The Middle Palaeolithic of the Netherlands – Contexts and perspectives

We present a concise overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands. The area, which is situated along the northwestern edge of the known Neanderthal world, is very divers in terms of geological development. As a result of glacial cycles, hominin occupation can be characterised as intermittent and probably sparse. Well-preserved sites are primarily known from the loess region in the southern part of the province of Limburg and to a certain extent from the Roer Valley Graben. Further to the north artefacts do occur ‘geological in situ’, i.e. in the ice-pushed ridges in the central Netherlands and on the Drenthe–Frisian till plateau in the northernmost part of the country, but primary archaeological in situ situations have yet to be discovered. The oldest traces of occupation date to MIS 9 or MIS 7 (Belvédère quarry and the ‘Rhenen Industry’), the youngest (stray finds) can be attributed to the Blattspitzengruppen and the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (MIS 3). The (Upper) Acheulian, several Mousterian variants and the Keilmessergruppen are also attested. This paper serves as a starting point for future research.