake-axes are usually placed in the latter part af the Mesolithic, after c. 7500 BP. One of the core­axes from this site was found adjacent to a large concentration of charred hazelnuls which provided an excellent opportunity for dating. The 14C-dating produced the foliowing result: 8750±50 BP, which piaces the settlement in the early Boreal. The axe is therefore, by approxi­mately 1000 years, the oldest dated Mesolithic axe from the northern Netherlands. Other settle­ments with axes will be dated in the near future.