Beenderen in beeld: een frisse blik op het menselijke skeletmateriaal van Noord-Nederland

Samenvatting

Bones in focus: A fresh look at human skeletal material from the northern Netherlands. 

This article reviews the collection history and current inventory of human skeletal collections from the northern Netherlands curated at the Noordelijk Archeologisch Depot (NAD). These skeletal remains were collected from the 19th century onwards. Until recently, systematic physical anthropological study of these materials has remained limited. Large excavations at such sites as Aduard, Dokkum, and Emmen yielded substantial amounts of material, but documentation is often incomplete. Since 2021, the renewal of training in physical anthropology at the University of Groningen has enabled students to re-describe and register more than 5000 inventory numbers, covering 233 sites. Twenty sites with more than 10 intact burials are highlighted as promising for future population-level research. The improved registration, including standardized skeletal descriptions and visual forms, has made the NAD collection more accessible as open data. These efforts provide a foundation for comparative studies on health, demography, and burial practices in the northern Netherlands across different historical periods.