Thanks to the Maaswerken project, Limburg’s river basin is now far better protected. The Well-Aijen flood channel reduces the high-water level. The river’s course has changed and this has affected the landscape, and the people and animals that live here. In prehistoric times, in the Mesolithic period, hunter-gatherers would pitch camp here. They would stay here for the summer or the early autumn, and they have left many traces for us to find!
As the river altered course, the landscape transformed. By now we’re in late prehistory: the Neolithic period. People have given up their nomadic existence and have begun to settle. Remains of burnt grain testify to that. As do clay pots to store food. As time passes, the first cultivated land appears, and houses. The landscape opens to allow fields to be farmed and livestock to feed. In the Iron Age, farmers find new ways to exploit the soil and small permanent settlements begin to appear.
The landscape acquired structure under the Roman occupation and in the Middle Ages the area became a hive of economic activity. And as we travel through time to the modern age, we find evidence of German trenches from the Second World War.
PLEASE NOTE: The location is near the entrance of holiday park Leukermeer where you also find the infoboard for routes.
TIP: This location is part of Ode-aan-de-Maas
Find also other Archeo Route Limburg locations