Several Middle Bronze Age cremation graves were discovered in archaeological excavations between Maasveldweg and Broekhuizenvorst. The fill in one from these graves contained thirteen pieces of glass. These were glass beads, around three thousand years old. They are the oldest glass fragments ever found in the Netherlands. Based on the pottery and radiocarbon analysis, the glass has been dated to the Middle Bronze Age. An examination of the glass has revealed that it was made in northern Italy in the 10th to 12th century B.C.E.
It isn’t often that a single excavation exposes ten thousand years of habitation. The varied type and age of the finds, including pottery, flint and stone, indicate an extended period of occupation and exploitation of this ridge in the landscape. The surface finds, the detailed core sample research and the trial trenches led to the excavation of around 5.5 hectares. Archaeologists found traces and remains from every period, from the Mesolithic to the Modern Age.
Clearly, this part of the Meuse basin has been lived in, visited and exploited for over ten thousand years. Originally by hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic, then by the first farmers of the Neolithic. And especially in the Iron Age and Middle Ages when people settled here and cultivated the land.
PLEASE NOTE: The location of the spear is along the bicycle path on the dike along the Maaspark near the Broekstraat in Broekhuizenvorst. Here you have a beautiful view over a part of the newly laid out Maaspark.
TIP: This location is part of the Ode aan de Maas
Find also other Archeo Route Limburg locations