Having experimentally constructed a house from the Late Neolithic Vlaardingen culture near Rotterdam, in collaboration with local volunteers of the open-air educational centre of Masamuda, we now intend to explore how people lived in these houses and the surrounding wetland environment. What kind of activities did they carry out and do these differ between the various Vlaardingen sites in the wetlands of the Rhine/Meuse delta? How did the people move around the landscape to obtain the resources they needed? Can the types of flint used by the various Vlaardingen communities tell us about interaction networks along the Dutch coastal region and with people living further inland?
The project intends to combine detailed material research, exploring the biographies of different categories of material culture from a cross-craft perspective by means of microwear and residue analysis. This study will be closely integrated with an extensive experimental program involving experienced craftspeople. We will include the volunteers of Masamuda in this endeavor and communicate our findings to the wider world of experimenters, re-enactors and the general public through the social media of EXARC to elicit a continuing dialogue.
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