Swifterbant S3 Settlement
Swifterbant Culture S3 · Flevoland Neolithic Bank
Middle Neolithic (Swifterbant)·Swifterbant·🇳🇱 Flevoland, Swifterbant, Netherlands
About
About Swifterbant S3 Settlement
Swifterbant culture river dune settlement S3 (c. 4300–4000 BCE) on buried levee in former Flevoland wetland, with pottery, antler, bone and early cereal evidence. Type-site for Swifterbant transition to farming, excavated 1962 onward after polder drainage.
Why it mattersType-site for Dutch Swifterbant pottery and forager-farmer transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Swifterbant neolithization pace
- 02Antler tool specialization
Theories
- 01Seasonal river dune camp of wetland foragers adopting pottery
- 02Early cereal cultivation experiment
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 4300 BCE
- Period
- Middle Neolithic (Swifterbant)
- Culture
- Swifterbant
- Purpose
- Seasonal fisher-farmer settlement
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 19th–20th century
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 4300 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Swifterbant S3 Settlement
19th century / 1960s
Antiquarian notice and modern systematic excavation of Swifterbant S3 Settlement
2000s
Conservation and publication of final reports for Swifterbant S3 Settlement
On the ground
Structures & features
52.5700° N · 5.6400° E · -3 m · 3 mapped features
River Dune Hut Cluster
hutPosthole cluster of 3 oval huts 6×4 m on dune crest
52.5702° N · 5.6401° EPottery Pit S3-12
pitDeep pit with Swifterbant pottery sherds, carbonized grain and antler
52.5699° N · 5.6401° EAntler Workshop Scatter
workshopAntler working debris concentration near northern levee edge
52.5702° N · 5.6399° E