Hoofdstuk 3 - Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed

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Summary: Earthen walls from an archaeological
perspective
During the historical period especially in the
Pleistocene inland parts of the Netherlands
many fields used to be enclosed by earthen
banks. Usually these banks were wooded (wood
banks). The presence of wood banks significantly
contributed to the small-scale character of the
landscape. Up to now the origin and distribution
of wood banks and of the landscapes that they
were part of have received little attention. In this
paper archaeological evidence regarding leveled
wood banks is presented and discussed. The
most common archaeological features related to
wood banks are parallel ditches up to 5 m. apart.
It turns out that most wood banks are relatively
young: late medieval or younger. In the southern
Netherlands they appear around the 14th-15th
centuries. In the north and east the oldest field-
enclosing wood banks are probably 16th century.
Here arable land: extensive open fields (‘essen’)
as well as small reclamations (‘eenmansessen’)
is usually enclosed by only one wood bank
whereas in the southern Netherlands systems of
wood banks occur that subdivide arable land in
separate plots. The enclosure of open fields in
the southern Netherlands may be early evidence
of declining open field agriculture, and the emergence
of ‘individual’ landscapes (Renes 2010),
the emergence of which seems to be related to
the so-called ‘late medieval transition’: the fundamental
shift to a proto-capitalistic market
economy.
Convincing archaeological evidence to support
claims that present-day small-scale landscapes
divided by wood banks and hedges are rooted in
late prehistoric times is lacking.