Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 42 / Eyserheide : a Magdalenian open-air site in the loess area of the Netherlands and its archaeological context Rensink, Eelco; Bakels, Corrie; Kamermans, Hans Citation Rensink, E. (2010). Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 42 / Eyserheide : a Magdalenian open-air site in the loess area of the Netherlands and its archaeological context, 276. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/32956 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/32956 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). ANALECTA PRAEHISTORICA LEIDENSIA PUBLICATION OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHAEOLOGY LEIDEN UNIVERSITY EELCO RENSINK EYSERHEIDE A MAGDALENIAN OPEN-AIR SITE IN THE LOESS AREA OF THE NETHERLANDS AND ITS ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT LEIDEN UNIVERSITY 2010 994869_APL_42_Voorwerk.indd4869_APL_42_Voorwerk.indd IIIIII 116/11/116/11/11 110:040:04 Series editors: Corrie Bakels / Hans Kamermans Editor of illustrations: Joanne Porck Translation: Kelly Fennema Copyright 2011 by the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden ISSN 0169-7447 ISBN 978-90-818109-0-6 Subscriptions to the series Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia and single volumes can be ordered exclusively at: P.J.R. Modderman Stichting Faculty of Archaeology P.O. Box 9515 NL-2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands This publication was made possible with a grant from Cultural Heritage Agency, Amersfoort 994869_APL_42_Voorwerk.indd4869_APL_42_Voorwerk.indd IVIV 116/11/116/11/11 110:040:04 2 Topography, soil and geology 2.1 LOCATION consists of marine deposits dating from the Upper Cretaceous The Magdalenian site of Eyserheide is located in the (Kuyl 1980; fi g. 2.2). In this period, South Limburg formed municipality of Gulpen-Wittem in the southeastern part of part of a subsidence zone, and sedimentation of chalk the Dutch province of Limburg (fi g. 1.1). This part of occurred on a large scale in a sea that was becoming Limburg has landscape characteristics that are unique in increasingly deeper. For a large part these chalk deposits the Netherlands. Pre-eminently, the area is a hilly landscape belong to the Maastricht Formation, Kunrader facies in which loess-covered plateaus, slopes and partially (indicated by code Mt1 on the geological map). These deeply-incised stream valleys and dry valleys follow each deposits occur in South Limburg north of the Geul in particu- other at short distances. We are dealing here, at least by lar and are characterised by alternating hard and soft chalk Dutch standards, with pronounced differences in relief and (Felder 1975). Immediately south of the Eiland van geomorphology. The highest point in the Netherlands near Ubachsberg surface older deposits from the Upper Vaals (321 m +NAP = Dutch Ordnance Datum) is located Cretaceous, namely those of the Gulpen Formation 3 (Gu3). 11 km southeast of the site. They outcrop in the slopes of the deeply-incised stream As are the adjacent parts of Belgium and Germany, valleys, for instance in the valley of the Geul and the valley the hilly landscape of Limburg forms part of an extensive of the Eyserbeek. The Gulpen Formation 3 is composed of loess area that extends from Brussels in the west to Krefeld chalk of Lanaye and Lixhe, a white chalk in which layers in the east. From a geological perspective, this area forms of irregular black fl int occurs. Even deeper in the Geul valley the transition zone between the foothills of the Eifel and the and for a small part in the Eyserbeek valley at Eys occur Ardennes in the south, and the extensive area with deposits of the Gulpen Formation 2 (Gu2). These deposits coversands of the Northwest European Plain in the north. are known as chalk of Vijlen and Beutenaken, and consist The small rivers and streams fl owing in the Limburg loess of light grey, glauconitic soft chalk. area, among which the Gulp, Geul and Eyserbeek, form part East of the site, from Simpelveld to the Dutch-German of the drainage area of the Meuse river. They are fed by border and south of it, marine deposits of the Vaals small brooks that often owe their existence to slope springs Formation (Va) are found at the surface. These deposits and other places where water seeps from the slopes. consist of glauconitic fi ne sands (Vaals greensands). And fi nally, south of Lemiers in the southeasternmost corner of 2.2 GEOLOGY AND SOIL Limburg, both chalk of the Gulpen Formation (Gu2) and The southern part of Limburg where the site of Eyserheide sands of the Aken Formation (Ak) occur. is located can be regarded as the ‘foreland’ to the more The geological map of the southeastern part of Limburg southern Ardenno-Rhenish massif. This massif was formed in further shows marine deposits from the Tertiary in the the Carboniferous period. According to the geological map highest part of the Eiland van Ubachsberg, in the immediate of Southeast Limburg, scale 1:50 000 (Kuyl 1980), marine vicinity of the site. These are micaceous fi ne sands of the deposits (shales and quartzitic sandstones) from the Tongeren Formation (Klimmen Deposits; ToK) dating from Carboniferous only come to the surface in the deeper parts the Oligocene. Small areas with pene plain deposits from the of the Geul valley southeast of Epen. This is the southern- ancient river Meuse can be found amidst these deposits, for most point of the Geul valley on Dutch soil. The distance instance near Trintelen. These sediments belong to the from this point to the site of Eyserheide is c. 7 km. Kiezeloöliet Formation (Waubach Deposits; Koö) and consist Eyserheide lies on the southern side of a vast and elevated of gravel, sand and clay layers. They date to the last phase of plateau, the so-called Eiland van Ubachsberg (fi gs. 1.3 the Tertiary (the Pliocene). and 2.1). This plateau, on which are located amongst others The Eiland van Ubachsberg was created as a result of the villages of Voerendaal, Ubachsberg, Elkenrade and the Meuse shifting its channel westward at the beginning Trintelen, covers an area of c. 7 × 8 km. Its subsoil mainly of the Pleistocene, under infl uence of the epeirogenetic uplift 994869_APL42_02.indd4869_APL42_02.indd 5 116/11/116/11/11 110:060:06 6 EYSERHEIDE Sittard Maas Heerlen a b Valkenburg Kerkrade c Ubachsberg d Maastricht e f g h i j k l m n Aachen o p q 0 5 km Figure 2.1 Meuse terrace geomorphology of South Limburg with the position of the site of Eyserheide (asterisk) and boundaries of the Eiland of Ubachsberg and terrace bodies of the Meuse (see fi g. 8 in Roebroeks 1988, with adaptations). a= Waubach (Tertiary deposits), b= Kosberg, c= Simpelveld, d= Margraten, e= Sibbe, f= Valkenburg, g= St.Geertruid, h= St.Pietersberg, i= ‘s Gravenvoeren, j= Rothem, k= Caberg, l= Eisden- Lankaar, m= Oost-Maarland, n= river Meuse and smaller streams, o= the Eiland of Ubachsberg, p=land-frontier, q= position of Eyserheide site. of the Ardenno-Rhenish massif. The island forms as it were the Eiland van Ubachsberg. The distribution area of these the divide between the area with deposits of the East Meuse deposits is however considerably larger and extends to the in the east, and the area with younger Pleistocene deposits of Dutch-Belgian border near Maastricht. The fact that the West Meuse in the west. Small areas with remnants of Pleistocene deposits of the Meuse are lacking on the Eiland Pleistocene terraces of the East Meuse, namely Kosberg van Ubachsberg demonstrates that this area remained free Deposits (Kb) and Simpelveld Deposits (Sv), have been from activities (sedimentation and erosion) of the Meuse. recorded on Dutch soil from Epen to Eygelshoven, east and Elsewhere in South Limburg, the West Meuse has asserted southeast of the Eiland van Ubachsberg. By the shift of the itself almost everywhere, leaving behind a fossil river terrace Meuse and the concomitant erosion, the Kosberg Deposits in landscape (fi g. 2.1). particular were cleared in many places. Deposits of the West In large parts of the South Limburg landscape, deposits Meuse are found in southeast Limburg southwest and west of from the Cretaceous and the Tertiary and/or the gravel-rich 994869_APL42_02.indd4869_APL42_02.indd 6 116/11/116/11/11 110:060:06 TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND GEOLOGY 7 192 194 196 198 L3 Mt RuTo Mt Va Va L3 L2 Mt L1 L1 L1 L2 Mt Mt L2 RuTo Ma RuTo L2 L1 318 Va L3 L1 L1 Koö L3 L2 L2 L2 L2 L3 L1 RuTo Koö Ma Va L3 L2 RuTo Mt L2 Koö L1 L1 L1 L3 L1 Ma Mt Ma L1 L1 L2 Ma L2 RuTo L2 L1 Va Eyserheide BSi L3 L2 L2 L2 Ma 316 L1 L1 Gu Va Mt Ma Ma Ma L3 L2 Mt L2 L1 Va Hc L3 L3 L1 Ma L2 Ma BSi L3 L2 Ma Mt L3 L3 Ma Gu L2 Ma Hc L1 L3 Mt L1 L2 L2 L3 L2 Hc L2 L1 L1 L3 Hc 314 L1 Gu Hc HcL1 Ma L3 L2 L3 Ma Hc Gu Mt L2 Hc L1 Gu Gu Ma L1 BSi L1 L1 L1 Hc Ma Ma L1 L2 L1 0 1 km Figure 2.2 Detail of the Geological Map of the Netherlands (Kuyl 1980, Main map) showing Eyserheide and surroundings with the distribution of (pre)Quaternary deposits. Holocene: Bsi= brook deposits (Singraven Formation); Pleistocene: L3= loess with a thickness >8 m, L2= loess 5-8 m, L1= loess 2-5 m (Twente/ Eindhoven Formation), Hc= fl uvio-periglacial deposits (Hoogcruts Deposits), Ma= terrace deposits from the river Meuse (Sterksel Formation, Kedichem Formation, Tegelen Formation, Kiezeloöliet Formation); Tertiary: Koö= peneplain deposits from the ancient river Meuse (Kiezeloöliet Formation), RuTo= marine deposits (Rupel Formation and Tongeren Formation); Cretaceous: Mt= marine deposits, Kunrader facies (Maastricht Formation), Gu= marine deposits (Gulpen Formation), Va= marine deposits (Vaals Formation).