Drifting Peatlands and Subterranean Forests Nicolaas Witsen, the Landscape Around Amsterdam and the Basic Principles of Modern Geology

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DRIFTING PEATLANDS AND SUBTERRANEAN FORESTS NICOLAAS WITSEN, THE LANDSCAPE AROUND AMSTERDAM AND THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MODERN GEOLOGY

Jaap Evert Abrahamse and hendRik Feiken*

Nicolaas Witsen (1641-1717) is known not only as an in- fluential administrator and diplomat, but also as a researcher, collector and author with very wide-ranging interests. His best-known publications are Architectu- ra navalis et regimen nauticum, which soon became a standard work on shipbuilding, and Noord en Oost Tartarye, in which Siberia and the surrounding areas are described from a variety of perspectives. This article highlights an aspect of Witsen’s work that has remained unstudied so far: his geological and archaeological observations in Amsterdam and the surrounding area of Amstelland, recorded in the manuscript Natuer van de gront rontsom Amsterdam. This is interesting not only because of Witsen’s observations in and around Amsterdam, but also from a scientific- historical perspective in that Witsen’s manuscript contains insights that place its author at the birth of modern geology.

1. Ottomar Elliger II, Design for a frontispiece of a book; Nicolaas Witsen’s portrait in profile and the coat of arms of the family and the fasces (an attribute of higher magistrates) are on the obelisk, with next to it the personification of Amsterdam (Amsterdam City Archives) 2. Portrait of Nicolaas Witsen at the age of 36, engraving from 1677 (Amsterdam City Archives)

INTRODUCTION economic and practical interests of Amsterdam: the In Marion Peters’ monumental biography of Witsen, expansion of trade, ship technology and hydraulic en- De wijze koopman, the diverse scientific interests of gineering works. Witsen studied geography, cartogra- Nicolaas Witsen (figs. 1 & 2) are systematically- ad phy, shipping and shipbuilding, but also subjects such 1

PAGES 33-54 PAGES dressed. In addition to his many posts in public ad - as ethnography, linguistics, history, botany, zoology ministration – he was, among other things, a ‘burge- and astronomy.2 He lived during the Scientific Revolu- meester’ (mayor) of Amsterdam, ‘bewindvoerder’ tion of the seventeenth century, when the writings of (administrator) of the Dutch East India Company and classical authors and the Bible gradually gave way to ambassador to England – Witsen was a passionate re- views informed by modern scientific methods, which searcher. His choice of subjects was determined not transformed how society viewed nature. New insights 34 only by his varied scientific interests, but also by the rapidly emerged in many fields. This article discusses a document that Peters men- subject of this article is a nine-page document in folio tions in her book but does not go into, simply referring format. The preserved manuscript is not an original; it to it as a work of ‘juvenilia’.3 It concerns a copy of a is a copy in a clearly legible seventeenth-century hand, manuscript entitled: Natuer van de gront rontsom Am- to which Witsen himself has added a title, his signa- sterdam, door mij in de jeugt opgestelt [‘Nature of the ture and a few corrections and notes. Some topics are Soil around Amsterdam, as written by me in my covered in several places in the text. The document is youth’].4 The observations recorded in this manuscript not dated, but its contents suggest that the original reflect an early interest in geology and archaeology, must have been written in the second half of the 1650s knowledge of which would later come in handy in the or early in the 1660s at the latest: Witsen refers to the author’s administrative career: in Witsen’s day it was great breach of the Sint-Anthonis dike on 4-5 March common for public administrators not only to make 1651 (fig. )3 as having taken place a few years previously decisions but also to be proficient in the technical as- (‘for some years’). In any case, we can safely assume pects, financing and management of complex proj- that Witsen wrote it before 1663 when, aged 22, he went ects. to Leiden to study.6 The document can be found in the Manuscript Col- It is not impossible that Witsen saw the dike breach lection of the Amsterdam City Archives. We do not and its consequences as a child, but he does not men- know how and when it ended up there or where it came tion this in the document. In later life Witsen was infrom. Most of Witsen’s archive was lost after his death. volved as an administrator in the repairs and dike re- Until 1823 there were no documents by Witsen in the inforcements aimed at preventing a recurrence of the Amsterdam archive. Only after a public appeal from disaster. On 9 May 1651, two months after the dike city archivist Jacobus Scheltema did the archives office breach, which occurred outside the city, the communi- manage to acquire some of Witsen’s writings.5 The ty decided that the foot of the Amsterdam section of

3. Roelant Roghman, Breach of the Diemerdijk, 1651. Visible in the foreground of the upper picture is a pile frame used to insert piles for a new part of the dike. In the picture below, the dike repair has already been partially completed (Amsterdam City Archives) 4. Construction drawing of the Nieuwebrug (‘New Bridge’) over the Damrak canal, part of the flood barrier that was constructed under the leadership of Nicolaas Witsen in the years 1680-1682 (Amsterdam City Archives)

the Diemerzeedijk should also be reinforced by build- A FAMOUS DRILLING PROJECT FROM 1605 ing up the earth on the outside of the dike.7 At a later At the end of his text Witsen refers to an appendix (no stage, Witsen would play a leading role in the recon- longer present), detailing the results of a deep drilling struction of the dike and in the construction of the operation in Amsterdam.12 He also discusses this new flood barrier in Amsterdam along the banks of the drilling in Noord en Oost Tartarye (North and East Tar- IJ, the current Prins Hendrikkade (fig. ).4 8 tary). In this book he recounts how his grandfather The manuscript as such has remained unpublished, had been present at the drilling of a deep well in Am- but Witsen must have handed it over to the seven- sterdam. During the drilling they found ‘many thou- teenth-century physician, geographer and historian sands of sea snails and shells’, along with hair and Olfert Dapper, with whom he was very good friends.9 horse manure. The deeper they drilled, the smaller the Dapper paraphrased the text, without mentioning the shells. His grandfather had left him a lot of these source, in his 1663 Historische beschryving der stadt shells, which to his surprise were very similar to shells Amsterdam (Historical Description of the City of Am - from the East Indies and the West Indies.13 sterdam). That book was dedicated to Nicolaas’s father The well in question was drilled in 1605 by Pieter En- Cornelis Witsen (1605-1669), a former mayor of Am- te on the grounds of the Old Men’s and Women’s sterdam and at that time councillor and treasurer of Home, an almshouse for the elderly in the present the city.10 Dapper’s paraphrase of Witsen’s manuscript Oudemanhuispoort. The drilling, the purpose of was later reproduced in Tobias van Domselaer’s Bes- which was to find clean drinking water, took twen- chryvinge van Amsterdam (with reference to Dapper), ty-two days to reach its final depth of around 73 me- which appeared two years later.11 tres. The drilling was famous in its time and was men- The manuscript consists of a series of detailed notes tioned in Varenius’s standard work Geographia of Witsen’s own observations in Amstelland, supple- Generalis from 1650.14 Constantijn Huygens described mented by second-hand observations and his own the tool used to drill the hole in a letter: ‘the excavator, ideas and conclusions. The text is arranged geograph- [was] pointed … at the bottom, and [had] a net on a ically and thematically and includes all kinds of infor- semi-circular cutting iron … that at every turn caught mation of greater or lesser relevance. For the readabil- the loosened soil, which was brought up in very small ity of this article we have therefore not followed the quantities’.15 It has been suggested that Ente worked order of his manuscript. We discuss the various for the Rijnland Water Board.16 In 1602 he had applied

BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN themes in a set order: we start with Witsen’s observa- for and obtained a patent for this instrument from the tions, after which we discuss his own interpretation States General (fig. ).5 17 During recent archaeological and, finally, the modern interpretation of what Witsen research on the construction site of the North-South observed. At the end of the article we place the manu- Metro Line in Amsterdam, a similar instrument was script in a broader context. excavated (fig. ). 6 18 Huygens also describes how the In order to elucidate Witsen’s interest in the subsoil walls of the well were prevented from collapsing by of Amsterdam and Amstelland, we start at the end of constantly filling the well with water.19

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1 the manuscript, where Witsen refers to an earlier study The sediment that came out of the auger was de- of the composition of the subsoil of Amsterdam. scribed (fig. )7 and from this the stratigraphy to about 36 73 metres below ground level can be deduced. Accord- 5. Pieter Pietersz Ente, Drawing of an auger from a patent application to the States of Holland in 1602 (National Archive)

6. Auger, excavated from the construction site of the North-South Metro line (Monuments & Archaeology Amsterdam, photo by Harold Strak) 7. Description of the stratigraphy as revealed by the deep drilling project in Amsterdam carried out by Pieter Ente in 1605, from Casparus Commelin, Beschryvinge der stadt Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1693 BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN

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38 8. Profile of the deep subsurface of Amsterdam TNO( )

ing to the drilling description, the shells passed down A typical feature of these deposits are the marine shell by Witsen’s grandfather were found between 27 and 40 layers. The diagnostic shells include Bittium reticula- metres below ground level. Today we know that the tum (vulg. small needle whelk, fig. ),9 Venerupis aurea shells found by Ente occur in marine sediments from var. senescens (vulg. carpet shell), Echinocyamus pusil- 2019 KNOB BULLETIN the Eemian, an interglacial period about 126,000- lus (vulg. pea urchin) and Ostrea (vulg. oyster); the first 116,000 years ago (fig. ). 8 These deposits are consid- two are the index fossils. His grandfather’s shell col- ered by geologists to belong to the Eem Formation.20 At lection and his stories about the spectacular drilling that time Amsterdam was on the edge of the Eem sea.21 project may have contributed to the young Witsen’s The Eemian was a warm stage, in which the average interest in shells and the geology of Amsterdam and temperature was about two degrees higher than it is its surroundings.

• now. The sea was also warmer, comparable to the Med- 1 iterranean Sea today. The top of the Eem deposits in Amsterdam are located at about 25 metres below NAP. 39 intertwined pieces of reed and reedmace (‘pijpe of riden en duile’) were visible. Below this reed peat, Wit- sen found a second layer of clay, ‘10 to 20 to 23 spit deep, or even less’; the closer to the IJ, the thicker the clay layer.26 Underneath that was the first layer of sand, brown at the top, and paler further down.27 What follows is a digression, typical of Witsen’s texts, on a related practical subject: foundations. The people of Amsterdam placed their foundation piles on this first layer of sand. Their ancestors had not always done that in the past: their houses were consequently ‘un- stable’ and fell into ruin because the poles were too short, had a pointed end, or because they were placed on a foundation of ‘wickerwork’, or braided withy. The ‘impressive buildings’ (‘magtige gebouwen’)28 from Witsen’s time, by contrast, stood on 40-foot (approx. 11-metre) piles, with a flat end on the first layer of sand.

OBSERVATIONS IN THE AREA ON THE LANDWARD SIDE OF THE DIKES The manuscript continues with a description of the stratigraphy of the land inside the dike and below the city, in which Witsen excludes the land-raising layers because he knows they are artificial.29 In the area protected by the dikes, there was no clay layer. The clay 9. Bittium reticulatum from Atlas de poche des coquilles layer outside the dikes dates from the period after des côtes de France, 1913 (Wikimedia Commons) their construction, which in Witsen’s eyes obviously was a matter of course, as he fails to mention it. Below THE STRATIGRAPHY OF AMSTELLAND the top layer, consisting of mucky peat, one foot thick, Witsen describes the stratigraphy of Amstelland and was a layer of peat 12 feet (approx. 3 m) thick, and un- Amsterdam (fig. 10) for two locations, outside the dikes derneath that, just like outside the dikes, 3 feet (ap- and inside the dikes. Nowhere in the text is it written prox. 0.85 m) of reed peat. Below that were clay and how Witsen made these observations, but given the sand layers of similar thickness to those outside the above description of the 1605 borehole, it cannot have dikes. The thickness of the layers varied slightly (1 to been too difficult to drill up to 10 to 12 metres below 1.5 feet, approx. 0.28-0.42 m) depending on the loca- ground level.22 The manuscript indicates that Witsen tion; only in places where there had once been build- drilled several holes.23 Witsen and his siblings all had ings or military structures had the soil subsided as a their own personal servants, so organizing such an ex- result of peat compaction. In the city, both under the pedition would have cost the young Witsen little ef- streets and on private plots, the original top soil was fort.24 covered by a series of layers of various types of soil, but mainly sand, used to raise the level of the ground OBSERVATIONS OUTSIDE THE DIKES ALONG THE IJ plane. The first subject that Witsen discusses in his manuscript is the stratigraphy of the land outside the dikes DRIFTING PEATS to the east and west of Amsterdam, outside the Haar- One problem that arose during excavations was the

BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN lemmerpoort and the Sint-Anthonispoort. In a num- ‘pijpige dari’, the reed peat mentioned above. The ber of places there were pieces of land between the IJ problem occurred during earthmoving works. When and the higher winter dikes (‘hoge dijken’). These were excavating the upper peat layer, the reed peat that was usually surrounded by a lower summer dike or ‘kadijk’ located below it floated upwards. Tenders for excava- (fig. 11).25 tion work accordingly stipulated that any costs occa- The upper, approximately one-metre-thick, layer sioned by rising peat were to be borne by the contrac- consisted of ‘pure, clean, hard clay’ (‘suivere schoone tor.30

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1 en harde kleij’). Underneath, Witsen noted a peat layer Witsen gave an example of this, which he may have 10 to 11 feet thick (c. 2.80-3.10 m). And beneath that seen with his own eyes. It had happened during the 40 was a layer of ‘pijpige dari’, which is to say peat in which digging of the Nieuwe Vaart canal and the construc- 10. Profiles of the shallow subsurface of Amsterdam on both sides of the Amstel (TNO)

11. In a number of places there was land outside the Haarlemmerdijk, surrounded by a low summer dike and indicated on the map as ‘kade’ or ‘kadijk’. Detail from the map of Amstelland by Daniel Stopendaal, c. 1750 (University of Amsterdam, Special Collections)

------37 In the 40 record how Annales Palidenses The disastrous dike breaches in 43 The The upper part of the sand was brown 41 38 42 39 Land was reclaimed from the sea by means of re Witsen had taken note of reports that around the Witsen begins by observing that the sand from the That might have happened before or after the Del According to Witsen, the peat layer above it had drift had it above layer peat the Witsen, to According town of Emden (in East Frisia) pieces of land complete complete land of pieces Frisia) East (in Emden of town adrift. gone had cattle and people houses, with This reasoning is broadly correct: Pleistocene top sand top Pleistocene correct: broadly is reasoning This it because shells, contain not does layer) sand first (the is an aeolian sediment. The shells to which Witsen re ple, draught animals, villages, houses, buildings, sup buildings,animals, villages, houses, draught ple, plies, churches on cemeter and them, farmyards and farmlands with and strange, what is sadly they where even stood, they which on soil the with more ies, drowned’. building the dikes. bottom layer must have come from the sea, because it it becausesea,thefrom come have must bottom layer contained various type of shells and en (‘scelpen hoo ed. ter the reclamations and, according large to areas of low-lying peatland chronicles, were displaced. The chronicle of the Bloemhof monastery in Wittewierum er of the water. rivers the all and swelled, and rose depths, fathomable the of result a bankscoastalastheir the areasburst in peo with islands adrift many set have they influx, and from bottom to top. He uses not only his own observaownhis only not uses He top. to bottom from tions but also data from much deeper wells, such as that from 1605 and later. thatrne’) could not have come from anywhere else. fers do occur in marine sediments from the Eemian, sand. of layer second deeper, the say to is which Witsenuge, writes, ‘that’s but no concern of me’ (‘dat raekt mij niet’). the of breach the at seen as position, current its into ed peat of fields complete when 1651, in Sint-Anthonisdijk were set adrift and came to restelsewhere. In earlier a occurred on stated,thisphenomenon Witsentimes, much larger scale because of the absence of That dikes. there had been ‘widespread floods’ which had inundated (‘generale thevloeden’), of whole Holland landscape the from only not clear was Friesland, and a occasion this On records. old from also but situation, deposit been had peat, of layer floating a ‘dari-solder’, describes howpieces of land were set adrift by the pow pieces of peatland were torn loose and driftedand loosetornpeatland were around of pieces un to up pushed waters, the days, three ‘for islands: as Ems-Dollard area, major sea ingressions took place af place took ingressions sea major area, Ems-Dollard because it was partiallybeen have must clay the mixedthatspeculated Witsen above. with the clay layer deposited by the rivers, as was still happening in his own time around andOldenburg along the sea coast, where new land was being created by silting. the Ems-Dollard area were the subject of early modern early of subject the were area Ems-Dollard the historiography and have been extensively mapped ------Ex 31 In order to find out how deep 33 34 These were the rights granted to the 35 32 In that article a general ban was imposed on the the on imposed was ban general a article that In 36 Witsen then quotes Article 41 from the ‘Previlege van‘Previlege the from 41 Article quotes then Witsen Accordingly, Accordingly, when excavating such land, the upper extraction of ‘moer’. The term ‘moer’ was (in this case) case) this (in was ‘moer’ term The ‘moer’. extraction of used to describe saline peat, which was extracted for the purpose of salt production. The excavation of the dikes. the and land the to damage major to led soil peat Witsen quotes thetext and then adds the scarcelyrele Vrouw Maria’. layer layer (‘solder’) was cut away and removed, layingby raft-like. wasdone layer reed peatthe of removalThis a rope with knots under it and pulling forth. it In the province back of Holland, for example, entire and by sale for offered and out cut were land reed of pieces reinforce dike for used apparently were They farmers. WITSEN’S INTERPRETATION INTERPRETATION WITSEN’S Witsen tries to explain how the great diversity in stra tigraphy might have come into being. He describes and explains the different layers in a systematic way, vant and well-known fact that salt was extracted by burning the peat, which in a dry condition would be zoutag en sulpher parts’salty(‘vol and sulphur of ‘full the treatise on his ends thisWitsen With deelen’). tige composition of the peat. lege’), whichlege’), was issued in by 1477 Mary of Burgundy, then Queen of the Low Countries, to the States Gener al. theless ignite very easily; according to Witsen, dikes fire. caught often peat using heightened been had that This fire hazard is alsomentioned inother archival documents: in the seventeenth-century polders, farmers were forbidden to burn Waterlandold hay too toclose the dikes of inner slope because the dike was liable to catch fire. ment, ment, because Witsen says they were used in places where there was a lack of foreshore and where there was a threat of erosion. ally the peat layer became so thin that it could no lon no became thincould ally layer so peatthethat it ger bear the of theweight diggers: one of the workers nar was and throat’ his ‘to layer peat the throughsank rowly saved by his co-workers throwing him planks andsticks. cavation had commenced and then been paused for one day. When work resumed on the following day, they discovered that the ground was back to its origi nal level. They continued digging, tobut no avail: the ground todiddroplevel not thedue rising peat layer. Eventu with it. rose land the and rose, level water The tion ofthe Kattenburg dock island, both in 1651. Counties of Holland and Zeeland and the Seigniorythe of andZeeland and Holland of Counties West Friesland in the Great Privilege (‘Groot Privi to cut, a borehole was first drilled.They alsolearned that there were different typesof peat: the top layer, which was dry, was bad peat, because it could not be never did layer upper The fuel. heating into processed

BULLETIN KNOB 2019 • 1 42 12. Map of Eastern Friesland by Ubbo Emmius, published in Amsterdam in 1633. The Ems-Dollard area can be seen on the left; the inset map at bottom right shows the loss of land after the great flood of 1277 (Groningen Archives)

(fig. 12).44 These sea ingressions were mainly the result Witsen, the lowest level in his own time was only two of large-scale medieval peat reclamations.45 The sea inches higher than the seawater.51 From his interest in drained a number of deep tidal channels far into the hydraulic engineering issues, Witsen would have been old peat landscape.46 They caused strong erosion of familiar with the problems surrounding the drainage the peatlands and set pieces of land adrift on a local of the Rhineland: the Mallegat took its name from the scale.47 failed attempt in 1570-1571 to restore drainage via the Witsen then turns to the upper layer of peat, which mouth of the Old Rhine for the benefit of the Rhine- he felt would have come into being as ‘reeds and rush- land. Plans for drainage via the Old Rhine had existed es’ (‘liesen en biesen’) were driven together and mixed since 1404, but were not implemented until the early with ‘wood and other earth’ (‘hout en andere aerde’). nineteenth century. Planning also took place in Wit- According to Witsen, this peat formation was a very sen’s day (figs. 13, 14). long process. In support of the notion that wood could Finally Witsen discusses the upper layer of clay he travel long distances as a result of natural forces, Wit- had found in the land outside the dikes and which sen refers to the diaries of Gerrit de Veer, first pub- could only have been deposited by tidal movements in lished in 1598 and reprinted many times. De Veer was the IJ. Inside the dike he observed the ‘ordinary earth’ a non-commissioned officer who took part in the expe- (‘gemene dari’), a mixture of peat, sand and other mat- dition that was forced to winter on Nova Zembla in ter (‘veenen, sant of andere aert’), that had raised the

1596. 48 De Veer writes about the plentiful supply of land ever higher.52 2019 KNOB BULLETIN driftwood, with which the ship’s crew built a house ‘to In his description of the area inside the dikes, Witsen be protected from the cold and wild animals’.49 does not include the layers added by human beings Witsen believed that the accretion of waterborne ma- (the ‘aenhoogsel’). His familiarity with these soils terials could lead to a gradual raising of the ground meant that he was able to recognize and exclude such level such as could be seen at the Mallegat, a waterway artificial additions. near the city of Leiden. Witsen rightly identifies the

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Mallegat as the place where the Rhine once flowed into MODERN INTERPRETATION 1 the sea.50 So the Rhine must have been much higher What follows here is the modern interpretation of peat than the North Sea at some point in time; according to formation. At the end of the last Ice Age (about 11,700 43 13. Pieter Henricxzoon van Bilderbeeck, Map of the Old Rhine and the drainage via the Mallegat to Katwijk aan Zee, 1627. The Mallegat is the watercourse between Katwijk aan den Rijn and Katwijk aan Zee, cutting through the range of dunes on the left of the map (Rijnland Water Board, Map Collection,A -0389)

years ago), the climate changed dramatically. The tem- resulting peat is called sphagnum peat, which is even perature increased and the ice caps gradually melted. spongier than reed peat. The peat continues to grow in Sea levels rose many metres, filling the North Sea ba- this way, forming raised areas of peat known as ‘veen- sin with melt water and creating the North Sea. The koepels’ (raised bogs). Not all the rainwater is retained; rise in the sea level slowed down about 6000 years ago. along small streams the peat drains naturally into the Under the influence of sea currents and wind, beach lower areas and eventually to the sea. Near to natural ridges and dunes were formed and the Dutch coastline channels in the landscape, the presence of nutri- gradually took shape. The closure of the coastline pre- ent-rich water stalled peat development in the first vented adequate drainage of the hinterland, which phase of reed peat formation. The peat area was not consequently became marshy. This in turn led to peat homogeneous in character and consisted of a mosaic formation. Behind the largely closed coastline, end- of raised bogs, fens, ponds and streams. It was a less reed beds sprang up in large, shallow, nutrient-rich marshy area of reed and peat moss and, on the higher freshwater lakes. In this wet environment, which even- spots, willows, alders and ash.53 tually covered the whole of the western part of the Witsen’s notion of peat formation, although not ex- Netherlands, an extensive peat bog of mainly reed, plicitly formulated, is broadly in line with the current came into being. one. Witsen observes that the peat landscape was very Peat formation has several phases. When reed dies it dynamic and distinguishes different types of peat sinks into the water where the lack of oxygen prevents formed from different vegetable material. For exam- it from decomposing entirely. Reed accumulates on ple, he states that ‘the wood has helped create the peat the bottom and gradually turns into reed peat. The to a great extent’ (‘het hout niet weijnig tot het turflant bog gets shallower and shallower and eventually silts geholpen heeft’). Witsen identifies different types of up altogether. Various plants and trees, such as sedges peat but was unable to account for it.

BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN and alders, grow on top of the reed peat. They, too, die off, eventually forming sedge and alder peat layers on AN UNDERGROUND FOREST top of the reed peat and the ground level rises accord- Witsen also writes about a subterranean forest on both ingly. The water in this thicker peat layer consists sides of the Amstel, stretching as far as Ouderkerk.54 It mainly of nutrient-poor rainwater retained by the concerned a strip of land of about 60 rods (approx. 220 peat. At this point, the next phase of peat formation metres) under which at a depth of 5 to 6 feet was a ‘huge begins. subterranean forest of trees’ (‘gants onder-aerts-bos

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1 The nutrient-poor peat contains only plants that re- van boomen’).55 The thicker trunks lay in south-west- quire almost no nutrients, such as heather and wool erly direction; the smaller trees were upright. There 44 grass and, in particular, sphagnum or peat moss. The were different types of trees and some were still ‘laden with nuts’ (‘met noten … behangen’). A little further to (the present Royal Palace) took place.56 Witsen’s father, the south-east, near Abcoude, the subterranean forest Cornelis Witsen, was directly involved as a member of expanded laterally and consisted entirely of oaks. This the council committee that supervised this project.57 wood was very strong and serviceable; farmers used it It is not impossible that ten-year-old Nicholas accom- to build their barges. Closer to the city, the wood was panied his father when he went to inspect the site at too decayed to be used for anything; it crumbled when the request of the council: as a boy Witsen accompa- picked up. nied his father on business trips at home and abroad.58 The presence of this subterranean forest regularly When it came to laying the foundations for the build- led to construction problems. Witsen mentions a con- ings on the carpenters’ yard, a lot of extra work was re- crete example: the construction of the municipal car- quired to dig out the underground wood ‘that the penters’ yard near the Amstel. In 1651, after the attack spade refused’ (‘dat de spa weijgerde’). The construc- on Amsterdam by Stadholder William II in the previ- tion costs of the complex had risen considerably be- ous year had shown that the city’s defences were inad- cause of this. According to Witsen, in the tendering equate, the city council decided to erect two defensive procedure for groundwork near the Amstel it was ‘block houses’ in the Amstel river. In connection with therefore customary to include a clause stating that this project, a new carpenters’ yard was planned near- the contractor was responsible for the expense of re- by, (Fig. 15) on the spot where the construction of the moving any underground wood and tree roots present roof structure for the new town hall on Dam Square on the construction site.

14. Design for a new lock in the Mallegat from 1629. Detail of an engraving that Melchior Bolstra made in 1740 on behalf of the Rijnland Water Board (Library Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) WITSEN’S INTERPRETATION turned out to have grown between 1200 BC and 300 AD. Witsen believed that the trees he had seen in the soil, The oaks grew together with willows, alders and ashes whether horizontal or erect, indicated that the land in a peat bog forest. During archaeological research at had once been uninhabited and wooded. The presence Abcoude in 2009, part of a primeval forest was excavat- of forests had, as he noted, triggered or at least contrib- ed. The remains consisted of roots and trunks of a va- uted to the formation of peat: ‘the wood has helped riety of trees – mainly alders but also some oaks, birch- create the peat to a great extent’. es and elms – standing upright in the soil, that were part of an alder bog forest.61 This forest had undergone MODERN INTERPRETATION an evolution: from 230-110 BC it was an open alder for- Witsen’s description of the subterranean forest seems est, after 110BC it developed into a closed alder forest. unlikely, but it is not. In the Vecht basin, heavy oak Tree-ring analysis dates the end of tree growth very trunks, up to six metres long and usually with parts of precisely to 137 AD, when the Angstel river deposited the root system attached, have been and continue to 1.5 metres of sediment in a short space of time, caus- be regularly dug out of the peat bog. In the past they ing the trees to die. were used as timber, firewood or for dam reinforce- The trees at Abcoude were not blown down; the trees ment.59 These were individual trees, but recently in the other two areas were. The trees in Witsen’s sub- well-documented observations of primeval forests terranean forest were lying in a south-westerly direc- have also been made. When new ditches were dug tion, with the smaller trees still standing, while most during the construction of the Diemerbos in 1997, of the trees in Diemen were lying in a north-easterly trunks of more than seventy ancient oaks were found.60 direction. Both forests must have been knocked down They were dated by means of tree-ring analysis and in a big storm; in the Abcoude forest it came from the

15. A fortification plan for Amsterdam from 1652. The new municipal carpenters’ yard on the Amstel river has been drawn in red. The ‘block houses’ in the river Amstel are visible next to the projected fortification (Leiden University Library, Bodel Nijenhuis Collection) BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN

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46 16. The Muidertrekvaart barge canal, dug in 1640, between the Watergraafsmeer polder and the western city wall of Muiden. Detail from the map of Amstelland by Daniel Stopendaal, c. 1750 (University of Amsterdam, Special Collections)

southwest and in the Witsen forest from the north- featured pictures of such boats (fig. 17).67 Witsen’s col- east, where the already dying trees offered little resis- lection also contained fifteen exotic ships.68 Because tance. of the finding of the dugout canoe near Amsterdam The primeval forest described by Witsen can indeed Witsen had come to realize that his ancestors were just be found in Amstelland and its immediate surround- as backward as the Indians from New Netherland: ‘it ings and, like the forests excavated in our own time, turns out that our ancestors were not always as smart probably dates from the Iron Age (800-12 BC). They as we are now’, Witsen stated.69 This remark shows ceased growing somewhere in Roman times (12 BC-450 that Witsen, unlike many of his contemporaries, did AD). not see history as a reflection of the great deeds of his ancestors. He seems to have recognized that human THE DISCOVERY OF A DUGOUT CANOE beings evolve over time; notwithstanding their great Archaeological finds in the Golden Age were, as now, deeds in the recent past, his ancestors were not inher- made during the construction of infrastructural ently superior to primitive peoples. works. In his manuscript Witsen not only describes his own observations, but also incorporates earlier ob- MODERN INTERPRETATION servations made by others, including a find that had Archaeological dugout canoes are not in fact rare in taken place during the digging of the barge canal to the Netherlands. An overview from 2008 shows that 42 Muiden, the ‘Muidertrekvaart’ (fig. ),16 probably in of these boats have been found in the Netherlands.70 1640.62 In June 1639, the town councils of Muiden and The oldest one comes from Pesse and is about 9700 Naarden had proposed constructing a canal link from years old. Dugout canoes were used until the Middle Amsterdam via Muiden to Naarden.63 Planning com- Ages. Two more dugout canoes were found near the menced in 1640.64 In October of that year the necessary boat mentioned by Witsen: one in Nigtevecht (found in permission was obtained from the States of Holland.65 1987) and another in Muiden (found in 2015). Both date During the digging of the canal, at a depth of ‘several from the Iron Age (800-12 BC). A little further away, at feet’, a small boat (‘schuijtje’) was found, made of a hol- Uitgeest in the Oer-IJ region, a dugout canoe from the lowed-out tree trunk.66 The boat was suitable for t wo or Iron Age was found in 2003 during the construction of three persons; holes had been made in the sides, which a railway tunnel. Witsen thought would have accommodated two pairs It is not possible to date the boat Witsen mentions of oars. Witsen does not mention an exact location for from his description, but the area of the Vecht and the find, but it must have been excavated somewhere Angstel was only inhabited from the early Iron Age between the Watergraafsmeer polder and the town of (800-500 BC) and given the discovery of two other Iron 2019 KNOB BULLETIN Muiden. The boat has not been preserved. Age canoes in the area, it is quite possible that the canoe described by Witsen also dates from the Iron Age.71 WITSEN ON THE FIND The ‘holes for two pairs of oars’ (‘roigaten voor twee Witsen compared this find with the boats built by the paer riemen’) described by Witsen did not function as Indians in New Netherland, the colony on the east oarlocks, rather, as in the canoe excavated in Vlaardin- coast of America, which the Dutch had first settled in gen in 2005 (fig. 18), they were used to pull the canoe

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1621. There were all kinds of prints and maps in circu- ashore with a stick or a rope (fig. ).19 Such holes are 1 lation showing Indian canoes. Indeed, Witsen himself common in dugout canoes.72 Witsen’s is the first de - later owned a large collection of maps, some of which scription of a dugout canoe discovery in the Nether- 47 lands. According to the 2008 overview of dugout canoe In a time when the Bible and classical texts were the discoveries, the next description dates from 1870, starting point for research into almost anything, Wit- some 200 years later.73 sen’s manuscript bears witness to a critical mind and a strictly scientific methodology. Witsen combines phi- PHILOLOGY AND EMPIRICISM lology with empiricism – attaching significantly more According to most historical overviews, the develop- importance to the latter. ment of modern geology began in the eighteenth cen- Witsen lived in a culture in which the authority of the tury, influenced by industrialization and the accompa- Scriptures was starting to questioned, although there nying acceleration of mining. The foundations of was no general tendency towards secularization.77 It geology as a science, and of its historiography, were was generally assumed that the earth had remained laid in the nineteenth century.74 Some overviews do unchanged since its creation. Irish bishop James Uss not pay any attention to the preceding period.75 How- her had calculated in 1650 that the earth was created ever, modern scientific-historical surveys of geology, on 26 October, 4004 BC, to be precise, at nine o’clock in such as that of Ellenberger, pay ample attention to the the morning.78 This idea was widely accepted. rapid development of geological insights during the In the seventeenth century, the question of the Del - Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century.76 uge – at what point in time it had occurred and what, if BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN

17. Map of New Netherland by Allard Ottens, with a number of dugout canoes in the lower right corner (Library Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam)

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48 18. Excavation of a dugout canoe in Vlaardingen in 2005. The 19. Detail of the dugout canoe found in Vlaardingen, showing canoe is a little over ten metres long and dates from around 683 that two rectangular holes have been cut out on both sides BC (City of Vlaardingen, Archaeological Collection) near the front. These probably served to pull the canoe using a stick or rope. Many canoes with such holes have been found (C. Vermeeren/ BIAX Consult) any, effect it had had – was central to the investigation the opposite. It may be that Witsen in later life tried of geological phenomena. In his manuscript, the to relate the interpretation of natural history objects youthful Witsen explicitly states that he is not interest- to the text of the Bible, but the young Witsen was clear- ed in this specific problem: ‘Except for wiser people’s ly not interested in conforming to the traditional judgment, it seems to me that it is clear, that the deep- exegesis. est layer has been the bottom of a sea, as is shown by the shells we find there, whether this was the case be- WITSEN AND THE LAWS OF STENO fore the Deluge, or after, I don’t care’.79 Witsen did not A comparison between the stratigraphy observed by even attempt to test his observations against the Scrip- Witsen and the borehole of 1605 reveals a discrepancy 2019 KNOB BULLETIN tures. He made his own observations and the conclu- in the thickness of the various layers. Witsen offers sions he drew from them were more important to him two explanations for this: it may be that the borehole than any attempt to make the observed stratigraphy fit of 1605 showed an exceptional situation, while he him- the story of the Deluge. self had made a more general analysis of the soil pro- Scientific historian Eric Jorink describes the Natuer file. However, the dynamics he had observed in the soil van de gront as the starting point of Witsen’s presumed structure may also have been the cause of the discrep-

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‘fixation with the story of Fall, the Deluge and Babel’.80 ancy. In Witsen’s words: it could be that ‘one [layer] has 1 It seems that Jorink applies Witsen’s later views retro- shifted over another, in such a movement as I de- actively to his early work: in fact, the Natuer shows scribed, which has caused such a change’.81 49 Witsen’s conclusion was implicitly based on his per- ception of the close relationship between archaeology and geology. This sometimes seems to have been for- gotten nowadays, but it is especially relevant to the complex stratigraphy of the Dutch delta. Of greater importance, however, are the soil dynamics as observed by Witsen. His manuscript is the first known example of the earth viewed as a dynamic system. This idea lies at the basis of modern geology, which tries to derive the age of soil layers from their stratigraphy. The ba- sics of stratigraphy were first formulated by the bril- liant Dane Niels Stensen, alias Nicolaus Steno (1638- 1686) (fig. ),20 in his thesis De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento – Dissertationis prodromus, published in 1669 and generally known simply as Prodro- mus (fig. 21).82 Witsen owned no fewer than three cop- ies.83 Until recently it was assumed that Steno was the first person to discuss the relative age of soil layers in a publication. The basic principles of stratigraphy are known as the Laws of Steno.84 The first law states that soil layers are arranged in such a way that the oldest lies at the bottom, and the youngest at the top (Law of Superposition). The second is the principle of original 20. Portrait of Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686); copy of a portrait horizontality; it states that layers are always deposited painted between 1666 and 1677 by Justus Sustermans as part of horizontally; if layers are not horizontal, there is a later a series of portraits of eminent men at the court of Ferdinand II cause for this. The third law is the principle of lateral and Cosimo III de’ Medici (Copenhagen University) continuity: layers always continue in the original situ- 21. Title page of Nicolaus Steno’s Prodromus from 1669, dedi- ation, even if they are separated at a later stage by, say, cated to Ferdinand ii de’ Medici (1610-1670), Grand Duke of a river. Steno’s last law, the principle of cross-cutting Tuscany relationships, states that at the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid and, therefore, at the time when the lowest stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata existed. Witsen’s manuscript reflects the application of these principles. Witsen describes how layers were superim- posed: the lower layers were the oldest (and possibly very old), the upper layers were very recent, because they were laid down in the context of construction projects or urban expansion. Witsen also noticed that changes had occurred in underlying layers due to natural causes or human intervention; he mentions as ex- amples the mixing of peat, clay and sand in the upper layer, and the subsidence of the land as a result of building activity. Witsen also describes the earth as a

BULLETIN KNOB 2019 KNOB BULLETIN dynamic system – with the ‘drifting peatlands’ as an example. Steno was a university friend of Witsen’s.85 From March 1660 Steno spent a number of years in the Dutch Republic, the first few months with Gerardus Blasius, an anatomist and professor of medicine in Amster- dam, then at Leiden University.86 Anatomy was Steno’s

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1 main interest, but during his stay in Amsterdam and Leiden he also studied geology, or the ‘anatomy of the 50 earth’. 87 In the summers of 1661, 1662 and 1663 Steno BULLETIN KNOB 2019 • 1 51 - - - -

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De ), VII , propositio, Tussen Haarlemmerpoort Haarlemmerpoort Tussen VII Octrooienvoor uitvindingen , Amsterdam 1852, 5-6. Since Amsterdam5-6. , 1852, Geographia Generalis, in qua qua in Generalis,Geographia Duizend brieven over muziekbrievenDuizend over , chapter, II Cambridge 1672, 46. Cambridge1672, pedumprofunditatem’: Bernhardus Varenius, explicantur Telluris generales affectiones (vol. www.let.uu.nl/~Rudolf.Rasch/ 2335, no. personal/Huygens-Brieven/BR2335.pdf December (3 2018). halfway weg, between the citiesAm of sterdamHarting, and Haarlem: P. Amsterdamonderzochten onder bodem beschreven thesixteenth century, the Rijnland Board Water has haditsmost important drainagepoint there.complexlock The Halfwegat was cruciala theof element flood defences to able To be along the IJ. actquickly inthe calamities, eventof Rijnlandbuiltworkshop a and ‘dike storehouse’there, whichwas later incorporatedinto the large ‘Gemeen the newheadquarters landshuis’, theof Board: Water Abrahamse, J.E. KosianM. andSchmitz,E. enHalfweg. Historische atlas van de BussumAmsterdam, 2010, in Brettenzone HartingwhyThatis 30-31. states20-21, thathavethemustEnte worked for Water Board. Doorman,G. in de Nederlanden uit de 16e-18e eeuw. onderwerpen enkele van bespreking Met umfaciendumeffoderetur terra usque ducentorumad triginita& duorum terrière, ‘la estoitquipointue bas en et, undémi-cercleà couppant, fer de avoit une petite rets, qui à chaque tour recev matièrela oit couppée,laquelle setiroit parpetiteshaut si en de quantités’: R.Rasch, van,aan enrond Constantijn Huygens Constantijn Huygens (The Hague) to Marin MersenneApril 1 (Paris) 1640, Ente lived at the Huis ter Hart in Half

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, , can be found in Witsen’s manuscript andthe inWitsen’s can , befound Een kleine kleine Een , PhD thesis,PhD , It It is not surprising that these insights emerged in Amsterdam: on the one hand, Amsterdam was devel dromus versions published later by Dapper and Van Domse manuscript can claimlay tobeing Witsen’s Thus laer. the first written account of these principles, arisenhave between ideas must fromtheexchange of which WitsenandSteno. oping into a scientific centreof great importance in was it hand, other the on and century, seventeenth the Low the of partwestern the in peatlandsthe in located Countries. Urban expansions, projects major and hydraulic construction engineeringscale worksinterventions ledin tothe large-subsurface. Knowledge of stratigraphy, peat formation and landscape develop ment was greater than we realize in the Golden Age. The rise of an internationally oriented and scholarly urban elite meant that this practical knowledge was the Scien knowledge: body of broader part much a of century. seventeenth the of Revolution tific ), Amsterdam ), I Bittium reticulatumBittium ), Amsterdam ), 1665, Beschryvinge van van Beschryvinge ------: A.Fransen,: (vol. III II Pro Historische beschryving der beschryvingder Historische (vol. Noord en Oost Tartarye Oost en Noord He was Making of a Metropolis.A Plan 88 There are On 28 July 89 , 5025, Archief van Vroedschap:5025, de , 90 dijk met eengroot doel. De financiering van de Diemerdijk, 1591-1864 Vrije UniversiteitVrije Amsterdam, 2009,61, 69. 1663, 25-27. 174-176. Amsterdam Witsen proba 742-743. 1705, usedbly the term ‘zeehoorntje’ (‘sea torefertothe horn’) ‘CumAmstelodami aliquando putead ontwikkeling in de zeventiendeontwikkeling de eeuw in Bussum An 327-330. 2010, English ver hamse, According 331-332. 1), (note Peters2010 tothe acknowledgement inthe book, Dapperalso used documents provided byCornelis Witsenhis for city descrip tion. Dapper, O. Amsterdam stadt van Domselaer, T. Amsterdam Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [9]. Witsen, N. Fransen 2009 129. (note For the 7), plan ningand execution theof flood barrier projectand the prominent playedrole byNicolaas Witsen, Abrahamse,see: J.E. De grote uitleg van Amsterdam.Stads Abra J.E. will sion bepublishedin 2019: Peters 2010 (note 1), 19-22. 1), (note Peters2010 Gebhard 24. (note 3), 1881 SAA resolutiesmunimentenmet bijlagen, of (Resoluties,inv. no. 19 12 January 1649- May1651). (9 150vo fol. August 29 1652), dike The throughhadbroken intwo places,exactly hadbeen where piercedit theyear before,the when land behind it hadbeen deliberately inundated tore pulsean attack Amsterdam on byStad holder William holder ning History of Amsterdam in the Dutch GoldenAge (in press).

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-bewind Consult) VOC BIAX or ‘learnedor mer ), 5059, Handschriften, 5059, ), SAA ) for hisfor ) information about 91 , Utrecht 1881. Dewijze koopman. Hetwereld ING s MercatorSapiens The origins of Steno’s interest in geology remain un 1662, 1662, Witsen showed Steno, Borch and his around the new town hall, friends the Prinsenhof (Admiralty and House), the Diaconie Orphanage on the bank of the Amstel. travelled extensively in the Low Countries, studying interactionbetweentherivers.and sea land, no indicationsno that Witsenalong on thosewent trips, but he certainly met the The group company. spent a due 1661, August 3 to July Amsterdam27 infrom week to the illness of two of the participants. ciples of modern stratigraphy, as described in the indescribed as stratigraphy, modern of ciples clear, but it seems likely that his contactshisthatwithlikely Witsen seems it but clear, stratig of the ‘laws’ of to his formulation contributed Witsen raphy. describes how layers of sand, peat and clay were deposited over time and were influenced by prin basic The intervention. human by and other each entific interests; this group wasled by the Danish sci entist Ole Borch, one of Steno’s teachers. https://cultureelerfgoed.academia.edu/ JaapEvertAbrahamse. , AmsterdamAmsterdam, van 2010. hebber title The the of book refers tothe ideal of the leven van Mr. Nicolaas Cornelisz Witsen (1641-1717) ‘Natuer van grontde ront 173, no. inv. Amsterdam,som jeugtinmijdoorde opgestelt’Fromthison, now(undated). will be referred to as the ‘Witsen Manu script’, in which the folios are num bered.scanA andtranscription a of themanuscript can beat:found StadsarchiefAmsterdam (Amsterdam CityArchives; Peters 2010 (note 1), 9-23. 1), (note Peters2010 InGebhard’s 32. 1), (note Peters2010 biographythousanda over of pages, the Gebhard, mentioned:notJ.F. iswork M. Peters,M. Witsen Nicolaes van onderzoek wijde burgemeester en (1641-1717), accompanied by a group of friends with a variety of sci Note Withthanks and MaxGuleij to Ron Bosschaart(National Archives) their for efforts to make Pieterdrawing Ente’s available,toCharles van Heuvel den (Huygens Ente’s drilling technique, to Michel Las caris(Cultural Heritage Agency theof Netherlands)the for reference tothe articlepeat on dikes, Bert Groenewoudt (CulturalHeritage Agency theof Nether his for commentslands) an on earlier thisversionof article, Erik Schmitz (AmsterdamCity Archives) the for search the for image theof NieuweTim Brug, Vlaardingen)Ridderof de (City the for theof photoexcavation theof canoe, andCaroline ( Vermeeren for the for detail theof canoe. chant’, asdescribed chant’, byCasparus Bar laeus in 1632. 4 2 3 1 *

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, - oost- 1000 – 1000 Waerach AD Hethoogheem , Utrecht 2003, 204. 12 (2003), 59-68; G. van G. de 59-68; (2003), 12 (Hollandse Studiën 13), Leiden (HollandseStudiën 13), Tijdschrift voor Waterstaats voor Tijdschrift , Bussum 2012, 11-18. Man-madeLowlands, History Wa of , 5025, Archief van Vroedschap:5025, de , De uitwateringssluizenDe Katwijk van terManagement and Land Reclamation in Netherlandsthe tige beschryvinghe van drie seylagien, ter drie van beschryvinghe tige werelt nog noyt soo vreemt ghehoort Amsterdam fol. 24r: 1598, www.dbnl.org/ tekst/origineel.php?origineel=veer December (6 013waer01_01_scan0062 2018). Mieden.Landschapsgeschiedenis van de Buitenpost,miedengebieden bij Surhui zumZwaagwesteinde en [Noord Friesland]),Amersfoort/Leeuwarden/ 2006,41. Veenwouden PhD thesis, Leiden University, 1934, 150; 150; thesis,PhD LeidenUniversity, 1934, J.E.A.Boomgaard, ‘Deeerste doorgrav ing van de duinen bij Katwijk. De aanleg van duikers en plannen voor een uitwa teringssluisperiodeinde 1404-1629’, in: 1404-1984 ‘Rijnland van G. Ven, en de 9-17; 1984, Woerden’, geschiedenis Ven, raadschap van Rijnland. Zijn recht en bestuur van den vroegsten tijd tot 1857 Ouderkerkdatal en verbij heelden, voet6 gravensa na5 heen, veen,vint in ’t gants onder-aerts-bos [sic] van en men boomen,waervan grootede dicke en stammenalzuijtwesten naden omgesla staenkleijndere de en overent’: gensijn, Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [3]. AnAmsterdam rodlength hada 3.677 of Amsterdam metres,13 feet. or SAA resolutiesmunimentenmet bijlagen, of (Resoluties,inv. no. 19 12 January 1649- March (1 139-139vo fol. August 29 1652), the constructionFor theof car 1651). We knowWe that this is caused by the rela tiverise inseaWitsen level, but did not. FockemaAndreae, S.J.H. ‘Binnensdijcksvolgt gemeenedari,de oordeeldit ikvermengingeeenis van veenen,sant andereof aert, daeronse landensteets gehoogtmede worden’: Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [9]. Abrahamse J.E. al.,et‘Until Abrain: J.E. theOn theedgeof world’, hamse,KosianM. and E.Schmitz (eds.), AtlasAmstelland.of Thebiography a of landscape weersijdevan Amstel, den ‘Aen roe60 yard,penter’s see:Abrahamse (note 2010 Pierik et al. 189-190. (note 45), 2017 sulke ‘die aendrift vanen hout, aerde bieselochent,ikjournaelssendetot de vanNovaZembla, geene diede bij na OostIndiën sogten tevaeren, dewelke daeraendrijvende boomen balckenen tothaer gebruick verorberde’: Witsen [8]. fol. Manuscript4), (note wilde ende coudevoor de beesten ‘om Veer, de G. beschermttezijn’: hoeft men loopen niet ver te om ‘en imanttewijsen,aen datdese verande ring mogelijk is, hij besie het Lijtse-mal legat,uijtgeloopen,Rijn daer den veel en hoogerals zeede geweest is,daersenu leegstehetmet water tweenog duijm hoogerals zeewaterhet Witsen is’: Manuscript (note fol. 4), [8].

51 47 52 55 49 53 56 50 54 48

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, Amsterdam, 2007, ), Hanover 1859, Hanover ), 1859, , Groningen 2013, Groningen, 2013, . BiografieI. van de XVI Monumenta Germaniae Monumenta Stormvloed 1509. Geschie 1509. Stormvloed HetGroot Privilegie van Cultuur, Mens en Natuur Natuur en Mens Cultuur, (vol. , Hilversum 469, 471. 1991, Historisch-geografische (vol. , Groningen 95-116. 2013, Stormvloed 1509, Geschiedenis van van Geschiedenis 1509, Stormvloed , master’s, Amsterdam thesis GU, in de Miedendein gentesimum 92-93. imo usque ad annum millesimumet quin and E.Knol,‘Holocene Vos P.C. 31-43; landscapereconstruction theof Wadden Seaarea between Marsdiep and Weser’, Geosciences of Journal Netherlands no. 2, 157-183. (2015), Pierik et al. O. Brink (note 45); 2017 al.,etkemper Historicainde abanno Christi quingentes denis van de Dollard Knottnerus, O. ‘Dollardgeschiedenis Pierik H.J. al.,et‘Late coastHolocene al-plainevolutionthe of Netherlands naturaltheof – role preconditions in human-inducedseaingressions’, no. 2, 180-197. 128 (2017), inbrengdiscussieinde de over veiligheidvan veenkaden inNederland’, Beenhakker in:J.J.M. al.et (eds.), dathierdese dari-solder komen soude drijven Witsen sijn’: Manuscript (note 4), fol. [8]. jven’: Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [8]. lisdomibusedificiis substantiis ecclesiis et,dictuquod mirum, agris domorumet areiscimiteriiset cum soliditate alias transpositis,miserabiliter suffocaver Pertz, G.H. unt’: and E.Knol,‘Ontstaansge Vos P.C. schiedenisvan Dollardlandschap.het Natuurlijkeantropogene en processen’, K.Essink (ed.), Mythe in:K.Essink realiteit’, en (sen). (ed.), Dollard de Proceedings of the Geologists’Association aspecten van het hoogheemraadschap der der hoogheemraadschap het aspectenvan Waterlandsemeren grondop van enige historische bronnen in deperiode 1623- 1855 citedBont,in: ‘Verstoftede C. 1965, kaden.Dehistorisch-geografische waerom‘En dan tegengesprooken, indatnogmensensag, gedagten ‘Men en is,omtrent huijsen Embden, heele ervenveedrimensendaerop,met en Jansen and A.Janse (eds.), H.P.H. triduum ‘Per profundoenimde aque abissiexagitate ibant intumescebant,et omniaet circa maritima flumina alveos suosinundationepre excedentes, multas insulascum hominibus iumentiset vil schap in ruimte en tijd Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [6]. Jongkees,A.G. Heule/Kortrijk 229. 1985, ‘welk de scelpen en hoorne ook uijtwij wijser‘Behoudens liedenhaer oordeel, dunkt mij dat het klaer is, dat het al deronderstelanthet van bodemde vanzeeeen geweest voorde sij is,’t sontvloet,na, of datraekt niet’, mij Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [6-7]. Kroniek van het klooster Bloemhof te Wittewierum W. Wolters, Wolters, W. 56-65, here: 56 Hollandmaart enZeeland (14 1477) sendie nergens als zeeaen grojen’: Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [6].

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Stuff. , The The , Het landschap landschap Het Lithostrati Translating Early Early Translating , Leiden 2017, 119-153. Leiden2017, , , Amsterdam 10. 1998, Mammoeten in Amsterdam. in Mammoeten , 2003:,www.dinoloket.nl/

Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [5]. ‘doorsaegdevoerde deseen sesolder Kattenburgmentionedisin the council ArchiefSAA, 5025, resolutions1651: of vanVroedschap:de resoluties munimet (Reso 19 no. inv. bijlagen, of menten JanuaryAugust luties,12 1652), 1649-29 Nieuwe The September 1651). (1 177 fol. Vaartwas constructed inthat same year: Abrahamse 325-326. 2010 (note 8), stuckenmet vlottengelijk waer weg, sehebbenwilde, men want waterhet te loosen was niet doenlijk, welk doorsagen toegaet: dus snijden of toueen nemen sij knoopendatsevol leggen, weten en dat grontde door tekrijgen waterop in ’t en vanandere lantde sijde ’t weer uijt,dan lanttreckende, he van schijdesij den deseOpwijs ander. saegt hierin men Hollantveeleplaetsenop rietlandheele eenige en voeten dickaf,boeren diede dantevoeren,koop hier en daer men daervoorlant Witsengebreck heeft’: Manuscript (note fol. 4), [5]. Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [1]. Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [2]. Artificial layers are called‘aenhoogsel’ byWitsen: Witsen Manuscript 4), (note fol. [2]. ‘alleopdriften laste sijnen nemen’: ten te Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [4]. The term denotingThe earthlayer‘spit’ of a whosedepth equalis tothe length theof usednot spade,isin moderna of blade Dutch.claylayerwould The have been betweenandmetres 6 thick. 2.5 E. Schmitz, ‘Het landschap van Rem brandt.Amsterdamgebiedrondom Het inmiddenvanhet zeventiendede eeuw’, in:BakkerB. al.et (eds.) vanRembrandt. Wandelingen enomin Bussum/Amsterdam/ParisAmsterdam , 1998, 42-68. Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [2]. Peters 30. 2010 (note 1), Withregard tothe landscape, see: J. Veerkamp, de langs archeologischeverkenning Een Noord/Zuidlijn Inany case,clear is thatit Witsen had boresdrilled: wellfilled one with water ‘after the thirdaccordingfourth or spit’, toWitsen, and thenshoring a hadtobe laid to keep an excavation dry. Rasch August (24 1640 (note 2018). 15), BusschersJ.H.A. Bosch,and F.S. H.J.T. Weerts, Formatie’, ‘Eem J. Gawronski Kranendonk,J. and P. Ondiepe de van Nomenclator grafische Ondergrond eem- November 2018). formatie(21 Catalogue of Archaeological Finds from Amsterdam’s North/South Metro Line Amsterdam 2018, 199. uit de geschiedenis der techniek der geschiedenis de uit Seealso: vanC. den 107-108. Hague1940, Heuvel, the ‘‘‘As author intended”. Trans formationsWritingsthe of Unpublished andDrawings SimonStevinof (1548- in:Fransen,S. Hodson andN. 1620)’, K.A.E.Enenkel(eds.), Science Modern

31 21 32 27 18 19 29 22 33 25 30 23 28 26 20 24

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Janus. Janus. (vol. (Contribu ), Freiburg ), Pionier der der Pionier I (vol. Olai Borrichii Olai , PhD thesis,PhD , Nicolaus Steno. Biogra Steno. Nicolaus Architectura NavalisArchitectura Theprodromus Nicolausof , Copenhagen 1963, 17-21. Copenhagen, 1963, Nicolai Stenonis epistolae et et epistolae Stenonis Nicolai Annales Veteris Testamenti, Veteris Annales , Heidelberg etc. 634-636. 2013, , Florence 1669) led to a conflicttoa led 1669) Florence , New York 1916, 175-189. New 1916, York technique la de pharmacie, la de sciences, Scherz, G. 163-172; (1970) 57 seinen in Stensen Niels Wissenschaft. Geschriften Vugs (note 86). 1970 17-21. 86), (note Scherz1963 82), (note Kardeland Marquet 2013 76-80, 96-102. 78-79. 82), (note Kardeland Marquet 2013 Schepelern H.D. (ed.), Peters 352. 2010 (note 1), Winter, J.G. dissertation Steno’s solid concerning a body enclosed by process of nature within a solid. An English version withan intro explanatorynotes and duction Witsenand Stenostudied together in Leiden;their friendship was maintained 35, many 1), for years: (note Peters 2010 disser publication Steno’s The of 49-50. Vugs,‘Steno in Amsterdam’, J.G. Revue internationale de l’histoire des E. Jorink, HetBoeck derNatuere. Neder landsegeleerden wonderenende van Gods Schepping, 1575-1715 Thiscalculation can bein:found Ussher, J. wijser‘Behoudens liedenhaer oordeel, dunkt mij dat het klaer is, dat het al deronderstelanthet van bodemde van zeeeen geweest sont voorde sij is,’t vloet,na,of datraekt niet,mij welk ’t de scelpen en hoorne ook uijtwijsen dienergens als zeeaenWitsen grojen’: Manuscript (note fol. 4), [6-7]. ‘fixatie het verhaal op van Zondeval, Zondvloed en Babel’: Jorink 2005 (note 263-268.77), anderhetovereenegescoten ‘het heeft inen hebbe, sulke als ik gemelt d[r]ifte soodanigeverandering veroorsaekt 4), Witsen Manuscriptheeft’: (note fol. [9]. translation,a For Kardel and see: T. Marquet (eds.), P. phyand Original Papers of a 17th Century Scientist tation solidum intra (N. Steno,solido De Dissertationis contento. naturaliter pro dromus withtheSteno Church.was ordered to viewaccept Ussher’s the of dating theof earth,did.whichStenoeven he became and wasbishop a canonized in1988. Stenocontinued work: tofollow Witsen’s visitora himfound engaged in in1671 reading Witsen’s Scherz,G. epistolaeadeum datae 1952, 29. [October 1661-May 1663]), Copenhagen/ 1663]), 1661-May [October London 169. 1983, Itinerarium,1660-1665.Thejournal of theDanish polyhistorOle Borch London1650. tionstothe history science,vol. of a prima mundi origine deducti,una cum rerumAsiaticarum Aegyptiacarum et temporis a historicichronico, principio Maccabaicorumusquead productoinitia Groningen265-266. University, 2005,

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Geschichte Geschichte Onderzoek Onderzoek History of Geolo , Munich/Leipzig, , Zaandam, 2007, NetherlandsJournal of TheFounders Geologyof Histoireladegéologie 284 335-374. (2009), A Brief History of Geology Boomstamkano’s, over Boomstamkano’s, 94 (2015), 333-352, here: 333-352, 340. 94 (2015), : P. Kranendonk, Kluiving P. S.J. : and , New York 1911 (facsimile New York (facsimile NewYork 1911 NewYork , naarbewerkings-de engebruikssporen vanIJzertijdde kano uitVlaardingen West Vergulde-Hand Cambridge1-27. 2018, Ellenberger, F. Paris(vol. 1), 213-315. 1988, Palaeoecology Vorst, andVermeerenC. Y. 3 and15. fig. Maarleveld and Oosting 70), 2008 (note 12-13. first The historical overviews of geology exSee for werepublished around 1900. Woodward,ampleH.B. gy A.Geikie, 1978); O’Hara, K.D. tributarychannel processes inthe distal Rhine-Meuse Netherlands)’, delta(The Palaeoclimatology,Palaeogeography, K.A. Zittel,von London1897; derGeologie und Paläontologie bis Ende Jahrhunderts des19. 1899. en, F. Bunnik ‘InfluenceSchokker, andF. en, J. organicsof and clastic lake fills on dis Peters 379-381. 2010 (note 1), Peters 456-457. 385-388, 2010 (note 1), blijktdan ‘’t klaer,datonse voorouders altijt soo politieck niet geweest sijn als Witsennu’: Manuscript (note fol. 4), [4]. Maarleveld and R.Oosting, T.J. ‘Schema tischoverzicht van boomstamboten in in:R. Oosting Nederland’, van and J. den Akker(eds.), canoe The cannot than beolder the Iron Age.Excavations the for construction of theMuidertrekvaart deeperwere no thantwo tothree metres belowthe sur Geosciences Eventheifsubsidenceof soil takenis intoaccount, the Neolithic levelwould havenot been reacheddigging when thecanal. Furthermore, there are no indicationshabitationof theuseof or area Vecht-Angstel from the Bronze Age the or Neolithic period:Bos,Feik H. I.J. face. The canalsface. The inAmsterdam were metres) 2.25 feet(approx. about eight canal, The deep. whichwas only accessi tigraphytheandof River development Amstel:results theof North/South un dergroundline excavations, Amsterdam, the Netherlands’, naadseschepen entuigage. Inleidingen gehoudentijdens het tiende Glavimans Symposion, Lelystad, 20april 2006 Amersfoort (bijlage), 2008. toferrymen ble with their flat-bottomed boats,was certainly deepernot than feet. canoeeight The asdescribed by Witsenwas therefore deeper thanno twotothree metres belowthe surface. LateNeolithic remains werefound duringthe construction theof North/ Southmetrometres line12 c. atbelow NAP S.R. Troelstra, ‘Chrono- and archaeostra de roigatende voortwee riemenpaerwaer en nog blijckelijk’: Witsen Manuscript (note fol. 4), [3-4]. voeten diep in’t veen,geholt uijt een boom,menschen,bequaem3 à voor2

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, PhD , Van , Am 10 Schat , Abcoude, Jaarboek Am Jaarboek Tijdschrift voor so voor Tijdschrift , PhD thesis,PhD , Delft -report 2400), Amers-report 2400), ADC ( 94 (2002), 90-109; 94 (2002), G. van Es Diemen in het land van Amstel AbcoudeenBaambrugge 900 jaar. Hetstadsfabriekambt. Deorganisatie Ruimtelijke transformatiesRuimtelijke de van , 5055, Charters afkomstig5055, , de sec uit , 5025, Archief van Vroedschap:5025, de , , 5025, Archief van Vroedschap:5025, de , , 5025, Archief van Vroedschap:5025, de , sen, vanpubliekede werken Noordelijkedein zeventiendeeeuw de in Nederlanden thesis, Utrecht 2011, 237-238. For the For 237-238. thesis,Utrecht 2011, constructionthehouses,of block see: Abrahamse 122-124. 2010 (note 8), ‘In ’t graven ’t ‘In van Muijervaertde heeft schuijtjeeengevonden men eenige resolutiesmunimentenmet bijlagen, of Feb 1639-2 July (Resoluties,26 17 no. inv. ruary fol. 1644), August 35vo (22 1640). SAA SAA SAA resolutiesmunimentenmet bijlagen, of 1633-22 June (Resoluties,6 16 no. inv. June fol. 1639). (11 250 July 1639), graven oerbos’, in: N. Bouma (ed.), gravenBoumain: N. (ed.), oerbos’, middeleeu vroegste tot oerbos begraven wseontginning en bewoning. Een archeo Winkelbuurt logischein de opgraving in Zuid Abcoude foort 2011, 137-161. frastructuurinstedenlandschap.een Holland1200-1850’, N. Brand LuitenN. van and J. Zanden, ‘In N. Bouma, N. ‘Deontdekking van beeen B. vanB. Geel,E.Jansma andvan H. der oerbos Plicht,‘Het vande en Diemen gevolgenvan verminderde zonne-activi al.et Blok in: H. voorChr.’, 850 rond teit (eds.), sterdam 2009, 338-350. Gebhard 1881 (note 3), 22-24; Peters 2010 Peters 22-24; 2010 3), (note Gebhard1881 31. (note 1), L.H. van Wijngaarden-Bakker, ‘De voor geschiedenisvan Baambrugge Abcou en Carasso in:D.G. andCarasso-Kok M. de’, (eds.), Uitde historie van twee dorpen ‘Ontrent Abkoude 39-40: sterdam1711, Ouwerkerk,Oudewa en en byWoerden teKamerik ter, Loosdrecht;inde en ja van spreekzeeselvookinnu de geen (ik landschappen,buitenHolland) ontrent stranden,de somwylenworden opgedol uitgegraven en ven stammen van boomen,alle swart hard; en schoonhout tetimmeren om daaken en teleggen.’ SAA resolutiesmunimentenmet bijlagen, of (Resoluties,inv. no. 19 12 January 1649- February (4 136 fol. August 29 1652), 1651). Seealso: L.Smids, 10-17. 1985, kamer der Nederlandsse oudheden Nederlandsse der kamer 8), 138-139; G. van G. Essen, ‘Deeerste fase 138-139; 8), van VergrotingVierde de van (1650-1662) Amsterdam herbezien’, stelodamum ink, stedenhetin Randstadgebied (12de-20ste eeuw).Een vergelijkende analyse van de stadsplattegronden 90. UniversityTechnology,of 2017, Octrooiretarie, 300, no. van Statinv. de van en Holland regeringenvoorde van Amsterdam,Naarden, en Muiden tot het makenvan vaarteen trekpadmet en wagenwegOctotussen deze steden (25 ber1640). (2013), nos. K. 31; Zweer 3, 3-32, here: 17, (2013), ciale en economische geschiedenis economische en ciale

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. He works as an archaeologist at at archaeologist an as works He . Metropolis inthe making. A planning history of ( ly oriented and scientifically aware urban elite, that practical know-how became part of a much broader flowof knowledge: the scientific of revolution the sev enteenthcentury. brated Prodromus by Witsen’s friend Nicolaus Steno, can be found in Witsen’s manuscript, making it the first written recordof the thinking behind the Steno Laws, which must have emerged from an ex-change of hardlybetweenis surprisingideas two thethat men.It these insights were gained in Amsterdam. thing, Amsterdam was evolving For into a centre of scien one another, for century, seventeenth the in endeavour tific it was located in the West Nether-lands peat where region the dynamics of landscape de-velopment were clearly visible in the soil. Urban expan-sions and hy constructionentailedengineeringprojectsanddraulic inter ventions in theation of soil, ‘peepholes’ for leading studying the toKnowledge of soilthe the soil structure structure. inadvertentand landscape devel opment cre was far greater in the seven-teenth than century we realize. Thanks to the rise of an international usedby theIndians script attestsin to powersandkeen a rig obser-vation of New Netherland.Witsen’s orous scientificmethod. He combinesphilology with manu empiricism, while giving considerably more to weight the latter. Witsen describes how, over the course time, of sand and clay were formed and deposited how those layers were and influenced by one peat was another and by human intervention. His manu-script idea an dynamic system, a as world the of view a reflects that underlies modern geology, which tries to deduce theage of layers of earth using stratigraphy. The basic principles of stratigraphy, laid out inin the1669 cele century Amsterdam in the Dutch Golden Age senior researcher of urban historyNetherlands. the of Agency at itage the Cultural Her biases. Three geoarchaeological approaches to the hid Italy of landscapes den Netherlands. the of AgencyCultural Heritagethe

- - - - - n ke i Dealing with k fe i r De grote uitleg van van uitleg grote De nd he e and s m a e studied history of architecture. s h a m r a h n studied archaeology and physical geog a r b ike ert ab e v . A F e E . J aap Nicolaas Witsen (1641-1717) was not just Nicolaas a Witsen prominent (1641-1717) administrator and diplomat, but also something of a polymath. He delved into nav-igation and geography, shipbuilding, as well as ethnography, cartography, phi-lology, history, botany, zoology Apart and from scientific astronomy. curiosity, hischoice of subjects was in-fluenced by the interests he severalthusoccasions: on mayor lord was he which of Amsterdam, build ship of trade, of expansion the in interest an took nean forest – which he believedcontributedhave tohe to which nean– forest peat forma-tion. He also described the discovery of a tree-trunk canoe, which he compared with the boats ture, using not just his own observations, but also dataalso observations, but ownhis just not using ture, fromdrillings,deeper as such the famouscarried one 73 of depth a reached which 1605, in Ente Pieter by out metres. From this he deduced how the soil must have Witsen sea. the of influence the under be-ing into come encountered large numbers of bog oaks – a subterra ing tech-nology and hydraulic engineering works. This works.engineering hydraulic and tech-nology ing article discusses a manuscript by Witsen that we date to the second half of the Natuer1650s: van de gront rontsom Amsterdam, door mij in de jeugt opgestelt groundthearoundAmsterdam, of (Na-ture bypenned of series a of consistsmanuscript The youth). my in me observations,supplemented own his of de-tailednotes by ideas and observations at second hand. discuss We the themes Witsen touches on in a set order: firstlyWits-en’s observations, then his own interpretation, and fi-nally modernthe interpretationof what Witsen ob-served.Witsen described the soil structure in and dikes, the inside and outside Amsterdam,botharound proba-bly based on drilling data. He stratigra-phy described systematically, the from bottom to top. He then tried to explain the variations in the soil struc NICOLAAS WITSEN, THENICOLAAS LANDSCAPE AROUND AMSTERDAM AND THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MODERNGEOLOGY j DRIFTINGAND SUBTERRANEAN PEATLANDS FORESTS Dr. Dr. Amsterdam. Urban development in the seventeenth dam in with2010 a thesis entitled h. Dr. raphy. He obtained his PhD from the University Groningen in with2014 a thesis of entitled He He obtained his PhD from the University of Amster

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