WALLED ENCLOSURES OF THE IRON AGE IN THE NORTH OF THE NETHERLANDS

H. T. Waterbolk

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

3. DATING

4. THE ZEIJEN ENCLOSURES 4. 1. The Zeijen II enclosure 4.2. The Zeijen I enclosures

5· THE VRIES ENCLOSURES

6. THE RHEE ENCLOSURES

7 . DISCUSSION OF THE WALLED ENCLOSURES 7.1. Summary of the evidence 7.2. Parallels

8. FINAL REMARKS

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

97 H. T. WATERBOLK

1. INTRODUCTION be an illusion created by guirks of the archaeologi­ cal record. The North of the Netherlands and the adjacent parts In this paper I shall review the evidence from of Germany have so far given little evidence for settlements excavated in the area. In particular I social and econorriicdif ferentiation during the pre­ shall deal with four sites (two near Zeijen, one at Roman Iran Age. There are in this area no chariot V ries and one at Rhee), that have given evidence of graves, no Etruscan imports, no rich Celtic orna­ enclosures of roughly rectangular shape, formed by ments, no fi nds of Celtic coins or wheel-made pot­ a combination of an earthen bank and one or more tery, no hillforts such as occur in the Celtic world palisades. These enclosures can be dated between south of the Rhine and the Lippe, and across the 200 B.C. and A.D. 50. The excavations in guestion North Sea in Britain. Further north, in Schleswig­ have all been published befare, but new drawings Holstein and Jutland, we find again strong Celtic have been made on the basis of the original field influences, as shown by the famous cauldrons of documentation, and in a number of details my inc e.g. Gundestrup and Brå, by the Husby and Kraghede terpretation differs from that of the original exca­ vators. Befaredea ling in detail with these si tes, it is necessary to discuss the nature of the archaeologi­ cal record in the area and the problems of dating �c=GR�ON 1NGEN\...., the stages present at the sites . .t7' . Mr. H. Praamstra, who drew all the plans, assis­ . .: " "" "". ted also with the interpretation. Mr. H . " 0. 0 :" .···,·. \V. RIES. ':I. Harsema and Mr. G. de Leeuw of the Provinciaal :· j' \, ' ,' • I i Museum van Drenthe at Assen facilitated the study ·····. ... :· ·".,! ...... __ ; of the pottery of the si tes. Mr. ]. M. Smit made the ·' ' pottery drawings. Dr. ]. ]. Butler improved the ·-._ ..." ' i English text. Miss M. Bierma prepared the manus­ -·I cript. l;

2. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

During the Iran Age three different environments were inhabitated in the North of the Netherlands, ", i ' ". 1Jiz. ( 1) the sandy uplands in the hinterland, which \1...... , / .< had continuously been exploited since Neolithic ti­ · \,.-;" '"-' -·v. , _, mes, (2) the narrow, heavily forested river banks in �.( '1._ ·,, the Rhine, Vecht and Ems estuaries, and (3) the �·( treeless and brackish coastal marshes of Friesland ·"'- -· � and Groningen. In the sandy uplands the population was thinned Fig. 1. l\fap of the Netherlands, with location of the Zeijen­ V ries area. out by a first wave of migration into the coastal and river marshes newly formed after the Dunkirgue la transgression (Waterbolk, 1959; 1962). For the chariot burials and b.Y the presence of a few Celtic North of the Netherlands the migration process is coins of British origin. In the many big urnfields of demonstrated by the roughly contemporaneous the Harburg-Luneburg area, too, there is a great start of many coastal and riverine settlements, by variety of imports from the Celtic world (mostly the rarity in the sandy districts of pottery finds of small iron and bronze objects). the later pre-Roman Iran Age as compared with At fi rst glance, therefore, the districts between such finds from the early part of the Iran Age, and the Elbe and the Rhine esfoaries stand out by their by the faet that many cemeteries that begin in the poorness. As we shall see this may to same extent Late Bronze Age do not continue beyond the early Wal/ed e11clos11res oj the Iro11 Age

part of the Iron Age. A key position in the local gular Iron Age cemeteries from the many flourish­ seguence is occupied by the pottery type R W I. ing terp settlements. They were probably situated This pottery type, which appears in the 7th century outside the terps ·and covered by later sediments. B.C., characterises the earliest marsh settlements; at But at least in one cultural stage (Protofrisian cul­ the same time it has a wide occurrence in the hinter­ ture), roughly dated between 350 and 200 B.C., the land, both in settlements and cemeteries. te1p pottery (type R W III) is richly decorated with In the early part of the Iron Age the burial ritual incised geometric patterns of obvious southern de­ in the hinterland underwent changes. Whilst in the rivation. Imported Latene bronze ornaments, fi­ Late Bronze Age cemeteries the interments con­ bulae and glass rings do occur in the contempo­ sisted of selected cremated bones buried, often in raneous terp deposits (Boeles, 195 l), but as usual in an urn, in a pit surrounded by a circular or oblong settlements they are rare. If the burial grounds were ring-ditch, the ritual in the Iron Age became more known, our picture of this Protofrisian culture varied. Burials of selected cremated bones in urns might be guite different. continue fo r some time, but a surrounding ring­ Our knowledge of the Iron Age people living in ditch is mostly lacking. In the course of the Iron the river marshes is restricted. Apart from the Age, the normal rite becomes the covering of the settlements of J emgum (Haarnagel, l 9 5 7) and place of the cremation pyre with a low mound of Boomborg-Hatzum (Haarnagel, l969b) on the earth from a surrounding ditch of circular or, more Ems, no other site has been more than superficially often, sguare or rectangular form,or with a barrow examined. of inverted sods. Such pyre barrows may be sur­ At the Early Iron Age site of Boomborg­ rounded by a circular or sguare ditch, or by a cir­ Hatzum six successive habitation plans were exca­ cular or sguare fence made from thin stakes, or not vated. Each phase consisted of about six farmsteads be fenced at all. The mounds may be of various of roughly egual size. Burials have so far not been height. Often different rites occur together in one discovered in this environment. Of course, here cemetery, such as at Zeijen (Van Giffen, 1949), too, chances of finding them are reduced by later Ballo (Van Giffen, 1935), Gasteren (Van Giffen, sediment covers. 1945) and Laudermarke (Van Giffen, 193 l). Another reason for the apparent poorness of the Sometimes one rite seems to be dominant, as at lron Age in the North of the Netherlands may be Ruinen (square and rectangular ditches only) the faet that some finds ofa richer character have so (Waterbolk, 1965) or at Havelte (pyre barrows far only very incompletely been dealt with in publi­ without any peripheral structures) (Van Giffe n, cations. Three of these finds may actually represent

195 l ) . ploughed-up grave inventories. The important point is that grave finds in these (1) The well-known dagger from Havelte in the pyre barrow cemeteries are extremely rare. If pre­ Assen Museum (Early Latene I, according to Jope, sent they consist of secondarily burnt and often 1961) was faund in 1923, probably together with a undefinable pottery fragments and egually badly number of fragmentary bronze and iron objects preserved pieces of iron, bronze and glass (e.g. so­ (arm-rings, arrow-heads, knife, etc.). The dagger called Segelohrringe). In most cases no "archaeologi­ must be an import from Northern France. At about cal" dating is possible. Available radiocarbon dates the same spot an urn filled with cremated bones (Lanting Mook, l 977) suggest that this burial had been fauna a few days befare.It is probably the & ritual went on being practiced until the beginning pot of R W I-type, acguired by the Assen Museum of our era. on the same occasion as the dagger and the other Evidently, it did not favour the deposition and metal objects. Only the dagger and the pot have preservation of luxury ware. There is thus a mar­ been published (Clarke Hawkes, 195 5; & ked contrast with the areas beyond the Weser, Waterbolk, 1965). where cremation urns continue to be used through­ (2) Much Jess known is an important though out the Iron Age and where small iron and bronze poorly preserved find, also from Havelte, acquired grave goods are freguently met with. by the Leyden Museum in 1911 and faund about In the coastal marshes we do not know any re- three years befare. It has been brought to our no- 99 H. T. WATERBOLK

Fig. Location of the sites of Zeijen I, II, Vries and Rhee. bronze and iron objects, among which there are a 2. spear-head, a number of iron arrow-heads and frag­ ments of what is probably a horse bit. Cremated tice by Dr. G. J. V erwers of Leyden. It consists of a bones are encrustated in the iron oxide, showing pot of R W I-type, a plate of a type regularly as­ that this find too was probably the inventory of a 100 sociated with R W I-pottery, and a number of cremation grave. Walled enclosttres oj the lro11 Age

The original location of the Havelte finds is in­ Fig. 3. Location of the sites on the topographical map of ± precisely known, but there is reason to suppose 1860. that they come from one cemetery, which unfor­ tunately has been destroyed for the greater part by consisting of two bronze disc ornaments, three sand dune formation and afforestation. bronze sword chapes and fragments of a bronze (3) The Assen Museum has a find from Anlo vessel. It was discovered near a barrow over a IOI H. T. WATERBOLK

cremation pyre, and may therefore also be a grave in time, these typologies are not fully integrated. inventory. It has been mentioned by De Laet For the earlier part of the Iran Age, the typology & Glasbergen (1959), but the objects have never been published by the author (Waterbolk, 1962) will be dealt with in a systematic way. used in a slightly adapted form. There are also a few bog hoards, consisting of l ) Ruinen-Wommels I (RW I): wide-mouthed ves­ ornamental objects of Latene date. The best known sels with S-profile ; neck long, slightly bent out is that ofNieuw-Weerdinge, consisting oftwo mas­ and well set off the shoulder, which may from sive bronze arm rings, a bronze neckring and a be emphasized by a groove line; rim undifferen­ string of amber beads (Remouchamps, 1925). It is tiated. in the collection of the Leyden Museum. Another 2) R W II: as R W I, but neck provided with either find of amber beads, together with an arm ring of a basal thickening or with a slightly thickened, lignitic shale, comes from a peaty depression on the more or less everted rim; both the neck base and Eese estate (gem. Vledder) (Waterbolk, 1957)· It is the rim base may be emphasized by a groove in private possession. line. The above inventory, which may not be com­ 3) RW III: vessels of globular shape; neck short, plete, shows that Iran Age society in the North of clearly set off from the shoulder, slightly cur­ the Netherlands might, after all, have been more ved, either undifferentiated, or provided with differentiated than would appear from the R W II features in reduced or rudimentary form.

published record. 4) R W IV ( = approximately Paddepoel IV E) : ves­ sels with globular or egg-sh.aped body; neck 3. DATING short or somewhat elongated, distinctly curved, sametimes somewhat sunk; rim everted, with a At each of the sites of Zeijen, V ries and Rhee there broad upper and a narrow lateral facet. are traces of both earlier and later occupation. N .B. The label R W IV has not been used Dating of the stages mainly depends on the charac­ befare; it emphasizes the close genetic relation teristic features of the neck and rim of well­ with the other R W types. Van Es' typology is developed medium-sized specimens of the high purely descriptive; his types - indicated with wide-mouthed cooking-vessels that dominate numbers and !etters - have no chronological or among the associated pottery forms. Of course, genetic connotation. alongside such vessels other pottery forms always 5) Paddepoel IV A (PP IV A) : neckless vessels occur, such as plates, cups, bucket-shaped pots, with globular body; rim short, thickened, sharp­ bowls, miniature vessels, storage jars, etc. They, too, ly everted and provided with 3 or 4 facets.

are subject to typological variations, which can be PP IV D ( = approximately Wijster IV A) : used for chronological studies. In most cases, how­ neckless vessels with globular or egg-shaped ever, these forms are less sensitive in the chro­ body; rim bent outward, not thickened, some­ nological sense than the standard vessels. Quite af­ times with an upper and/or lateral facet.

ten, the neck - if present - and rim of these forms PP IV C ( = approximately Wijster IV B) : show variations parallel to those of the wide­ neckless vessels with globular or egg-shaped mouthed cooking-pc s. This applies, for example, body; rim bent outward, thickened, unfaceted to the bucket-shaped pots of Harpstedt type in the or with one or two fa cets.

earlier part and the fu nnel cups in the later part of 6) Wijster II B (W II B = approximately Paddepoel the period under discussion (roughly 700 B.C.-200 II and III A): neckless vessels with globular or A.D.). egg-shaped body; rim clearly set off, straight or For these reasons, we restrict ourselves here to only slightly curved, with parallel-sided section an enumeration of the types of the main series. Van (W II B1, W II B3) or segment-shaped section Es ( l 967; l 968) has made two different efforts to (W II B2). establish a complete typology of the pottery from Other features may help in differentiating be­ the Roman period (Wijster) and the la ter part of the tween these types, such as the position, number and 102 Iran Age (Paddepoel). Though partly overlapping form of lugs and handles, the paste and temper of Walled e11c/omres of the lro11 Age

the clay used by the potters and the style and tech­ place each other completely. Also, there are tran­ nique of the ornaments. For example, a single, per­ sitional or poorly developed forms, that are hard to forated lug on the shoulder-neck transition is a classify. Only closed find complexes that contain a typical R W I feature, while 2, 3 or 4 angular sufficient quantity of well-defined pottery speci­ handles connecting the shoulder with the rim are mens can be placed in the indicated time intervals. common with the R W IV and PP IV D types. Ideally, the technique of seriation could provide Ornamentation with bundles of parallel incised li­ us with a more dctailcd chronology. For Jack of nes forming geometrical patterns is very developed large find complexes of undisputable association, on the R W III type, but occurs also, though in a the present material does not permit us to apply slightly different style, with the PP IV A-type. A this technique in the strict sense. But in some cases horizontal groove at the base of the neck, made the type composition of the find complexes may with a blunt, double or triple pointed tool (streep­ suggest an early, middle or late position within the band) is a characteristic feature of the R W IV type, intervals. but occurs also with the PP IV C and D types. The material from our sites proves that the type Single fingertip-impressions on the rim, if present, sequence, which originally was mainly based on occur generally on the top of the rim with the R W material from the clay marshes, is indeed equally I-III types. With the later types the impressions are valid for the hinterland. In faet, the area of in­ mostly laterally placed and much more varied in vestigation itself has produced for each interval at form. Study of the paste, temper and baking en­ least one representative find complex. Placed in vironment will most certainly disclose differences, chronological order these complexes illustrate the which at least in part will have some chronological above-mentioned principle of gradual replacement significance. We have not dealt with these aspects. of one type by the next. Also they give some imc On radiocarbon evidence the appearance of the pression of the general form composition of the various R W types can be dated as follows: complexes. It may therefore be useful to refer to (1) RW I : from c. 650 B.C. them already before the systematic treatment of the (2) RW II : from c. 500 B.C. individual sites. (3) RW III: from c. 350 B.C. A typical R W I complex was found in l 960 at (4) RW IV : from c. 200 B.C. Zeijen (Waterbolk, 1961) in an isolated settlement Mainly following Van Es' arguments, based on pit on the es. The pit contained the remains of 8 comparison with material from the Weser-Elbe re­ R W I pots, 2 bucket-shaped pots of Harpstedt type, gion, the foliowing da tes can be given for the youn­ 3 plates and an ornamented wall sherd. One of the ger types: R W I pots was ornamented with vertical im­ (5) PP IV A: from c. 50 B.C. pressions of a bronze Ha D armring. A number of PP IV C: from c. A.D. o find complexes from Rhee (this paper, fig. 61-63) PP IV D: from c. 50 B.C. are of the same nature. N.B. In his summary table Van Es places the The R W II type is represented in two complexes beginning of both his PP IV C and D types at c. from the area. The complex from de Vledders, A.D. o, but he leaves the possibility open for an gem. Norg - only 4 km west of Zeijen (Waterbolk, b earlier start, which we prefer, at least for the PP IV l 959 ) - consists of material from an uncontrolled D type. According to Van Es the PP IV A type excavation; its composition suggests that it was should have a much shorter life than the PP IV C probably a closed find. There are 4 pots with RW II and D types. profiles, l pot with R W I profile, a plate and a (6) W II B : from c. A.D. loo. number of sherds of bucket-shaped pots (fig. 72). Though each of these dates may easily be half a The complex from Zeijen was found immediately century off, a mean interval of c. l 50 years between north of the Witteveen (see below) in a bank of a the appearance of the main types appears to be well Celtic field system (Waterbolk, 1977). It contains documented. mostly small fragments of R W I, R W II and R W It should be realized that the types only gra­ III pots, as well as of plates, etc. (fig. 73). dually become dominant, and that they never re- The R W III type is best represented by a small H. T. WJ\TERBOLK

Fig. Zeijen 11: eastern passage, seen from 4. the S. In the backgrouncl the bog \Xlitteveen. Photo B.A .I. 1 944.

Fig. 5. Zeijen II : longitudinal section of sod bank in SE corner of enclosure, seen from the N. Photo B.A.l. 1944.

but highly characteristic find complex from Rhee The PP IV A type is best represented in find (fig. 67 ). The ornamented pot has all the character­ complex 6 (fig. 29) from Zeijen I. It is absent in istics of its counterparts from the clay marshes. find complex 3 5 from Zeijen II (fig. 12), which The R W IV type is amply represented among mainly consists of types PP IV D and PP IV C. the large material from the ditches of the Zeijen I-2 The only complex with W II B types was found enclosure (fig. 25), but since it is possible that the in Zeijen I (fig. 30). filling of the ditches continued in the period that The reinterpretation of the sites of Zeijen II, the Zeijen I-3 enclosure was used, the time span Zeijen I, V ries and Rhee is not restricted to the covered by this material may be too lang for direct dating of the stages, it also concerns the house comparison with the other complexes. I therefore plans. Since the publication of the original reports, mention the complexes from Rhee (fig. 69) and a number of excavated settlement sites have pro­ Zeijen I (fig. 27). duced important reference material. Mention can Walled e11cloS11res oj the lro11 Age

Fig. 6. Zeijen Il: southern defences, seen from the E. Photo B . .A.l. 1 944.

Fig. 7. Zeijen Il: section through ditch with palisade. Photo B . .A.l. 1944.

be made of the sites of Elp (Waterbolk, 1964), (Waterbolk, 1975) I demonstrated that the mean Angelslo and Emmerhout (Van der Waals, 1966; width per house of the stall boxes decreases from c. Butler, 1969), Hijken (Harsema, 1974), Noord 1.10 min the Early Bronze Age to c. 0.70 min the Barge (Harsema, 1976), Wijster (Van Es, 1967) and Middle Ages, in line with the decrease in cattle size Odoorn (Waterbolk, 1973). This material is of known from osteological studies. In a few cases, great help in sorting out, interpreting and dating where there were no other possibilities, this feature the individual house plans, and in making the spe­ was used to suggest an attribution of undated cial character of the walled enclosures more ap­ house plans to definite stages. parent. As to the cultural environment in which the de­ Apart from the house types themselves, one de­ velopment described takes place, it has been sug­ tail of the houses, namely the width of the stal! gested elsewhere (Waterbolk, 1962) to use the terms boxes, has an independent dating value. Elsewhere Zeijm clllt11re for the cultural stage dated by the H. T. \XI !\ "f_E RBOLK

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I06 Walled e11clos11res of the lro11 Age

0 E 0 R W I and II types, Protofrisian mlt11re for the stage 0 N with the R W III type, and Frisian mlt11re for the 0) Ol stages dated by the streepba11d ornamented ware. u (/) This means that both the stages with R W IV and that with PP IV A, D, C should be reckoned to the 0 Frisian culture. For the last stage in our seguence, where influences from the Weser-Elbe area seem to

c 0) acguire dominance over the local traditions, the "il N main distribution area of the typical pottery types no longer coincides with the area indicated by the 0 Roman authors as inhabited by the Frisii. For the time being any cultural attribution of this stage seems premature.

4. THE ZEIJEN ENCLOSURES

On the Noordse Veld, a stretch of heathland, now under cultivation with the exception of a reserve of 75 ha, Van Giffen excavated two settlements, a southern one which he called the 1;ersterki11g naar -·- - Ro111ei11s patroo11 ("the fort of Roman pattern") b ( l 9 34) (Van Giffen, l 9 3 6 ) and a northern one, the

.--·· legerplaats ("the camp") ( l 944-'46) (Van Giffen, 1950). I shall call them Zeijen I and II respectively.

Their distance from one another is only 400 m and there are no geographical barriers of any kind in between. I shall argue later on that Zeijen I precedes Zeijen II. The Noordse Veld is a low ridge between the upper courses of two brook valleys which run para­ llel in NNW direction (figs. 2, 3). The distance from each other is about 2 kilometers, the habitable ridge having a width of c. l.5 kilometer. On the ridge a number of circular depressions occur (so­ called pingo ruins) which originally were filled with peat. An ancient road, or rather a bundle of cart tracks, the Koningsweg ("King's road") runs along the ridge. It connects the village of Zeijen, :-·-� - � l.5 km SSE of the si te of Zeijen I, with the village !. - . . of Lieveren, si tuated lo kilometer further to the north, on a smal! but in ancient times probably navigable stream, connecting the uplands with the sea marshes to the north. The site of Zeijen II (the "camp") is situated on the SW rim of one of the circular peat bogs, the Witteveen. Immediately to the north of the bog a large complex of Celtic fields occurs (Van Giffen, 1.949; l\tbller-Wille, I 96 3; Brongers, I 976; H. T. WJ\TERBOLK

0 0

108 Walled e11cfosures of the lro11 Age

ci E Waterbolk, 1977). While mapping the banks of the 0 0 "' field system, Van Giffen found the "camp", the banks of which stood out in the heathland as a kind of isolated field element. The local people had told him that although the Celtic field system as a whole bears the name heidmse legerplaats ("heathen camp"), the true "camp" should be the one on thc Witteveen rim. A somewhat smaller bog, the Gelveen, was situated c. 150 m SE of the

0 Witteveen. In one of the banks near the Witteveen a culture layer with Iran Age pottery with R W I, R W II and R W III rims was found (fig. 73), showing that the banks were still growing in the 4th century B.C. Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows occur all over the ridge, mostly however on the western flank of the ridge, west of the Celtic field. Two dense groups of barrows are mainly of Iran Age date. They cover pyre remains and occur in com­ bination with square and rectangular ditches (p. 99). On the rim of the Witteveen, in the immediate vicinity of the site of Zeijen II, four barrows of alder date occur (Waterbolk, 1977). One of them (no. 117) dates from the Middle Bronze Age, the three others (nos. I-III) are multiple-period bar­ rows with burials and building stages ranging in age from the Neolithic TRB culture to the Middle Bronze Age. All three had a sod capping showing . . ',I � I . reuse in an advanced stage of the Iran Age. A me­ .. galithic tomb is situated c. 300 m SE of Zeijen II and c. 200 m NW of Zeijen I. · \- -- \ Zeijen I is situated within an apparently separate �- --� Celtic field of smaller dimension, which has been discovered on aerial photographs (Brongers, 1976). A few stray fi nds of Funnel Beaker pottery, Corded Ware and Barbed Wire ornamented pottery, as well as same flint artifacts, testify to the presence of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age man at the site of Zeijen I.

4. i. The Zeijen II enclosure (figs. 4-13)

The general plan (fig. 8) is easy to interpret as far as the banks, palisades and ditches is concerned, but the inner part presents same difficulties. The course of the excavation, which had to be interrupted during the last months of the war, was not quite satisfactory; in the northwestern part of the area the record is particularly fragmentary. 109 2

9

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Fig. 1 i. Zeijen 11: find complex ) 5 and find 49 (both from a guently within Celtic Fields. They probably date depression in the SE corner of the enclosure. Type PP IV D: from the Late Bronze Age or the Iran Age. Since 1-1 1; type PP IV C: 1i-18. locally no banks seem to have developed, and no plough-soil was observed under the banks of the ( r ) As a firststage (fig.9) I consider the fragment enclosures, a rather early date is to be preferred. of a three-aisled long house in the center of the en­ The granaries could belong to the same phase of closure. The large distance between the roof-bearing cultivation which was fo und under the banks of the pairs of posts and the faet that the wall posts, as far Celtic field at the fo ot of tumulus I q, northwest of as preserved, are of egual number to the inner posts, the Witteveen (Late Bronze Age). Here a group of suggest a Bronze Age date for this building. The granaries of much the same character was fo und. group of granaries outside the enclosure has been ( 2) After a fairly long period during which the placed on the same plan. Such groups, without ap­ vegetation had the character of a heatbland, the I IO parent association with a normal house, occur fre- enclosure was built. Its defences (figs. 4-7, 10) con- 8

4 5 6 9

sisted of an earth wall (fig. 5) and a number of outer Fig. 13. Zeijen Il: various pottery fi nds from the enclosure. i: palisades (fig. 6). The wall, which was locally pre­ 1944 V 37; z: 1946 VI 61; 3-5 : 1946 VI 70; 6-9: 1944 VI 80; 10: 1944 VI 6z; i i : 1946 VI 71; 1 z: 1946 VII 84. Tvpe R \XI Ill: 4; served to a height of o. 5 5 m, consisted of inverted type PP IV A: 7, 10; type PP IV D: 1,z,5,8 ; type PP IV C: sods. It had been built over an undisturbed soil 1 I,I 2. profile. The sod wall has an outer palisade revetment, thus forming a low bank. which turns inward at both entrances. Only locally Of the outer palisades the first (inner) one con­ were fragments of an inner wooden revetment pre­ tinues in the bottom of the ditches (except at the served, suggesting some type of box structure for north side), the second continues apparently in the the wall throughout. banks (this is demonstrated only at the north side). A ditch with a depth of r .20- r .80 meters was At the bog side no more palisades are present, locally dug outside the wall. The earth from it, but at the other three sides three more palisades however, appears to have been thrown outward, occur. Between the entrances one more palisade is I I I Fig. i 4. Zeijen 1: palisades of phase 3 and ditches of phase z in to the Paddepoel types IV D (fig. l 2: 1-II) and IV the SE part of the excavated area; seen from the S. Photo C (fig. 12:12-18). Two shallow pits in or near B.A.I. '934· granaries yielded each a complete vessel (fig. 13:1 1, 12). The rest of the pottery consists of stray sherds present between the third and the fourth palisade. from post-holes or the fillings of the ditches. It Locally the third palisade shows signs of repair. equally belongs mainly to the types PP IV D and C. Gates are present in the main wall and in the Some, however, may be earlier (e.g. a R W III sherd fourth (fifth) outer palisade (fig. 4). At the east side from a pit in the NW corner of the enclosure). an outer wall with fragmentary ditch has been ad­ Some rims belong to the PP IV A type. The streep­ ded to the structure. ba11d ornament is absent, but this may be due to the Inside the bank only granaries were found; the over-all scarcity of fi nds. In one of the ditches a long house which practically would block the wes­ rotary quern of basalt-lava was found. tern entrance is reckoned to the next stage. On the basis of these fi nds a building date in the Pottery finds from the site are generally scarce. last decades before our era seems probable. Only in the south-eastern corner of the enclosure, (3) The house (fig. 1 l ) cannot be dated directly, just inside the wall, a fairly large quantity of sherds for Jack of directly associated pottery finds of diag­ was found in some shallow depressions (perhaps nostic value. Of course, some of the stray fi nds of only top-soil, covered by the collapsed wall). Van fig. 13 may belong to this stage. The general type, Giffen considered the sherd concentration as re­ as well as the distance of the upright pairs in the 112 mains of a fire-place. Most of the pottery belongs stable part, suggests a date in the centuries around , -..,_ - " r- .

�t'\· 1- I '1 11!1I 1 I 1 1 Jl l ) I . \ I V . l l I :1 I I 1 L \ 1 I 1 1 , I -�- I 1 1 t I � - \ . j . . l L -k � \ -l.. L j. 1

Fig. 1 5 . Zeijen ] : house 19 and palisade in the N\XI corner of do not accept as such the post configuration in the the enclosure (phasc 3), from the N\XI. Photo B.A.l. 1934. SE corner, but have, instead, isolated a plan which Van Giffe n did not recognize, and which we con­ the beginning of our era. For that matter it could sider as preceding the enclosure. Van Giffen con­ belong to the period of use of the enclosure. But siders the house in the SW part of the enclosure as since it blocks an entrance, it would more likely be being contemporary with it; as stated befare we earlier or la ter than the enclosure. It fills an other­ would rather see it as later. wise empty place. I assume that it was built in the second half of the rst century A.D., shortly after 4.z. The Zeijen I enclosures (figs. 14-30) the enclosure lost its original fu nction. There is no evidence fo r later occupation at the The si te of Zeijen I was excavated by Van Giffen as site. Apparently it was deserted and became heath­ early as 1934 (Van Giffe n, r936b). In faet, it was the land or shrub. The raised bog fo rmation in the first large-scale settlement excavation in Drenthe, Witteveen continued; it overgrew the bank and and, together with the site of Diphoorn (Van ditch at the north side and the lower parts of the Giffe n, 1936a), excavated in the same year, the first enclosed area. To the north of the Witteveen the to yield house plans comparable to the three-aisled bog overgrew the lower parts of the Celtic field as buildings which had been unearthed in the terp of well. Ezinge a few years befare. The site was discovered Our interpretation of the si te diffe rs from that of in I 9 33 when after ploughing of the heathland the

Van Giffe n only in respect of the house plans. We square ditch showed up by its dark fi l!. J I 3 Fig. i6. Zeijen 1: SE entrnnce gate (phase 3), seen from the SW. ( 1) A house and a granary, as well as two ring­ Photo B.A.I. 19 34. ditches and a cremation pit, precede the enclosures and together probably belong to the Early Iron Age Zeijen culture (fig. 19). The house, though The reinterpretation of this si te has already been fragmentary, has a counterpart at Rhee (see below published elsewhere (Waterbolk, 1976); I shall re­ p. 118). It should be seen in the context of the strict myself here to the main points. The photo­ Celtic field. Wherever excavated Celtic fields con­ graphs of the excavation (figs. 14-17) show that the tain house-plans and groups of granaries. conditions for observation of post-holes and fences Particularly good evidence in this respect has been were not optimal. This is probably due to a period produced at the site of Hijken (Harsema, 1974). of forest or shrub cover foliowing the human occu­ The rudimentary cemetery may be somewhat older pation aand preceding the heathland. A few hun­ than the house. A fragment of a flint sickle pro­ dred meters southwards even at present an an­ bably dates from the same stage. In my earlier re­ cient woodland occurs, the Zeijer Strubben port on the site, it was erroneously stated that find ("Zeijen shrubs"). It means that a relatively thick complex no. 10 consisted of pottery of R W I type; layer of earth had to be removed before the soil in faet it is of Early Bronze Age date. traces showed clearly. This explains the fragmen­ (z) After a period of a fe w centuries, a smal!, I 14 tary character of many of the building plans (fig.1 8). nearly square enclosure was built (fig. zo) . The Fig. 17. Zeijen I: house 26 (phase 4), seen from the NE. Photo at Zeijen II, mainly along the walls. The area en­ B.A.I. 1934. closed by the wall has a size of 0.14 ha. The ditch filling is rich in pottery (find numbers 13-19, 21, 23-29, 32-33). These finds give a ter111i1111s original existence of a wall is deduced from the ante queJJ1 for the building of the enclosure, but presence of a ditch, from the course of the palisade since the ditches had no defensive function, the pot­ trenches and the nature of the entrance gate at the tery may in part date from the time the small en­ NE side. It was probably a box rampart, built from closure was in use. Another part may date from the wood and earth, the latter being taken from the time the second enclosure (phase 3) was in use. shallow outer ditches. These ditches were interrup­ The majority of the pottery is of the R W III (fig. ted at two corners and cannot, therefore,have been 24) and R W IV (fig. 2 5 ) types. PP IV C (fig. 26: l-7) an integral part of the defence. The northwestern and D (fig. 26 :8-14) do occur frequently. Pottery of inner palisade shows signs of repair. At the SE side type IV Ais very rare (fig. 28 :1-6); it may belong the outer palisade is lacking. to the last period of use of the enclosure (phase 3 b) The orientation of the walls follows the main or to phase 4 (see below). lines of the Celtic field system. The only structures The streepband ornament is quite common. The which can with some probability be attributed to characteristic, geometrical ornament which fre­ the enclosure are a number of granaries, placed, as quently occurs on terp pottery of the R W III type, H. T. WATERBOLK

and which only once has been fo und in the hinter­ late, for it was built on the place of the old wall. land (on a pot from Rhee, see fig. 67), is lacking. Provisionally one might therefore attribute build­ The possibility cannot, however, be excluded that ings l 9, l 2 and l l to phase p and buildings l 3, 20 the pottery illustrated on fig. 24 in part precedes and 9 to phase 3 b. the pottery illustrated on figs. 2 5 and 26. If so, the Nothing can be said with certainty with regard building of the enclosure might go back to the 3rd to the periodisation of the granaries. Of course, century B.C. some of the granaries within the first enclosure (2) (3) The small enclosure was succeeded by a lar­ might just as well be attributed to phase 3. ger one with an enclosed area of o. 3 8 ha. Two pha­ The plans of the buildings, though clearly three­ ses (p and 3 b) can be distinguished on the base of aisled, differ in many respects from all other Iron the course of the outer palisade (figs. 21, 22). In Age house-plans excavated in the area: there is no phase 3 b the NE entrance was given up, and the evidence for a functional subdivision in a living SW entrance was widened so as to give access for and a stable part of about equal length. There are wheeled vehicles. An outer palisade was added on no entrances in the long sides, no large intervals in the NE side opposite the wide entrance. Just as in the line of inner upright-pairs. The walls, as far as the first enclosure the NW and SE gates remain preserved, consist of a thin palisade only; true wall

open, suggesting the main direction of the traffic. posts being present only with house 1 3. The spa­ Although the wall itself is not preserved, its for­ cing of the inner upright pairs of most houses (ex­ mer presence is strongly suggested by the parallel ception only 20) would be compatible with a fun­ course of two palisades and the nature of the en­ ction as a stable, but there are no indications for trance gates. In phase p the outer face of the ram­ stall boxes. I assume that the buildings were no part was built from a densely spaced palisade in a ordinary houses with a living and a stable part, but trench. The inner face of the rampart wall consisted storage barns and perhaps stables. House 19 seems over large distance of lines of medium-sized post­ to have a transverse wall perhaps serving to se­ holes spaced at intervals of a meter or more. parate a room for a guard or herdsman. Horizontal beams or planks must have connected Find numbers which with some probability can them, for otherwise the earth in the wall could not be brought in relation to phase 3 are 8, 9, 22, 30 (in have been kept in position. Thus in this case, too, the foundation trench of phase 3 b ), l l and l 2 (in the wall must have been of the box type. The earth pits with a central position in buildings l 2 and l l may partly have consisted of material from the wall respectively). The total number of sherds is smal!. of the first enclosure, partly of sods taken in the The type composition - see for example find com­ neighbourhood. plex no. l l (fig. 2 7) from house l 2 - does not differ In phase 3 b the outer face of the wall was com­ from that in the ditch of phase 2, in which the pletely renewed. Locally it was now made of widely pottery, as we stated before, may partly be con­ spaced posts, both with and without foundation temporary with phase 3. Thus, pottery does not trenches. The inner wall, too, shows signs of re­ allow us to detect a difference in age between pha­ pair. It was, however, not possible to separate a 3a ses 2 and 3. A date in the late second or early first from a 3 b stage. Six long rectangular buildings as century B.C. seems probable. well as, though with Jess probability; a number of (4) After a period during which the walls and granaries were placed inside the enclosure. The palisades disintegrated, the site was reoccupied (fig. long buildings were all set along the wall. With one 2 3). We find a palisade fence with two normal long exception (house 9) they avoid the place of the for­ houses, an out-house and a few granaries. One of mer wall and ditch. the houses (no. 26) is provided with ditches parallel It is doubtful whether all buildings coexisted. to three of the walls. The pottery finds from these Perhaps at first l 9 and l 2 ( l l ?) were erected in ditches (nos. 4-6) (fig. 28 :1-12 and fig. 29) clearly + the corners of the enclosure. The place of the en­ belong in majority to type PP IV A (50 B.C.-A.D. trance of building 20 suggests that building l 9 had 50). A few stray finds from the ditch of phase 2 already disappeared when 20 was built. Equally l 3 equally belong to this type (fig. 28:1-6). Find no. 4, JI6 might be younger than l 2. Building 9 could also be however, looks earlier (fig. 28 :9-12). Sherd fig. Walled mc/os11res of the lro11 Age

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Fig. 18. Zeijen I: general plan. Scale 1 :joo. H. T. WATERBOLK

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. 21 . Fig z eIJen ·· I : phase p (N . B . . h ouse I 3 and 9 probabl) . 20, ' I 20 belong to phase 3 b) S ca I e 1: · 500. Walled enclosures oif the lro11 Age

3b

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. F. zz. Ze1Jen. I . phase 3 b (N.B.: only t I1e outer. palisades and ig. . entrances d iffer from t I10 se in phase p,. fort h e houses see f.ig. 21 . Scale 1:5 °0 I2I ) · H. T. WATERBOLK

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Fig. 24. Zeijen I: pottery of R \XI III type from the ditch of Fig. 2 5. Zeijen 1: pottery of R \XI IV type from the ditch of phase 2. l, 6: 1934 VII 29; 3 , 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, IZ: 1934 VII 15; z, phase 2. l, z, 4, 8, 1 l: 1934 VII 1 5; 3: 1934 VII 29; 5, lo: 1934 4: 1934 VII 32; 9: 1934 VII 27. VII 26; 6: 1934 VII 17; 7, 9: unnumbered; 1 2: 1934 VII '7· 123 \ \ ' ' ' '

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� Fig. 26. Zeijen 1: pottery of PP lV C (nrs. 1-7) and PP lV D

(nrs. 8-14) types from the ditch of phase 2. 1, 8, 14: 1934 VII 15; z, 5, 12: 1934 VII 27; 3, IO, 13: unnumbered; 4: 1934 VII 33; G, 7: 1934 VII 7; 9: 1934 VII 29; 11: 1934 VII 25.

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3

Fig. 27. Zeijen I: find complex l l in pit in house l 2 (phase p).

Fig. 28. Zeijen I: pottery of PP IV A type from the ditch of

phase 2 (nrs. 1-G) and find numbers 5 r (nrs. 7-8) and 4 (nrs. 9-

1 2) from ditches of house 26. 1, z, 3, 5, G: 19 34 VII 1 5; 4: r 9 34 VII 23; 7-8: 1934 VII 5 ; 9-12: 1934 VII 4. ' _)J I�.

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Fig. 29. Zeijen I: find complex 1934 VII 6 from ditch of house 26 (after Van Es, 1968, p. 318). 127 H. T. WATERBOLK l

5

Fig. Zeijen I: find complex VII 1 from ditch of phase explain why the walls did not remain intact, such as 30. 1934 3 3, but apparently representing a later intrusion (type W II B). was the case with the Zeijen II camp. In this con­ nection, it is of interest to note that at the site of Zeijen II too there is evidence for a later occu­ pation (phase 3). Afterwards the whole area was 28: l l shows a variety of the streepba11d ornament, apparently given up. Perhaps the settlement was which is not uncommon in the terpe11 area. A rotary moved to the site of the present village, where finds guern was also fo und (nr. 31). from the Roman period have indeed been made. The date of these find complexes is a ter11Ji1111s a11te Van Giffen has published only a short report on q11e11J for the enclosures 2 and 3, which confirms the the site (Van Giffen, l936b). A large report planned date for them expressed above. The Zeijen II en­ fo r the Proceedings of the Royal Academy of closure dating from the fi rst century A.D. may be Sciences at Amsterdam has never appeared. contemporary with the house of phase 4 at Zeijen I. In his discussion of the site, Van Giffen distin­ In view of their close proximity, Zeijen II is pro­ guishes fivestag es. He did not recognize house l, bably the functional successor of Zeijen I. which we consider to be the fi rst to be built on the House 24 is reckoned to this phase, because it site. To him, the larger enclosure (our phase 3) is would lie just in front of the NW entrance if it the fi rst of the two. We definitely prefer to see it as should belong to the preceding phase (3)· The out­ foliowing the smal! enclosure (phase 2). The main house 2 5, which on the base of its position could argument is that the large enclosure shows a de­ well belong to the first enclosure (phase 2), is rec­ viation from the square form which can only be koned to phase 4, because most other buildings in understood as the result of an effort to avoid the the enclosures are placed along the walls. ditch and bank of the small enclosure. His third (5) The fence of phase 4 was observed to be cut phase is our house 26 (phase 4), the parallel ditches by a fragment of a foundation trench parallel to the of which are considered to be the remnants of an SE wall of house 1 3. On fi g. 2 l we neglected this enclosure of only 0.01 ha size. The palisade which observation and reckoned the trench to this house. we also attributed to this phase would, according However, some fe w pottery finds suggest an oc­ to Van Giffen, represent a fourth phase. A frag­ cupation of the area in the second century A.D. ment of a palisade trench, cutting through this pa­ Find number l 3 in the ditch of phase 2 contains a lisade phase, would be evidence for a fifth phase. few good examples of the Wijster II B 2 type (fig. In his well-known reconstruction of the large 30). It may well be that the area served as a culti­ enclosure he includes building 24. We assume that vated field in the znd century A.D. before it was it was later, because of its situation in front of an 128 fi nally given up and became heathland. This would entrance. Walled e11closwes of the lro11 Age

5. THE VRIES ENCLOSURES (figs. 31-44) parallel with it, and, for example at the NW en­ trance of the later enclosure, it is clear that it cannot The prehistoric settlement was discovered below a belong to that stage, for it shows no interruptions. thick layer of arable soil (Plaggenboden) on the an­ This observation forms the key for the analysis re­

cient field complex (es) of the village of V ries, at a presented in figs. 3 7 and 3 8. The wall of the first distance of only 250 m from its present center. enclosure is supposed to have been situated inside Village and es are situated on a low NNW-SSE the foundation trench. ridge parallel to the ridge of Zeijen, and bordered At the north side a short line of posts suggests an in much the same way by upper courses of brook ioner revetment. At the Zeijen I (phase 2) enclosure valleys. with which the structure appears to bear some re­ Three big tumuli of unknown age lie at a dis- . semblance there is l.5 to 2 m space between the tance of only 400 m WSW of the site. A few hun­ ditch and the outer wall face. At V ries the space of dred meters further SW is a group of Iron Age 2 m between palisade and ditch would not leave tumuli, two of which have been excavated (Van enough room for both a wall and an interspace. Giffen, 1941b). One of them was situated on old The combination of the fragmentary ditch with arable soil. About l km northwest of the si te three the parallel palisade is in itself the main argument Bronze Age barrows have been excavated (Van for the assumption of a wall. Following the course Giffen, l 94 ia). of ditch and palisade, it is clear that there has been No Celtic fieldshave been identifiedin the area, an entrance on the north side, and that there cannot but since some pits containing Early Iron Age have been one on the opposite side. Looking for sherds were found at the excavated site, the fields possible entrances on both of the other sides, two presumably were situated on the same place as the es. places, just opposite each other suggest themselves. Of course, the accumulation of plagge11 earth since For the eastern one some posts add support, the the Medieval period would have made a Celtic field western one could perhaps shift over a short dis­ invisible on air photographs. tance, but that would not effect its being opposite The Medieval cultivation, the activity of moles the eastern one. Of course, this brings this phase and the many stones in the sub-soil made con­ close to Zeijen I phase 2, which also had three en­ ditions for observation less favourable than e.g. at trances. The line connecting the opposite entrances Zeijen II. On the other band, parallel palisades points in the direction of the three aligned tumuli were already found in the first trench and the exca­ of unknown age mentioned above. The NNE­ vation was thus done in full awareness of the faet SWW direction is the one still prevailing in the that we had probably to do with a counterpart of parcelling of present roads and fieldsin the village. this si te. A glance at the plan (fig. 3 5) shows the The finds in the ditch, which was filled in when fragmentary character of many trenches. It is evi­ the wall and palisades of the next enclosure were dent, however, that prehistoric man, too, was built, consisted of pot sherds (figs. 40-4 l ) of exactly bothered by the local conditions (stones), for the the same types (RW III, RW IV, PP IV C, PP IV trenches are much less regular than at Zeijen. D) as occurred in the ditches of Zeijen I (phase 2), The site was excavated in 1957 and published by suggesting the same general date (rnd-1 st century Van Es (1958). B.C.). We assume a building date in the early rnd ( l ) A few pits contained R W I pottery, which century B.C. occurred also as stray finds (indicated by a + sign on fig. 36). Two groups of posts, which because of their position could hardly belong to the enclosure, Fig. 1. V ries: northern one of the two western passages, seen 3 are also reckoned to phase l. One or two stråy from the SW. Photo B.A.I. 1957· sherds (fig. 39) belong to the R W II type. Fig. Vries: two temple-like structures and a granary in the center32 of. the enclosure, seen from the Photo 1957. (2) It is evident that the enclosure of the Zeijen E. B.A.I. Fig. 3 V ries : palisades in the SE corner of the enclosure, seen 3. II type is preceded by an earlier stage, of which a from the NW. Photo B.A.I. 1957· fragmentary ditch is the most conspicuous feature Fig. 34. Vries: palisades and ditch in the SE corner of the on the plan. There is, however, a palisade running enclosure, seen from the lE. Photo B.A.I. 195 7. Fig. 31

130 Fig. 32

H. T. WATERBOLK

132 Fig. 3 5. V ries : general plan. Scale 1 : 5 oo. Walled e11clomres oj the !ro11 Age

+

+

0 10 20 m

Fig. 36. V ries: phase 1. Scale 1:500. 133 H. T. WATERBOLK

2

0 10 20 m

· Fig. 37· Vries· pi1ase 2 . s ca 1 e I:50 0. Walled e11clos11res oj the lro11 Age

Fig. 38. V ries: phase 3. Scale 1 : j oo. I 3 j H. T. WJ\TERBOLK

parallel orientation. Two of them are situated in the center; they consist of two rows of five posts each. With both of them the outer posts are placed on shorter distances than the inner anes. This suggests same kind of overhanging roof. In a final para­ graph we shall come back to these unusual struc­ tures suggest possible fu nction as temples. and a Fig. 39. Vries: sherds of R\XIIl type. 1: 1957 VIII i6; 1957 At the E side, a wide entrance (suggested already 2: VIII 25. in the preceding phase, a little to the north) was closed at a relatively late date, for it seems that it As to the buildings to be attributed to this phase still was functioning when the outer palisade was nothing can be said with certainty and a rather ar­ added. Of course, the closing may only have been bitrary choice had to be made: a row of granaries temporary (phase 3c). close to the SE wall, a central ane, which cannot be Apart from those of the granaries, lots of other contemporary with another, probably later ane, posts occur. Quite aften these occur in pairs, with and the large structure - apparently not a normal distances of 1-2 meters. This can only be clearly house - in the S. part, which deviates in orientation seen in places where the general post density is from the remaining structures (attributed to the smal!. Perhaps they served as racks for open air next phase). stalling of cattle. Such pairs have also been obser­ (3) Although the many palisades and the two ved in British hillforts. entrances at the W side (fig. 3 8) are a convincing At many places posts occur inside and outside parallel to the Zeijen II enclosure, the detailed ana­ the defence system, suggesting same sort of human lysis of the V ries trenches is difficult because of the activity either befare or after the enclosures. fragmentary character, the irregular course, and the Although ane finds a few short rows, no house many repairs and additions. plans could, however, be identified. There are pa­ The only local evidence fo r a wall is the re­ lisade trenches, tao, that cannot be fitted in the latively wide distance between the two inner pa­ defence system of the enclosures. Same are later lisade lines and, strange though it may seem, the (phase 4). faet that the inner ane is missing over large The enclosure 3 cannot be dated directly. Stretches, just as was the case at Zeijen I, phase 3. Among the stray sherds found at the site are some The wall thus postulated appears for the most of the Paddepoel IV A type (fig. 43 : 2-8). The rims part to have been built immediately outside the ear­ fig. 43 :r and 9, combine a RW IV-like profile with lier wall. Only in the SE corner is there a slight a geometrical ornamentation. No 2nd century types overlap. At the W side, the distance is locally in­ or Roman imports occur. A pit in front of the nor­ creasing to two meters. Most probably the material thern ane of the two western entrances (find com­ from the earlier wall has been reused. plex r 8, fig. 42) contains PP IV C and D rims as As far as the outer palisades are concerned, it well as same earlier elements (with streepba11d or­ seems that there were originally two at the N and namentation) and may therefore date from the se­ W sides, and three at the E and S sides (phase p). cond half of the last century B.C. One or two sherds An outer one was added later on, as appears from may belong to the PP IV A type (fig. 43:16 , 17) the situation at the SE side, where it is connected Regrettably the pit cannot be attributed with cer­ with a new entrance (phase 3b). tainty to either phase 2 or 3. The building date of The two narrow entrances at the W side (ane phase 3 can thus only roughly be estimated be­ runs approximately at the same place as in the pre­ tween 50 B.C. and A.D. 50. ceding phase) remained open throughout the use of the enclosure. There are vague indications for a temporary passage at the opposite side. Fig. 40. Vries: pottery of types R\XIlII (1-13) and R\XfIV (14- As has been stated befare, the only reason to 19). 1, 19: 1957 VIII 61; 8: 1957 VII 23-24; 15: i957 VIII 17; 136 attribute the seven buildings to ane phase is their 17: '957 VlII 2; others: unnumbered. � �­ � , -.' ' 2 .��-- � 3

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Taking all the find material from V ries together, Fig. 4z. V ries: findcomplex 1957 VIII 18. Partly after Van Es, it is clear that it overlaps both that of Zeijen I and 1 95 8. II. Our assumption that Zeijen II immediately suc­ ceeds Zeijen I gets support from this observation. guern stone, a fragment of a bronze fibula (begin­ As further finds from the site can be mentioned ning first century A.D.) and a fragment of a flint an unornamented bronze neck-ring - a stray find - sickle (probably belonging to phase r ) with strong with a typical Latene closure (fig. 44), for which I sheen. have not been able to find an exact parallel, a rotary One pot sherd of a 4-5 th century type is some evidence for a continued occupation in the vicinity ..... of the site. A find complex of 7-8th century A.D.

Fig. 41. V ries: pottery of types PP IV C 1 1 and PP IV D date was found c. r oo m NE of the site in the ( - 5 ) (16-z1). z1: 1957 VIII 6z; others: unnumbered. direction of the present village (Harsema, 1973). 35, 2

5 7 ''7r 8 9

Fig. 43. V ries: stray sherds of type PP IV A. 1: 195 7 VIII 19, Fig. 44. Vries: bronze neck-ring, two different views. Photo

31; 2, 5 : 1957 VIII 19; 7: 1957 VIII 37; 9: 195 7 VIII 39; 3, 4, 6, B.A.l. Max. diarn. 1 6.8 cm. 8: unnurnbered. ' Fig. 45. Rhee: the landscape before excavation. Photo B.A.l. 193 ) .

The village of V ries i tself certainl y goes back to the I am again in agreement with Van Es in con­ early Medieval period. It is the capital village of sidering the outermost palisade (his phase d) as one of the six ancient divisions of Drenthe (the evidence fora later addition. dingspil Noordenveld). Its church was probably the first to be built in this division. The present tuff 6. THE RHEE ENCLOSURES (figs. 45-71)

stone building da tes from the l nh century, but excavations by Van Giffen in 1948 have demon­ The present hamlet of Rhee is situated on a low strated the existence of a wooden precursor. elevation of a poorly drained plateau, 5 kilometers All in all, it is quite possible that there is a direct S of V ries and 2 kilometers SE of Zeijen. Its small link between the Iron Age occupation and the pre­ field complex (es) was, just as at Zeijen and Vries, sent village. surrounded by oak shrub. Two kilometers to the Our periodisation differs in some respects from south lies the small village of Peelo. that of Van Es (1958). He, too, has noted the pre­ In the years l 93 5-193 8 large-scale excavations sence of pottery of earlier date than the enclosure. were undertaken by Van Giffen in the area NW of

His period I agrees with our phase 2. He deduces the es, when on both sides of the track to Zeijen the the presence of a low bank of no defensive value, heathland was brought under cultivation (Van situated inside, or perhaps outside, the palisade. Giffen, l 9 37; l 9 3 8; l 940 ). Additional information His period II is our phase 3, but we meet with was obtained by small campaigns in later years. For differences in the interpretation of the sequence of the general plan see fig. 49. events within this phase. The innermost palisade, The Neolithic period is represented in the exca­ which we see as the inner revetment of a bank, is vated area by finds from the PF Beaker Culture. considered by Van Es as a secondary addition (his The Bronze Age is not represented. About 200 m S phase b) to a structure originally consisting ofthree of the excavated area, Van Giffen had excavated in palisades only (his phase a). Van Es does not con­ 1925 a Neolithic tumulu·s with a Late Bronze Age sider the possible presence of a bank, which we urn as a secondary interment (Van Giffen, l 946). think to be fully justified on the basis of the com­ From the Early Iron Age, with a Celtic field, a parison with Zeijen II, where it was actually pre­ barrow cemetery and various house remains, hu­ served. man activity at the site continues up to the Early The extra palisade, present on the SE side, is Medieval period. The long period of occupation seen as evidence for a later outer addition (phase c). makes the analysis of the site difficult. We are rather inclined to see the local presence of The excavation (figs. 4 5-48) met with great dif­ an extra palisade on the SE side as an element of the ficulties, because of the uneven quality of the soil original construction. At Zeijen II, too, such a fea­ traces due to the faetthat the site is situated in the ture occurs. border zone of heathland and oak wood. The mo- Fig. 46. Rhee: northern palisade of enclosure, phase 4. Photo some house plans, pits with RW I type pottery, and B.f\.I. i935. possibly some granaries.

House no. r preceded the plough-soil under a barrow. Two ring-ditches preceded the plough-soil dern road to Zeijen, cutting obliquely through the under another barrow. Under a third barrow a pit main settlement area, was another handicap. Some with R W I pottery was found in the same position. stratigraphic information could be obtained from This is the reason why I have assigned the house the excavation of the barrows. plans, pits, granaries and ring-ditches to phase ra

( r ) Remains of a Celtic field at the si te have been (fig. 50) and the plough-soil, as far as documented, identified, both in the fi eld by Van Giffe n, and by to phase r b (fig. 5 r ). W/e must realize, however, Brongers from air photographs. Field and air do­ that the plough-soil may locally have been of dif­ cumentation partly overlap. The field system re­ ferent age and that the same applies to the house­ mains occur to the west, north and east of the main plans. excavated area (fig. z). All house-plans are fragmentary and that renders The layer of cultivated soil, recognized under all any typological considerations difficult. Because of five Iron Age barrows that have be�n excavated, as the large distance between the roof support pairs, well as possibly some fences (fig. 50) all fit in the plans r, z and 5 (fig. 52) are very probably of Early context of the Celtic field. The same applies to Iron Age (or even Late Bronze Age) date. Plan 3 is Walled enc/os11res oj the lro11 Age reckoned to this phase on much less sure graunds, are illustrated on figs. 64 and 65. Same vessels in for only three possible raof supports have been these figures may actually be somewhat alder (e.c�· found. The wall appears to have consisted of a dou­ fig. 64 : I , 2, 4). ble raw of posts. An Early Iran Age house of this (2) A cemetery, consisting of barraws over type has been found at Angelslo. It should be noted cremation pyres (phase 2a, fig. 5 3), sguare and rec­ that the plan is composed from evidence obtained tangular ditches and same isolated cremation pits during three different campaigns. Building 4 seems (phase 2b, fi g. 54) constitute the next occupational to have an ioner line of double posts; this feature, stage in the eastern part of the excavated area. On tao, has been observed at Angelslo. fig. 5 4, the find-places of pottery with typical R W

Building l was foundunder the plough-soil be­ III type rims have been added (nos. l 14, l ro and, low a barraw. I assume that it is only the stable part less sure, 80) (see fig. 67). Among the stray finds of a house, the other part of which, outside the from the raad is also a sherd of R W III type (fig. barraw, at the same place as a sguare-ditch, has not 67 :4)· The preceding R W II stage is only repre­ been observed. Transversely elongated post-holes sented by a stray sherd (fig. 66:8) and - with same do occur freguently at the entrances of Iran Age reserve - by find complex 89 (fig. 66:1-7). houses. The age of the ten barraws, only five of which It may well be that at other parts of the site, tao, have been excavated, cannot be determined with conditions were unfavourable for the recognition certainty. By themselves, the pyre barraws could be of complete house plans. Only those pits have been of Early Iran Age date, but in view of their strati­ put on the plan that have yielded pottery of R W I graphic position those here excavated might well be type. As an example I am illustrating the find num­ bers 78, 85, 97, ro7, III and I15 from such pits Fig. 47. Rhee : general view of excavation in southeastern part (figs. 61-63). Further fi nds from the Zeijen culture of settlement, seen from the S\XI.Photo B.A.I. 193 5.

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Fig. 48. Rhee: barrow I with plough-traces and 'house plan in Zeijen (Noordse Veld), Hijken and Havelte. the subsoil. Photo B.A.l. 193)-. (3, 4) The next features at the site are two, ap­ parently successive, square to slightly trapezoidal enclosures (fig. 5 5 ). The fragmentary character of of Late Iran Age (Latene) date. The bowl foundin the palisades of the smaller ane suggests that it was the ash layer of the southernmost tumulus (fig.68) is the fi rst to be built (fig. 5 6). difficult to place in the R W type seguence. It has It was only after lang consideration that I came same parallels in the Ruinen cemetery (Waterbolk, to the conclusion that in both cases the enclosure 1965), ane of these (/.c., fig. 6:II) being situated in originally consisted of an earth wall with palisade the same late part of the cemetery in which a R W face. For the larger enclosure the main direct argu­ III pot (/.c., fig. 6 :6) occurs. ments are the slight turn inward of the palisade at A comparable cemetery of pyre barrows with same of the entrances and the nature and position adjacent square ditches at Ballo (5 km to the E of of the entrance gates (rarely occurring in this way Rhee) yielded Segelo/Jrri11<�e af Latene type (Van in normal palisade fences). For the small ane the Giffen, l 9 3 5 ). South of the excavated area two double palisade line is, of course, a good indication, more barrows of the same type have been recorded. but here we have no clear entrances giving further Pyre barrows encroaching over a Celtic field proof. In neither case are there ditches to support 144 have been observed at various other places, such as our interpretation. A further argument for the as- Walled elle/OSllres of fbe lrolloAge sumption of an earth wall in phase 4 (fig. 57) is the The buildings of Rhee show no clear evidence fact that at the eas tern and southern side just for entrances. Only no. 6 may have had one at the enough space for an earth wall is available between short eastern side, where there is a wide space be­ the palisades of phases 3 and 4. The succession of tween the wall posts. Such an entrance would be the enclosures 3 and 4 at Rhee is thus reminiscent compatibie with a function of that part of the house of the succession of phases 2 and 3 at Zeijen I. as a stable. Nowhere do we see entrances in the Indirect support for our assumption is given by the long sides. Admittedly, the road has destroyed long general comparability of the plans with Zeijen I stretches of the walls, but for example with house (phase 2) and V ries (phase 2), and by the unusual 9, one would expect a pair of opposite entrances appearance of the buildings inside the enclosures. about half way along the long walls, which clearly We can identify the remains of at least seven does not exist. It is quite possible, therefore, that buildings, all inside the small enclosure. In one (or the buildings of Rhee were barns only, just as at two) cases the plans partly overlap, so that they Zeijen I. cannot have existed contemporaneously. Since both The distribution of the finds of 2nd-3fd century at the W and E sides they seem to keep away from A.D. terra sigillata at the site might be seen as an a the wall, it is assumed that this was also the case priori argument for a late date of the enclosures. Of with regard to the N and S wal!. If one further the six find numbers with this pottery - nos. 4, 8, assumes that they were never built toa closely to IO, 16, 2 I and 8 I - four occur withi n the enclosed each other, the possibility suggests itself of bui1- area. Further analysis, however, results in a pre­ dings 6, 7 and 8 belonging to phase 3 and buildings ference for an earlier date. 9, IO, I I and 12 to phase 4. The house no. 5 - with finds of the Zeijen cul­ The road Rhee-Zeijen cuts obliquely through all ture - and the three parallel ditches, which are part buildings, so that none of them could be excavated of the cemetery (phase 2 b) - are a terlIlinIlSpost ql/em completely. The area east of the road was excavated for the enclosures. In the NE corner the palisade of in 1937, that west of the road in 1935. Apparently phase 4 is cut by a sunken hut, one of which con­ the conditions for observation were better when tains a sherd of terra nigra-like pottery (no. 69, see the eastern part was excavated. fig. 71 :2). In his study of the Wijster pottery, Van Not much can be said about the details of the Es (1967) suggests a 4th century date, but since the houses. At the eastern end the regular spacing of same pottery occurs at the neighbouring site of upright pairs suggests a function as stable. Wall Peelo in a milieu dominated by lOd century A.D. posts are generally present. The western parts are pottery types, including 2nd century terra sigillata, more varied. In buildings 6, 9 and IO wall posts are I definitely prefer the earlier date. present but uprights are lacking, which suggests Some pits with lOd century pottery types inside another type of roof construction in the western the large enclosure (phase 4) are situated in such a part. In building 12 the center is free of inner posts. way that contemporaneity with either enclosure is The western part of building 7 seems to have a double improbable. This applies to the well in sguare F-7 row of wall posts; there is a line of three posts in the (with finds 23 and 24) and the small pit in sguare axis of the house. In the SE part of the camp, with M-7 with find no. 5 I (fig. 70:1-5). The sunken hut buildings 8 and 12, soil conditions appear to have in sguare H-7 with find no. 16 (o.a. a terra sigillata been particularly poor. sherd) cannot be contemporary with house 7 (phase These features connect the complex of Rhee 3) nor with house IO (phase 4). with a site recently excavated at Noord Barge In sguares J-4/5 and K-7 palisade fragments oc­ (Harsema, 1976). There, the settlement consisted of cur that seem to be part of the system, which we six parallel houses with very regular spacing, with­ consider as contemporary with the sunken huts in in one rectangular fence (not a wall). The houses sguare L-3 and the houses 14 and 13 (phase 5). themselves showed great variability in construc­ Taking everythjng together, it seems justified to tion: both three-aisled, two-aisled and one-aisled consider the 2nd century A.D. remains in the area parts occurred, even within one building. The site rather as a termillIIS allte q/ICII/ for the enclosures than dates probably from the last century B.C. as representing the period of their use. 145 E o tf)

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Fig. 64. Rhee: various pottery findsof Late Bronze Age types (1, 2, 4) and R\XfI type (3, 5-9). 1: 1935 V 3 '; 2, 4 : '935 V 48;

Fig. 63. Rhee: find complexes 1937 lV 85 (1-3), 1937 IV 97 (4- 3 : I 9 3 8 III I I 2; 5 : I 9 3 5 V 2 I ; 6: I 9 3 8 III I 2 I ; 7'. I 9 3 5 V 20; 8: 156 5) and 19 3 8 III 107 (6-9). '935 V 19; 9: 1935 V 49· 3

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Fig. 65. Rhee: various pottery finds of bucket-shaped pots of

Harpstedt type (1-7, 9) and flat bowl (8). 1: 1938 III 106; 2:

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''I The only find complex which may represent the Fig. 66. Rhee: find complex 1937 V 89 (1-7) and stray find 193 5 period of the enclosures is illustrated on fig. 69. It V 49 (8). Nos. 1, 3, 8 of R \XI II type. was discovered in 1943 on the terrain of the settle­ ment, but the exact provenance is unknown. It con­ closure. In the immediate vicinity a building occurs tains a nearly complete RW IV pot with sunken (no. 14) which in all details agrees with the type shoulder and streepband ornament, as well as same dominant at the si te of Wijster (rnd-5 th century PP IV D and PP IV C rims, suggesting a date in the A.D.). Together with another building (no. 1 3) all last century B.C. these structures fit in a rectangular fence system, Finally, one might wonder whether it should be comparable to such systems at Wijster, Fochtelo accident that the square enclosures have the same and other sites (see fig. 5 8-60). orientation as same of the square ditches of the Sherds of seven terra sigillata bowls occur in the cemetery and that they are situated SW of barrow area SW of the buildings. They date from the end II, in the same way as square ditches are situated of the rnd century A.D. to the first half of the 3rd SW of the barrows I, VI and XI. This constellation century A.D. (Glasbergen, 1945). Wheel-made ter­ suggests a date fo r the enclosures close to that of ra nigra-like pottery occurs in the same area (fig. the cemetery. 71 :1-3). As stated above, it probably dates from the In conclusion, the contemporaneity with the same period. Locally made pottery found in the Zeijen I enclosures suggested by the general form area is predominantly of types prevailing in the per­ and a few details, is confirmed by the above ana­ iod A.D. 150-250 (Van Es, 1967) (e.g. types W I A, lysis. I suggest a building date for the enclosures 3 I B, II B, III A). These types are also represented and 4 in the 2nd century B.C. among the stray findsfrom the site (figs. 70, 71). (5) We mentioned already the sunken huts that A date around A.D. 200 seems, therefore, well are cutting through the palisade of the second en- documented for this occupation phase. Only those I 5 9 -�(/;

Fig. 67. Rhee: find complex 1938 III 110 (1-3) and stray find

160 '935 V 49. Nos. I, 2 and 4 of R\XI III type. Fig. 68. Rhee: bowl 193 j V 3 j from pyre rernainsof barrow II.

pits have been indicated on the plan (fig. 5 8) that small hamlets have split off in the course of the have yielded finds from the period A.D. l 50-250. historie period, to obtain an independent status as It should be noted that one terra sigillata sherd 111arke. Perhaps increasing wetness of the area due has been reported to occur in one of the pyre bar­ to the bad drainage and the expansion of raised rows but close inspection of the field data makes it bogs on the plateau brought the Early Medieval highly probable that it was found at the foot of the settlement to an end, or reduced it to a hamlet of barrow, the original extension of which was smal­ secondary importance. ler than given by the excavator. An indigenous In the three successive short reports on his exca­ sherd of Wijster II B2 type was also found in the vations, Van Giffen ( l 9 37; l 9 3 8; l 940) did not go barrow, but at such a high level that it must have into detail as to the seguence of habitation phases at been a later intrusion (fig. 70 :6). In any case, the the site. In his summary paper on the prehistory of bowl found in the primary grave (find no.3 5, fig.68) , Drenthe (Van Giffen, 1943) he speaks of the habi­ is, though not guite easily attributable to one of the tation phases at Rhee as difficult to separate from RW phases, certainly of Iran Age date (see above, each other. From his writings one gets the im­ p. 143). pression that he considers the site to have been (6) The last occupation phase (fig. 59) at the site continuously occupied from the rnd to the 5 th cen­ da tes probably from the 4th to the 5 tb century A.D. tury A.D. As has been stated befare, we would It is represented by an only partly excavated house suggest an earlier beginning (in the second or last (no. l 5) which shows the featureof two pairs of op­ century B.C.), with interruptions in the occupation posite wall posts, a typical element of the Wijster around A.D. 100 and A.D. 300. house type. A post-hole contained a sherd of We mentioned already the faet that Van Giffen 4th/ 5 tb century "Saxon" pottery. The same pottery was probably wrong in attributing one of the bar­ type occurs in two pits inside a small rectangular rows, with the terra sigillata find, to the 3fd-4th enclosure, as well as in the direct vicinity. Some century A.D. fences complete the documentation of this phase. As to the rectangular enclosures, he saw the Fig. 7 l:l 3 is a stray sherd of "Saxon" type from the parallel with the enclosures he had excavated short­ si te. ly befare at Zeijen (I) and mentions that he was "Saxon" pottery of the type just mentioned oc­ not sure about the former existence of a wall in curs also in the cemetery, situated some 150 meters combination with the palisades. to the west (Van Giffen, 1937). We shall not deal When describing Zeijen II in 1950, Van Giffen with this cemetery, which probably remained in use compares in his conclusion that site with the for­ up to the Carolingian period. tifiedsettlements of Zeijen (I) and Rhee! The idea It is doubtful whether the present bamlet of that Rhee, too, was some sort of fortification had Rhee is the continuation of the Carolingian settle­ apparently not left his mind. ment. Though it had the status of an independent In his work on Wijster, Van Es has used the village (111arke), its territory is very small and corri­ Rhee pottery for comparison. We have reused here pletely within the territory of the neighbouring vil­ many of his drawings - also some which he left lage of Zeijen. This unusual situation would rather unpublished - but want to emphasize that we do suggest that the territory of Rhee was once part of not pretend to have given a complete presentation that of Zeijen. In other village territories, too, of the Rhee finds. H. T. WATERBOLK

2

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7. DISCUSSION OF THE WALLED Fig. 69. Rhee: potte ry sherds collected in 194 3 at the si te of the settlement, exact location unknown. Types include R \XI III z , ENCLOSURES ( ) R\XI IV (10), PP IV C (1, z, 9) and PP IV D (6, 7).

7. r. Summary of the evidence Typical features are: All in all we have evidence in the three areas exam­ - a square, rectangular or rounded-rectangular ined fo r 9 walled structures, viz. wall of earth or sods with an outer palisade re­ at Zeijen: Zeijen I-2, Zeijen I-p, Zeijen I-3b, vetment and in most cases an inner palisade face Zeijen II; as well (direct evidence for the latter only lack­ at Vries: Vries-2, Vries-p, Vries-3b; ing at Rhee-4) ; at Rhee: Rhee-3, Rhee-4. - Two, three or four entrances, both narrow (o.8 In each of the areas they succeed each other in to 0.9 m) and wide (2 to 3 m), aften with gates, the arder indicated. As far as the present dating situated in about the middle of the sides of the evidence goes, they were in use between c. 3 50 B.C. rectangle (two entrances in one side at Zeijen II- (the date for the beginning RW III ware) and c. 2, Vries-p, Vries-3b and Rhee-4, the situatbD at A.D. 100 (the terminus ante quem obtained at Rhee-3 being unclear); Rhee), but their actual date was probably limited to - one to six palisades outside the wall (only with a much shorter time range, say 200 B.C.-A.D. 50 the later camps Zeijen I-3b, Zeijen II-2, Vries­ 162 (Middle to Late Latene). p, Vries-3b); Walled e11clomres oj the lro11· Age

fragmentary ditches outside the wall (at Zeijen I- "The situation of the Heidemcha11ze at a junction of a land 2, Zeijen II-2, Vries-2); and a water route and at a ford is not in agreement with the the presence of granaries and/or large barns, that interpretation of the Heidemcha11ze as a refuge for the people of the surrounding villages. It was not bidden in inaccessable differ from normal houses; these structures pre­ country, but everyone unfamiliar with the landscape would be fera bly being placed along the walls or in the directed to it by the roads. As a strong fort for its time the center of the enclosures; Heidenscha11ze rather controlled these roads. Its inhabitants the presence of Late Bronze Age and/or Early controlled the trade along the land route into the inner parts of Iron Age fields, houses and/or pits at the si tes; the country and on the sea route towards the settlement centers along the North Sea coast. The fortification gave protection to the use of the sites for normal settlements or the tradesmen. Here they could staple their ware and offer it fieldsafter the structures lost their original func­ for exchange to the immediate and further surroundings. The tion; Heidenscha11ze could have been a fortified market, which was the presence of a pyre barrow cemetery in the the center for the people of the country and in which they met vicinity; and exchanged their produets." the presence of rotary querns, potsherds, etc.

pointing to normal domestic activities. In a later publication (Haarnagel, r 969 ), the ex­ As a common denominator one might say that cavator mentions the possibility that the the structures are small fo rtified enclosures, serving Heidenscha11ze was the seat of a leading family, a forst ocking of cattle and harvest produets and, at Caufiirst. The evidence for the Heidenschanze is of least temporarily, for normal domestic activities. particular interest since the coastal zone from the lower Weser to the North of the Netherlands forms 7. 2. Parallels one cultural area. The Heide11schanze belongs to the group of Iron None of the other settlement excavations in the Age hillforts occurring in a large area from Britain North of the Netherlands has given evidence fo r through France, Belgium, Germany and Poland. In walled enclosures from the late prehistoric period. Germany the Heidenscha11ze and Heidenstadt occupy Such evidence is lacking too on the adjacent North an isolated position in the lowland plain; hillforts German plain, with the notable exception of two again occur on the foothills of the A1ittelgebirge in hillforts near Bremerhaven, the Heide11scha11ze and the Osnabruck-Hannover area. Some of them are the Heidenstadt. situated well north of the northern border of the The Heidenscha11ze was partly excavated in i958 continuous distribution of such typical "Celtic" re­

(Haarnagel, I 96 5 ). The defenses consist of bank mains as coins and turned pottery (see Hachmann, and ditch, locally doubled. They enclose an area of Kossack & Kuhn, I 962). 10 ha, within which a central area of 2 ha is se­ Recent research in some regions in Britain parately enclosed by a bank and ditch. It was built (Central Wessex) has shown that hillforts develop c. 5 o B.C. and twice (locally three times) renewed at already existing foci. within a relatively short time. Cunliffe (1974) writes: The main part of the defense was a dense line of vertical posts (palisade), placed in a foundation "From the fifth century onwards, society began to exhibit trench and being the front of an earthen wall. About an increasing tendency towards aggression brought about,

I .80 m behind the palisade the earthen wall was partially at least, by pressure on land resulting fr om an increase kept in place by a line of more widely spaced posts in population. \Xleapons become more common; the burying of grain in underground silos may reflect the need for safer connected by horizontally placed planks. Thanks to storage; and most of the settlements replaced their enclosure peat formation the wood was locally preserved. fences with earthworks, frequently of defensive proportions. Haarnagel speaks of a Holz-Erde-A1a11er. ·More impressive still is the rapid growth in the number of The enclosure was inhabited. Settlement traces strongly defended hillforts, which frequently seem to be con­ were particularly clear behind the wall. The central structed at already existing foci: same on the si tes of cause­ wayed camps, same within earthwork-defined plateaus, area was less densely occupied. As to the interpre­ same at religions centres, same at the points of convergence of tation of the fort, Haarnagel concludes (translation ranch boundaries and same on the sites of rich settlements. by the author) : \Xlhileit is at present difficult to be definite as to which type of 2 3

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focus was the most commonly chosen, on the present showing Fig. 71. Rhee : various pottery finds from the site of 2nd-5th it would appear to be the settlement sites. If, as we have sug­ century A.D. types, including terra nigra-like pottery ( 1-3). 1: gested, these represent the homes of an aristocracy, their con­ 1937 IV 88; 2: 1936 I 69; 3, 4: 1937 IV 98; 5-7: 1937 IV 90; 8, version into forts (as distinct from enclosed homesteads) is a 9: I 9 3 7 I V 9 8 ; I 0: I 9 3 5 V 2 3 ; 1 I : I 9 3 5 V 3 6; I 2 : 1 9 3 6 I 60; 1 3 : strong indication of the emergence of a warrior leadership 1935 V 49; 14: 1935 V 7; 15: 1935 V 16; 16: 1935 V 48; 17: with coercive power over, and presumably responsibility for, a 1935 V 38; 18: 1937 V 98 . group of clans. To begin with, there were many such fo rts in the south, but gradually certain sites increased their influence at the expense of others, until by late in the second century the landscape was dominated by a smaller number of very strongly defended centres, each commanding an average 30-40 square British hillforts range in size from 0.40 ha to miles (77-103 km2) of land. The late first millennium, then, saw structures covering over 30 ha. The smal! ones are the focusing of power upon relatively fe w centres." often considered to be individual forti6ed home­ steads. Excavations have generally concentrated on the entrance and wall structure; little 1s known Fig. 0. Rhee : pottery sherds of znd century A.D. types, in­ 7 about the inner parts. cluding Wijster I A 1 ( 1 2), IB2 (7, 8), II B 2 (2, 5, 6) and II C 2 (1, 9, 11). 1-5: 1935 V 51; 6: 1935 V 42; 7, 9, 12: 1935 V 49; 8: At Hod Hill (20 ha) the ioner space was filled I 9 3 j V 48 ; IO: 193 8 III 116; I I : 1 9 3 5 V 3I ( ?) . with densely packed circular house remains. At 3 .J \. ',,� ----- .:#,' �------·w r. r 5 B

Fig. 72. de Vledders, mun. of Norg. Surface find 1 95 7 XII 89. their livestock and goods, or settlements of town­ Nrs. 1-4 of type R \XI Il. like character with markets and industry under their contra!. The concept of hillforts as centers of power of Danebury (5 ha) excavation revealed five rows of rival local leaders could well apply, though on a rectangular buildings (four- or six-post granaries), different scale, to the Drenthe enclosures. These separated by streets and backed to areas reserved are, of course, of much smaller size and they Jack for storage pits. Such rows recur at three other the ditches as part of the defences. On the other si tes. hand, the construction of the wall and entrance ga­ Cunliffe has studied the growth of hillforts dur­ tes shows many points of agreement. The com­ ing the Late Bronze Age and Early Iran Age. He bination, for example of an outer palisade and an fi nds that most of them are built on settlement si tes ioner line of widely spaced posts as at the of a relatively rich character. Same find their origin Heidenscha11ze is exactly matched at Zeijen I-p. in pastoral enclosure, others on range boundaries For the Drenthe enclosures, too, the idea of a or religious foci. During the Iran Age same of refuge has to be rejected. At Zeijen the western them grow out to territorial centers for areas with a border of the large Celtic field, as well as the line of mean size of 8000-1 o,ooo ha. Bronze Age barrows, indicates an ancient road, In the course of the Iran Age the defences tend which would continue in the direction of Rhee, and to become more elaborate. Cunliffe attributes the further on towards Peelo and the Ballo area (with building of hillforts to an upper class of rival chief­ the !argest concentration of Latene cemeteries in tains who have accumulated wealth and power, and Drenthe). It is on or close to this road, the "King's were no longer in need of producing their own road", that both Zeijen camps as well as the camps food. The larger hillforts may be either the actual from Rhee are situated. 166 seats of such chieftains where they live and store A multiple fu nction, as proposed by Haarnagel, .rr JT (/. 1! 5 3 --�- !f f I I . ' 11 12 10 " 7 8 9

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would well fit the evidence of the Drenthe fo rts Fig. 73. Zeijen-Celtic field. Find complex from culture layer in with their granaries, barns and temporary domestic bank of Celtic field N of \Xfitteveen, coll. 195 1 (after activities. \Xfaterbolk, 1977, p. 189). Types include e.g. R\Xf I ( 1 2), R\Xf II (1 2 3, 7, 8), R On some British hillforts buildings have been , , \XI III (10, I 1). fo und that on good grounds can be considered to be wooden shrines or temples. In two cases (Heathrow and S. Cadbury), they the Loire and the Seine in Western France. In were of rectangular shape and showed great simi­ Southern Germany the size ranges from o. l 6-2. 5 larity to the later Romano-Celtic temples in the ha, the majority being between o. 3 and l .4 ha. They same area. consist of a square or at least rectangular earth wall, In our search for possible parallels to the with an entrance gate in the middle of one of the Drenthe enclosures, this brings us to a class of sides. monuments known in the German literature as Schwarz (1960; 1962) has carefully excavated the spiitkeltische Viereckscha11ze. They occur in great num­ Scha11ze of Holzhausen. In the first stage there was ber in Southern Germany. Thev are rare in Eastern only a palisade, in the second stage a palisade in France but there is another concentration between combination with an earth wall and ditch, in the H. T. Wt\TERBOLK

third stage only a bank and a ditch. Inside the strong argument to suggest an origin in the Roman Scha11ze three very deep ritual shafts were found, as military camps. In view of the date of the en­ well as two buildings, each consisting of a rectangle closures this cannot be correct. But we must admit of 6 posts (c. 6 X 7 m), with an outer line of smaller that we have not found a parallel fo r this feature in posts. There were no traces on the site of normal the settlement material we have studied. domestic activities. There can be no doubt about We can only say that the orthogonal Jay-out is a the ritual function of the Scha11ze, the shafts and the normal feature in Greek towns, and opposite gates buildings. do occur. \Y/e may therefore assume that this fea­ The rectangular shape, the entrance in the mid­ ture, too, has its ultimate source in the dle of the side, the character of the wall and gates Mediterranean world. As lang as excavated Latene strongly remind one of the Zeijen I enclosure and settlements in the intervening area remain so few in one must therefore reckon with the possibility that number we cannot prove this point. the Drenthe enclosures, too, could have had a ritual function, at least in part. The large quantity of 8. FINAL REMARKS domestic refuse is of course an argument against a dominant ritual function. On the other hand, one The comparison of the Drenthe enclosures with the could point to the two curious central post rectang­ hillforts, the Viereckscha11ze11 and the mortuary en­ les in the V ries camp, which remind one in plan of closures as occurring in adjacent regions present us the Holzhausen temples and fo r which we have not with so much agreement in formal detail that we found any parallel in the Netherlands. cannot see the enclosures as locally developed As Schwarz has pointed out, a series of pheno­ phenomena. They must have originated under mena connect the Viereckscha11ze with the square or strong influence from the Celtic south and they pro­ rectangular ditches surrounding Latene burials of bably had related fu nctions, adapted to local needs various types, which occur in the Middle Rhine and circumstances. area, in the Marne area, in Y orkshire and, of The idea of territorial centers strongly suggests course, - though not mentioned by Schwarz - in itself already on the base of fi g. 2. Accepting Zeijen Belgium and the Netherlands and N.W. Germany. II as the successor of Zeijen I, each enclosure is In the South of the Netherlands such square ditches situated in the middle of territories with barrow aften have an opening in one of the sides. At concentrations, "Celtic fields", etc" which are se­ Nijnsel (Hulst, 1964) there is one such monument parated by natura! brook depressions. These ter­ having two entrances in one side, each correspond­ ritories appear to be of roughly comparable size ing to a post rectangle in the enclosed area. In the and even to coincide with those of the historie vil­ North of the Netherlands these ditches are nor­ lages in the area. Further support for the coincid­ mally closed. There can be no doubt, however, that ence of present village territories with those from the square and rectangular ditches find their origin the Latene period is the observation that there is in the Celtic world. In Denmark no square mor­ quite aften just one pyre barrow cemetery per pre­ tuary enclosures have been fo und; in that country, sent village, and these are normall y situated not far circular ditches are a common fe ature of Iran Age from them, aften at the opposite side of the village urnfields. fi eld complex (the es) . In Northern Drenthe, this The possibility that the rectangular enclosures in applies e.g. to the villages of Norg, Tinaarlo, Drenthe, besides being places fo r stocking of cattle Zeegse, Schipborg, Anlo, Annen, Gasteren and and harvest produets, had an additional religious Peelo - all adjacent to Zeijen, V ries and Rhee. function cannot, therefore, be ruled out. The siting Although wooden buildings occur in all of the of the Rhee and Zeijen II camps - directly adjacent investigated enclosu'res these are either granaries to a barrow group - supports such a view. We (or, in one case, perhaps shrines) or lang barns, mentioned already the curious temple-like post which Jack the characteristic features of normal structures at V ries. lang houses with clearly separate living and stable We are left with the opposite entrances of the parts. Apparently the enclosures were not normal 168 Zeijen I enclosures. To Van Giffen they were a homesteads. Walled e11clos11res of the Iro11 Age

On the other hand, there is at the si tes of Zeijen I cover of the present es fields close to the villages, and V ries enough domestic refuse (pottery and a others may have been destroyed by sand dune for­ few quernstones) to suggest that household acti­ mation, again others may have become invisible vities, such as food preparation, were carried out, through deep ploughing, afforestation or modern at least temporarily. house building. The structure of the walls, being a combination A weak point in our argument is that we know of palisades, planks and earth, falls within the va­ so little about the normal type of settlement in the riability of the structure of the walls of the hillforts period of the camps. The excavation of the site of and the Viereckscha11ze11. But the outer palisades, Hijken has presented us with a number of stray occurring so typically with the youngest phases at houses, irregularly spaced over a Celtic field. They Zeijen and V ries, remain without parallel. We may, date, however, from an earlier part of the Iran Age however, recall the observation that an increase and precede the enclosures. Roughly contemporary with time of the strength of the fortification is a with them is the site of Noord Barge, where a typical feature of British hillforts. The multivallate group of same 30 farms were found, covering at type is restricted to the Late Iran Age. most three centuries. In a late stage six of them The rectangular or even sguare form of the en­ were arranged at equal distances parallel to each closures and the entrance in the middle of one of other, and, at least temporarily, surrounded by a the sides are features which occur again in the mor­ rectangular fence. There is in this case no reason to tuary enclosures. These features suggest a possible believe that the fence was the palisade part of a additional religious function of the camps. For defensive earth wall. The situation was, however, such a function the si ting of the camps of Zeijen II not unlike that at Rhee. It warns us that the settle­ and Rhee, as well as the shrine-like structures at ment of Rhee might, after all, be of normal charac­ V ries, are fu rther arguments. ter. The rarity of the Drenthe enclosures may be At Zeijen I the last stage of the occupation partly caused by the general reduction of the popu­ (phase 4) was formed by a fence, within which lation density, as witnessed by the decrease of pot­ some parallel buildings occurred. We suggested tery finds from advanced stages of the Iran Age in that this phase could be contemporary with the comparison with the early stages. Zeijen II camp. Parallel buildings within one fence In his work on Reuvens' field observations in have also been found, though a few centuries later, Drenthe in 193 3, Brongers (1973) cites eight earth­ at Flogeln and Wijster. works of what he, rather unfortunately, calls the As far as the evidence goes, one might therefore "V ries" type. Most of them, however, are not con­ suppose that in the early part of the period of the vincing as possible parallels for the camps under enclosures the normal houses of the communities discussion. Those from Wijster are far too smal!, were still loosely strayed over the Celtic field, and the one from Ballo lacks actual walls. But those of that in the later part, towards the beginning of our Exlo, Odoorn and Emmen may well be enclosures, era, they tended to become concentrated in vil­ comparable to those at Zeijen, Rhee and Vries. It lages with same sort of organisation. The Wijster would be important to localize them and to test excavations show us the further development of them, if possible, by excavation. such a village in the rnd-5 th century A.D. Another indication that the enclosures have al­ If this view is correct, one might see a relation ways been rare in the area is given by the faet that between the forming of such nucleated villages and air photographs have so far not given any evidence the walled enclosures. Both would indicate the pre­ for them. Small fragments of Celtic fields, on the sence of local power, which could impose a more other hand, have been identified by Brongers in rigorous organisation on the settlement. Same sort great number. of community organisation must, of course, have If, as I have suggested, there was originally one already existed long befare. It is shown by the re­ ( or perhaps two successive) enclosures per village gular lay-out and the continuity in the use of burial territory, many will certainly have been lost. Some grounds and cultivated fields throughout the Late may, like the one at V ries, lie under the Plagge11bode11 Bronze Age and the Early Iran Age. H. T. WATERBOLK

Of course, nucleated villages occur already in the both jurisdiction, government and religious orga­ Early Iron Age occupation of the river and sea nisation. The members of the highest court in marshes. In these regions the frequent inundations Drenthe, the Etstoel, were sworn in the Ballerkuil, and other environmental draw-backs more or Jess a still existing deep, roughly circular depression forced the people to live close together and to make with a diameter of c. 2 5 meters surrounded by ear­ common efforts in building mounds, digging drai­ then banks about 4 meters high. As far as I know, nage ditches and the like. The nucleated te1p settle­ there has never been an excavation to test the possi­ ments can be understood as a primary environmen­ bility that the depression and the banks are not tal adaptation. Their organisation might, however, natura! aeolian phenomena, which they would have acted as an example for the communities in seem to be at first glance, but, perhaps in part, man­ the Hi11terlc111d. made structures. The Ballerkuil is situated half-way between the villages of Rolde and Ballo. One of the traditional open-air meeting places of In his excavations of the Feddersen Wierde, the Drenthe government was in the Groller Holt, a Haarnagel (1969a) was able to bring ample do­ former forest at Grollo, 5 km south of Rolde. cumentation for the gradual growth of the home­ Unfortunately, the actual location of the meeting stead of an apparently leading family in the village, place has been lost. The same applies to another commanding trade and industry, and exerting ancient open-air meeting place on the political and possibly religious power over the vil­ Bisschopsberg, the "Bishop's Hill'', near Havelte. lagers. Though just a little later, i.e. in the first On this hill a number of pyre cemeteries occur, as centuries A.D., we have here an archaeological well as the findplace of the two rich Latene finds documentation for the same social and economical we mentioned on p. ooo. Finally we can mention process which we postulate for the Iron Age that the present capital town of the province of communities in Drenthe. Drenthe, Assen, goes back to a Medieval monas­ The Heide11scha11ze, situated in the Pleistocene tery, situated 7 km west of Rolde. Hi11terla11d of the Feddersen Wierde, shows that, at The local farmers of Zeijen were still able to tell a regional level, such a differentiation had already Van Giffen that the enclosure at the Witteveen was taken place in the Late Iron Age. To Haarnagel this "the" ancient camp, which implied that they had hillfort would be the seat of a princely family, a same vague knowledge of its original importance. Gaufiirst, who controlled the main roads in the area Conversely, it might well be that some of the an­ and to whom the local leaders were subjected. cient historical centers of regional organisation in In this hypothesis, Haarnagel is in line with the matters of jurisdiction, government and religion views of Cunliffe on the nature of the Iron Age were already of regional importance in the late pre­ society in Britain. Cunliffe is of the opinion that in historic period. In the Ballo/Rolde and Havelte the course of the Iron Age the development took areas the coincidence of indications fo� their re­ place of an upper class of rival families that accu­ lative importance in the Iron Age with the seats of mulated personal wealth and exerted power over ancient historical institutions is certainly of interest the lower classes of the society. His view is sup­ in this respect. ported by the descriptions of Caesar. Combining elements from the views of both au­ thors, one could not only postulate the presence of one walled enclosure per ancient village in the Central Drenthe area, but also of one or more cen­ ters of regional importance. In this respect one might think of the Rolde/Ballo area, where the con­ centration of Iron Age cemeteries is densest, and to which the "King's road" is actually leading. In this connection it is of interest that in the 170 historie period this area has been a major center of Walled enclos11res of the lro11 Age

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY GIFFEN, A. E. VAN, 1949. Het "Noordse Veld" bij Zeijen, Gem. V ries. 1Vie11111e Drentse Volksalmanak 67, pp. 93-147.

BOELES, P. c. J· A., 19p. Fries/and tot de elfde ee11111. 2nd ed. GIFFEN, A. E. VAN, 1950. De nederzettingsoverblijfselen in het 's-Gravenhage. Bolleveen en de versterking, de zgn. "legerplaats" aan

BRONGERS, J· A., 1973. 193;: Re1111e11s in Drenthe. Bussum. het Witteveen op het Noordse Veld, beide bij Zeijen, BRONGERS, J. A ., 1976. Air photograph)' and Celtic jield research i11 Gem. Vries. l\Tie11111e Drentse Volksalmanak 68, pp. 89-123.

the 1Vetherla11ds. Amersfoort. GIFFEN, A. E. VAN, 195 r. De Havelterberg en omgeving bij

BUTLER, J. J., 1 969. iVederla11d in de bro11stijd. Bussum. Havelte. 1Vie11111e Drenlse Volksalmanak 69, pp. 97-r 37.

CLARKE, R. R. & c. F. c. HAWKES, 1955. Anlron Age anthro­ GLASBERGEN, w" 1945 . De invoer van terra sigillata naar poid sword from Shouldham, Norfolk, with related Drente. iVieuwe Dre11tse Volksalma11ak 63, pp. 135-144.

continental and British weapons. Proceedi11gs of the HAARNAGEL, w" 1957. Die spatbronze-, friiheisenzeitliche Prehistoric Society 21, pp. 198-227. Gehoftsiedlung Jemgum b. Leer auf dem linken Ufer der

CUNLIFFE, B., 1974. lro11 Age co11n111111ities in Britai11. London. Ems. Die K1111de N.F. 8, pp. 2-44.

ES, w. A. VAN, 195 8. Een versterkte nederzetting te V ries ; HAARNAGEL, w" 1965 . Die Grabung auf der Heidenschanze voorlopig verslag. 1Vie11111e Drentse Volksalma11ak 76, pp. bei Wesermiinde im Jahre 195 8. In: R. von Uslar (ed.), 50-66. Studien ans Alteuropa II ( = Beihefte der Banner

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