Bridging Natural and Cultural Heritage Management: Recommendations for Present and Former Raised Bog Areas

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic cross-section of a bog remnant with surrounding drylands and indicating the stratigraphical distinction between supra-peat, intra-peat, and sub-peat layers. The three layers harbour different types of cultural remains (cf. Gearey et al. 2010). Mineral soils represented in light grey, peat soils in black.

Table 1. Simplified overview of common cultural remain types (with examples) in (former) bog landscapes classified according to bog use stage and stratigraphical position (on land surface, within, or underneath peat deposit). This article focuses on visible tangible remains at the land surface (intangible remains indicated in italic).

	CULTURAL REMAINS DATING FROM:
	BEFORE START OF BOG GROWTH	BETWEEN START OF BOG GROWTH AND START OF PEAT MINING	PEAT MINING	AFTER PEAT MINING
SUPRA-PEAT		Traces of buckwheat burning culture -shallow ditch systems Traces of bovenveen use (agriculture practiced on superficially drained bog) -elongated narrow strip parcels -former house places (e.g. indicated by specific plant species) Traces of bog reclamation for agriculture Traces of bog use as common land and/or borderland -boundary markers Traces of military defence use -dikes to retain water in bog (leidijken) -sconces and other fortifications	Traces of large-scale commercial peat mining: -local relief differences, disturbed peat profiles Infrastructure -canals for drainage and transport Settlements and industrial buildings (outside bog remnants) -churches for peat workers -peat-colonial villages -peat-processing factories Traces of small-scale peat mining: -local relief differences, disturbed peat profiles (on a relatively small scale) -small square or round turf pits -shallow peat dredging ponds -transport tracks (peat dikes)	Traces of use as nature reserve -blocked drainage ditches -dikes for water retention Traces of use as recreation area -boardwalks, footpaths, vantage points, information boards, visitor centres Traces of peat-colonial land use (outside bog remnants) -peat-colonial farmsteads -regular parcellations -infrastructure (e.g. road system, polder pumping stations)
		Specific placenames Folklore Bog-related stories	Specific placenames Folklore Bog-related stories	Specific placenames
INTRA-PEAT		Embedded (waterlogged) archaeological remains -wooden trackways, platforms -extraction sites (e.g. fishing stations) -waste dumps -bog bodies -‘ritual’ sites (e.g. ‘votive’ offerings)
SUB-PEAT	Archaeological remains in the mineral soil on which the bog developed -settlement sites (e.g. stone age camp sites) -burial sites (e.g. megaliths)

Figure 2. Map of the Netherlands indicating (a) bog distribution around 1500 CE and (b) the 17 Natura 2000 areas with bog remnants. The three case study areas of this paper are indicated with rectangles. The numbers correspond with those in Appendix 2. Peat distribution map adapted by permission from Springer Nature: Springer, climatological, stratigraphic and palaeo-ecological aspects of mire development, W. A. Casparie & J. G. Streefkerk, copyright 1992 (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7997-1_3).

Figure 3. Procedure to identify tangible bog-related cultural remains on the surface of bog remnants and surrounding reclamation landscapes.

Table 2. Potential synergies between key ecological management measures and heritage management in raised bogs, with accompanying caveats, as summarised from Appendix 3.

Ecological measure	Potential synergy with heritage management	Caveat
Removing trees or shrubs to promote peat moss growth	Lower risk of damage to supra-peat or intra-peat cultural remains by deep-rooting shrubs or trees Improved visibility of supra-peat remains to the public	Avoid using heavy machinery and aim at leaving tree stumps in place to avoid damage to cultural remains If tree or shrub growth on cultural remains actually contributes to their visibility: balance desired visibility against risk of damage to cultural remains
Small-scale rewetting	Consider blocking drainage ditches locally rather than filling them completely. This way, while still allowing their function as starting points for bog recovery, they may remain visible for decades and continue to bear witness to the long bog drainage history
Large-scale rewetting within or outside bog reserve	Rewetting is beneficial to intra-peat and sub-peat cultural remains Rewetting may accentuate small relief differences, potentially improving visibility of cultural remains structures	If remaining peat deposits have to be removed before rewetting because they are too degraded by oxidation, ensure professional archaeological assistance to salvage intra-peat cultural remains Local communities may experience sense of loss of the landscape and/or cultural remains therein. Engage them in the planning phase and aim at allowing them access to the area after rewetting (e.g. via dikes or boardwalks) Works to be carried out carefully to avoid unnecessary damage to cultural remains Where possible, reuse existing landscape elements such as old dikes

Figure 4. Map of the Bargerveen case study area showing the spatial pattern of supra-peat tangible cultural remains zones relating to specific historical land use forms, and the location of listed national, provincial, and municipal monuments linked to these land use forms. LSPR = large-scale planned reclamation; LSC = large-scale commercial peat extraction.

Figure 5. St Antony’s church with rectory (built in 1921). In the foreground the former edge of the Bargerveen where turves are being dried. Later these buildings were designated as national monuments partly because of their special location on the edge of the peat-colonial village of Zwartemeer and close to the present-day Bargerveen nature reserve. Photo: J.B. Schröer, Drents Archief (collectie Schröer).

Figure 6. Upper image: former peasant house in a recently rewetted part of the Bargerveen nature reserve. The last residents left in 1967. More recently, the building was adapted to function as a habitat to wild animals, until it burned down after a lightning strike in 2018 (photo by Albert Raven, taken with permission from Raven 2015). Lower image: the present situation in the area (taken with permission from Wanders 2020).

Figure 7. Map of the Peel case study area showing the spatial pattern of supra-peat tangible cultural remains zones relating to specific historical land use forms, and the location of listed national and municipal monuments linked to these land use forms. (LSP)R = (large-scale planned) reclamation of former bog and heathland; S = subsistence peat extraction; LSC = large-scale commercial peat extraction. The medieval villages of Deurne, Liessel, and Meijel are situated on mineral soil drylands (light grey area).

Figure 8. Prominent bog-related cultural remains visible on digital terrain models (DTM) of sites in the Verheven Peel (a-c) and Groote Peel (d) nature reserves. The location of the more detailed DTM images a-c is indicated on the top left overview image. Background DTM images courtesy of AHN viewer (https://www.ahn.nl/ahn-viewer), CC0.

Figure 9. Upper image: map of the Korenburgerveen case study area showing the bog’s position in a natural depression (indicated by DTM hillshade background), and the spatial pattern of supra-peat tangible cultural remains zones relating to specific historical use forms. S = subsistence peat extraction. Vv = Vragenderveen; Cv = Corlese Veen; Mv = Meddose Veen. The former two subareas are separated by an old municipal border; the latter two by a railway line. Lower image: map excerpt showing the peat dikes of the Vragenderveen subarea and their names (taken with permission from Wanders 2020).

Figure 10. (a) A former peat pit in the Mariapeel bog reserve recolonised by peat moss and other bog plants (courtesy of Hilde Tomassen). (b) An old ditch system is still visible through the linear zones of light-coloured purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) (taken with permission from Wanders 2020).

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