The Never-Ending Story? The Lessons of Fifteen Years of Archaeological Monitoring at the Former Island of Schokland

Abstract

The former island of Schokland became part of the mainland of the Netherlands when the Noord-Oost polder was drained in the 1940s. Mesolithic camp sites, Neolithic and Bronze age settlements, and medieval dwelling mounds (terps) on Schokland and in its immediate surroundings now form a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The main threat to the former island and the archaeology is drying out of the soil profiles, causing degradation of organic remains. Because of this, on the island and in its immediate surroundings the groundwater table is kept high in a specially created hydrological zone.

Schokland was one of the first sites in the Netherlands to be monitored in order to assess threats to the archaeological record and ongoing degradation processes. Monitoring started in 1999, and subsequent measurements were taken in 2001, 2006, and 2009/10. This included measurements of groundwater tables, water composition, redox, soil moisture and soil chemistry, micromorphology, and the degradation of botanical remains and bone. This time series of measurements makes it possible — first and foremost — to study long-term effects and changes in the Schokland burial environment, and their effects on the archaeology. In addition, the development of monitoring techniques around Schokland illustrates how the field of archaeological monitoring has evolved over the years.

Since the first monitoring round in 1999, developments in monitoring have included (1) technological developments enabling monitoring of high-frequency variations in groundwater, redox, and moisture contents, for example; (2) growing knowledge of degradation processes and the relevant characteristics of the burial environment; and (3) an increase in easily accessible datasets from third parties. Worries have arisen about the long-term storage and availability of monitoring data.

For future monitoring rounds, the value of the various monitoring techniques need to be critically evaluated, and the purpose of monitoring specific sites need to be reconsidered.

Keywords:

• monitoring
• groundwater
• redox
• soil moisture
• bone
• botanical remains

We would like to thank the waterboard Zuiderzeeland for providing the groundwater-level data. Sue McDonnel checked the English language. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful comments. Sander Smit is thanked for providing datasets from earlier monitoring rounds and for discussions on the reliability of redox probe measurements.

Notes

1 KNMI; <www.knmi.nl>.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

D J Huisman

Hans (D. J.) Huisman is a soil scientist and geochemist. Since 2003 he has worked for the cultural heritage agency as senior researcher soil science and degradation. He has done a series of research projects on degradation of archaeological remains and monitoring of archaeological sites and edited and co-wrote a book on degradation of archaeological remains.

Correspondence to: Hans (D. J.) Huisman. Email: [email protected]

G Mauro

Guido V. Mauro is an archaeologist. Since 1997 he has worked for the cultural heritage agency as consulate archaeology and cultural landscape. His working area includes Noord- and Zuid-Holland as well as Flevoland. He has done several projects on in situ preservation and was involved of the creation of the ‘hydrological zone’ Schokand.

Correspondence to: Guido V. Mauro. Email: [email protected]