Putting Life into Neolithic Houses

Archaeologist Annelou van Gijn received an NWO Archeologie Telt grant to investigate domestic craft and subsistence activities of late Neolithic peoples in the coastal area of the Netherlands. The project heavily relies on experimental archaeology: “Exploring past technology by experiment, doing things together, is an excellent way of creating a scientific community in which both professional archaeologists and the general public can thrive” explains Annelou. The volunteers of Masamuda, a recently opened educational archaeological open air centre in the town of Vlaardingen, are therefore central to the project. ‘Together with them, we will bring life to the reconstruction of a Vlaardingen house that we jointly built in 2016’.