First late Neolithic settlement in Flanders discovered in Maaseik

Traces of isolated early Stone Age finds in Flanders have so far pointed to nomadic activity, but now it also appears that a settled society existed in that period. 

Along the alluvial plain of the Meuse River in Maaseik, Limburg, archaeologists have just found evidence of permanent habitation by Neolithic people some 5,000 years ago. Dark discolourations in the sandy soil indicate where the pits were for the pole supports of their houses or farms, some of which were 17 to 20 m long. The remnants decayed, of course. They lived in a kind of half-timbered houses, consisting of a wooden framework of poles and lathes, with walls of wickerwork covered with clay – like what can still be seen today at the Bokrijk Open Air Museum.  

The people lived mainly on hunting, fishing and fruit picking but gradually switched to agriculture and livestock farming. This is evidenced by the artefacts found, such as a cut-off that may have been attached to a sickle to harvest the grain. 

Construction will begin on a storage shed on the site before the end of August, but the historically significant archaeological discovery remains, of course.