Cite this as: Vreenegoor, E. and Kosian, M. 2022 Using Cultural Heritage and Historical Analyses for Current and Future Problems With Too Much or Too Little Water, Internet Archaeology 60. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.60.6
Living in a delta is part of the Dutch national identity and, for most people, part of daily life. The way in which we deal with water now is well rooted in history. The challenges with water but also the benefits have existed from prehistoric times up to the present day. However the concept that we can use lessons from the past when addressing current issues of water management, flooding and drought is unknown to policy officers and decision makers.
The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, as part of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, executes a programme on water and heritage. This programme aims to provide information that can be of use in spatial planning by civil services. The underlying principle is the premise that archaeologists and other cultural heritage professionals have the knowledge and means to make cross-overs between heritage and climate change and issues related to it, such as flooding and drought. The programme consists of numerous projects, such as using cultural heritage research as a knowledge base for predicting the location of water-related problems in cities, researching the relation between soil, subsoil and water systems, and the location and development of cities.
This article digs into the concept of using past data for current issues. It provides examples of how archaeological data and historical analysis can be used for current and future water-management problems.
Corresponding author: Ellen Vreenegoor
E.Vreenegoor@cultureelerfgoed.nl
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands/Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed
Menne Kosian
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands/Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed
Figure 1: The Netherlands as a delta (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed)
Figure 2: Dealing with water through time (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Water en klimaat)
Figure 3: Afsluitdijk, large hydraulic locks, Delta Works (Image credit: Rijkswaterstaat)
Figure 4: Mesolithic pollen diagram Well-Aijen (Image credit: ADC, Ball et al. 2018), Roman wooden objects Velsen (Image credit: Lange 2021), Iron Age valve culvert (Image credit: (T. de Ridder)
Figure 5: Location of the Roman villa near Borgharen during the flooding of 1995 (Image credit: Rijkswaterstaat)
Figure 6: Dwelling mound at Hoge Beintum (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed)
Figure 7a: Filling in the space between the piles of stilt houses (on the isle of Marken) (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed)
Figure 7b: Growing crops on the lower soils close to the stream, prone to flooding (Image credit: Waterschap Aa and Maas)
Figure 8: Predictive archaeological map of the River Meuse (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Archeologische verwachtingskaart Maasdal tussen Mook en Eijsden)
Figure 9: River flood reconstruction in the Lower Rhine valley and delta (thesis Bas van der Meulen) (Image credit: B. van der Meulen, University of Utrecht)
Figure 10: Historic estate with possibilities for water storage (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed)
Figure 11: Drowned historic dike (Image credit: Periplus)
Figure 12: A covered watercourse, Leiden (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed)
Figure 13: Historic map and 3-D model of the development of the city of Middelburg (Image credit: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed & STOWA https://www.stadsgenese.nl/)
Ball, E.A.G., Tebbens, L.A. and van der Linde, C.M. (eds) 2018 Het Maasdal tussen Eijsden en Mook De bewonings- en gebruiksgeschiedenis van het Maasdal op basis van archeologisch onderzoek in het Malta-tijdperk, Nederlandse Archeologische Rapporten 60, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Amersfoort. https://www.cultureelerfgoed.nl/publicaties/publicaties/2018/01/01/het-maasdal-tussen-eijsden-en-mook
Lange, S. 2021 The Wooden Artefacts from the Early Roman Fort Velsen 1, Nederlandse Archeologische Rapporten 69, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Amersfoort. https://www.cultureelerfgoed.nl/domeinen/archeologie/publicaties/publicaties/2021/01/01/the-wooden-artefacts-from-the-early-roman-fort-velsen-1
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