Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 2-2 (November 2010)Bart Vanmontfort; Marijn Van Gils; Etienne Paulissen; Jan Bastiaens; Marc De Bie; Els Meirsman: Human occupation of the Late and Early Post-Glacial environments in the Liereman Landscape (Campine, Belgium)

Abstract

Large-scale archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research in the Liereman Landscape (Landschap De Liereman) in the northern Campine (Belgium) revealed a very extensive and well-preserved prehistoric site complex at Arendonk Korhaan (fig. 1). Remains include Final Palaeolithic scatters associated with the Usselo horizon buried below aeolian sand overlain by podzol soil containing Mesolithic assemblages. The Korhaan site complex is a rare example in this coversand area where Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic are separated stratigraphically. Combined with an intact toposequence (the Usselo horizon grading into peat deposits), this site offers unique potential for ongoing archaeological, geomorphological and palaeoecological research on Late Glacial and Early Holocene settlement systems. This paper outlines the discovery of the complex, presents some primary research results and discusses land use patterns of hunter-gatherers recurrently returning to persistent places across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.