to "a few hundred years" seems appropriate. As the techniques of
dating archaeological finds improve more 370,000-600,000 yo's will
emerge.
Neanderthal may not be the oldest Dutchman
By Henk-Sjoerd Oosterhoff
Created 26 March 2010 15:48
Neanderthal may not be the oldest Dutchman
People may well have been roaming the land we now call the Netherlands
for far longer than was assumed until recently. There is evidence to
suggest that the country was home to the forebears of the
Neanderthals. Amateur archaeologist Pieter Stoel found materials used
by the oldest inhabitants in the central town of Woerden. These
artefacts were shown to be at least 370,000 years old, which takes us
back to long before the time of the Neanderthals.
Our ancient forebears are often described as cavemen but that is not
entirely accurate. There were no caves in this environment, explains
Pieter Stoel:
"No, they cannot be specifically described as cave dwellers. There
were no caves here in the Low Countries. They can best be described as
people who travelled through the country along the rivers, where they
could easily hunt the animals that came to the water to drink. At the
time when they possibly roamed the Netherlands, the North Sea was dry,
which would have enabled them to walk to England for example."
Unique
Pieter Stoel is an amateur archaeologist. For 14 years, he has
conducted research in his spare time, alongside his day job as high
school physics and chemistry teacher. But next year he intends to
leave the classroom behind him and focus completely on his research.
He describes the find in Woerden as unique.
"It consists of splinters and cores of flint. There are no hand axes,
as they were not used by this culture. These items were sucked out of
a sump pit at a depth of between 27 and 36 metres."
Research institute TNO has studied the layers of soil and determined
the age of the objects raised during the dredging work. The remarkable
conclusion is that they are at least 370,000 years old.
"That’s a record. They may even be up to 600,000 years old, but that’s
something we have yet to prove."
Follow-up research is needed to show whether the artefacts actually
come from the layers at the bottom of the pit or whether they were
shifted by the dredging work. A layer by layer study is now being
carried out to see which artefacts are located where.
"We are still awaiting conclusive evidence."
Rewriting history
A similar find has already been made in the British town of Pakefield.
This makes sense given that Pakefield and Woerden are only 225
kilomtres apart as the crow flies. During that period, the two
countries were not separated by the sea. It could well be that the
forebears of the Neanderthals walked from Woerden to Pakefield.
"It was a pleasant enough climate and all they had to do was follow
the Meuse and the Rhine."
Pieter Stoel’s discovery may end up rewriting history. Until now, the
assumption was that the ancestors of the Dutch walked from France to
England and only arrived in the Netherlands at a later date. But the
archaeologist now thinks the opposite might be just as plausible.
"There may even have been various migration flows. There may well have
been people who made hand axes and who migrated from France to
England. But it is also plausible that people whose culture did not
include the hand axe arrived in England from Europe, via Germany and
the Netherlands."
Homo sapiens
Pieter Stoel stops short of concluding that the British are therefore
descended from the Dutch. It could be the case, but all things are
relative. The archaeologist is quick to add that we - homo sapiens-
ultimately originate from Africa.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/neanderthal-may-not-be-oldest-dutchman
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