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Papers by Yvonne van Amerongen
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2019
Pollen analysis has long been used as a tool to make an assessment of regional vegetation. On-sit... more Pollen analysis has long been used as a tool to make an assessment of regional vegetation. On-site pollen samples are taken for the same purpose at some excavations, because they are often the only available contexts with good preservation conditions. This paper shows that the analysis of on-and off-site pollen samples from the same region (West Frisia, the Netherlands) and time period (Dutch Bronze Age; ca. 2000-800 bc) can give very conflicting results on the type and amount of regional vegetation, in this case forest cover. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed in relation to the use of on-site contexts by people in the past, as well as their location within a settlement. Furthermore, the potential of these contexts for the assessment of locally performed subsistence-related activities is outlined. New research directions are required to test this potential, so that wells and other man-made pollen traps can become a valuable future tool for reconstructing the past.
The house is often thought of as the basis for studying past living conditions. However, a “house... more The house is often thought of as the basis for studying past living conditions. However, a “house” in archaeology is often nothing more than a collection of posthole features or an empty reconstruction. For subsistence to be successful, many activities and their related objects are needed, and they would be reflected in the house furnishings. In this paper, an overarching approach to subsistence and the research towards living conditions is presented which is applicable to any time period, geographical location or climate. By viewing subsistence as a form of survival, basic activities and objects were identified that form an expectation for what minimally must have existed in a household. As a case study for the study of the interior of a house, the large dataset available from Bronze Age West Frisia, The Netherlands was used. A catalogue of European Bronze Age finds was used to compare with the expected activities and objects, and to confirm find categories or recognise missing elements in the archaeological record. Finally, based on this comparison and other lines of evidence, five science-based artist impressions were constructed of the interior of a Bronze Age house. These and future (3D) reconstructions can be used to stimulate ideas and discussions on (pre)historic living conditions and hopefully remedy the simplified view about people in the past.
More than fifty years ago, Anneke T. Clason published the first English-language archaeozoologica... more More than fifty years ago, Anneke T. Clason published the first English-language archaeozoological study on Dutch faunal assemblages. Inspired by the anniversary of this landmark publication, this paper presents a status overview of Dutch archaeozoology organized in twelve themes (e.g. rituals, Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, medieval period). The paper also discusses the common methods applied in Dutch archaeozoology, and includes extensive supplementary material that summarizes data from gray literature in Dutch. Our aim is to provide a guide to archaeozoological questions pertaining to the Netherlands and open a window for researchers working outside the Netherlands to the highly active world of Dutch archaeozoology.
Zebrafish, 2014
Lipids play an important role in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson&a... more Lipids play an important role in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease. Zebrafish models for these diseases have been recently developed. The detailed brain lipid composition of the adult zebrafish is not known, and therefore, the representativeness of these models cannot be properly evaluated. In this study, we characterized the total lipid composition of healthy adult zebrafish using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A close resemblance of the zebrafish brain composition is shown in comparison to the human brain. Moreover, several lipids involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, docosahexaenoic acid, and further, polyunsaturated fatty acids) are detected and quantified. These lipids might represent useful biomarkers in future research toward human therapies. Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with high-performance thin-layer chromatography was used for further characterization of zebrafish brain lipids. Our results show that the lipid composition of the zebrafish brain is rather similar to the human brain and thus confirms that zebrafish represents a good model for studying various brain diseases.
Fish is a find category that is sparsely used in archaeological reconstructions of the Netherland... more Fish is a find category that is sparsely used in archaeological reconstructions of the Netherlands, even though fish bones can provide extensive information when investigated in detail. In this study, fish species of six Bronze Age West Frisian sites in the Netherlands were used for the reconstruction of both the aquatic landscape around sites and human activities regarding fish.
In both reconstructions, essential information was obtained from the analysis of fish behaviour. Habitat preferences of fish for certain
water types and salinities showed that the North Sea permeated the hinterland up to Hoogwoud, where previous research had proposed
an absence of saltwater influence. Moreover, based on the environmental reconstruction proposed here, two distinct regions could
be discerned within West Frisia, between which no evidence of trade or exchange of fish was observed. Further behaviour of fish, including
spawning and migration, has provided means to investigate the practice of fishing in the Bronze Age. The applied analysis indicates that
fishing was practiced differently on both regional and local scales.
The results of this research confirm that fish can be of major importance in archaeological reconstructions of both landscape and human subsistence. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken at excavation sites to ensure that fish bones remain accessible for future archaeological research.
Wild plant gathering and consumption has previously been described as being unimportant during th... more Wild plant gathering and consumption has previously been described as being unimportant during the Bronze Age in the western Netherlands. It was believed that the people were full-time farmers and that the food produced on the settlement was enough for people to be self-sufficient. However, the analysis performed here to re-evaluate this statement has shown that wild plants were also essential to life in the Bronze Age. The combined information obtained from ethnography, ethnobotany, archaeology, ecology, nutritional studies, and physical anthropology has indeed indicated that wild plants, and especially their vegetative parts, would have had to have been gathered yearround in order for people to remain healthy.
Based on critical evaluation of wild animal remains from several West-Frisian sites (NL), a lands... more Based on critical evaluation of wild animal remains from several West-Frisian sites (NL), a landscape reconstruction was made, as well as an analysis of the process of hunting and fishing in the Bronze Age. The landscape reconstruction shows
that around West-Frisian sites a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial habitats was exploited, and that trees formed a substantial part of the landscape outside settlements, where previously a treeless landscape was proposed. The analysis of hunting and fishing shows that during the Bronze Age, possibly a more passive (with the use of traps) and concentrated form of hunting (during specific periods) was practised, in combination with other activities on the farm. A shift towards other reasons for catching wild animals than solely for sustenance, i.e. for raw materials not found on the settlement, could explain why bone assemblages show lower percentages of wild animal bones than in previous periods.
Books by Yvonne van Amerongen
This volume focuses on reconstructing the daily lives of Bronze Age farmers as well as the landsc... more This volume focuses on reconstructing the daily lives of Bronze Age farmers as well as the landscape for their subsistence practices. Doing so, Wild West Frisia analyses the separate components comprising Bronze Age subsistence (i.e. crop and animal husbandry, hunting and gathering) rather innovatively: instead of summarizing the known data for each subsistence strategy and drawing conclusions solely based on these observations, this study first determines what may have been present yet perhaps is no longer visible.
Contrasting this expectation with the actual archaeological data reveals missing elements, findings for which include recognizing that wild resource exploitation was perhaps equally if not more vital to farming life than crop and animal husbandry. Comparing the case-study area of West Frisia, the Netherlands, with north-west European coastal communities in general, local variation appears to be a consistent feature of Bronze Age farming. It can in fact be regarded as a common feature of subsistence during this time.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2019
Pollen analysis has long been used as a tool to make an assessment of regional vegetation. On-sit... more Pollen analysis has long been used as a tool to make an assessment of regional vegetation. On-site pollen samples are taken for the same purpose at some excavations, because they are often the only available contexts with good preservation conditions. This paper shows that the analysis of on-and off-site pollen samples from the same region (West Frisia, the Netherlands) and time period (Dutch Bronze Age; ca. 2000-800 bc) can give very conflicting results on the type and amount of regional vegetation, in this case forest cover. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed in relation to the use of on-site contexts by people in the past, as well as their location within a settlement. Furthermore, the potential of these contexts for the assessment of locally performed subsistence-related activities is outlined. New research directions are required to test this potential, so that wells and other man-made pollen traps can become a valuable future tool for reconstructing the past.
The house is often thought of as the basis for studying past living conditions. However, a “house... more The house is often thought of as the basis for studying past living conditions. However, a “house” in archaeology is often nothing more than a collection of posthole features or an empty reconstruction. For subsistence to be successful, many activities and their related objects are needed, and they would be reflected in the house furnishings. In this paper, an overarching approach to subsistence and the research towards living conditions is presented which is applicable to any time period, geographical location or climate. By viewing subsistence as a form of survival, basic activities and objects were identified that form an expectation for what minimally must have existed in a household. As a case study for the study of the interior of a house, the large dataset available from Bronze Age West Frisia, The Netherlands was used. A catalogue of European Bronze Age finds was used to compare with the expected activities and objects, and to confirm find categories or recognise missing elements in the archaeological record. Finally, based on this comparison and other lines of evidence, five science-based artist impressions were constructed of the interior of a Bronze Age house. These and future (3D) reconstructions can be used to stimulate ideas and discussions on (pre)historic living conditions and hopefully remedy the simplified view about people in the past.
More than fifty years ago, Anneke T. Clason published the first English-language archaeozoologica... more More than fifty years ago, Anneke T. Clason published the first English-language archaeozoological study on Dutch faunal assemblages. Inspired by the anniversary of this landmark publication, this paper presents a status overview of Dutch archaeozoology organized in twelve themes (e.g. rituals, Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, medieval period). The paper also discusses the common methods applied in Dutch archaeozoology, and includes extensive supplementary material that summarizes data from gray literature in Dutch. Our aim is to provide a guide to archaeozoological questions pertaining to the Netherlands and open a window for researchers working outside the Netherlands to the highly active world of Dutch archaeozoology.
Zebrafish, 2014
Lipids play an important role in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson&a... more Lipids play an important role in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease. Zebrafish models for these diseases have been recently developed. The detailed brain lipid composition of the adult zebrafish is not known, and therefore, the representativeness of these models cannot be properly evaluated. In this study, we characterized the total lipid composition of healthy adult zebrafish using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A close resemblance of the zebrafish brain composition is shown in comparison to the human brain. Moreover, several lipids involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, docosahexaenoic acid, and further, polyunsaturated fatty acids) are detected and quantified. These lipids might represent useful biomarkers in future research toward human therapies. Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with high-performance thin-layer chromatography was used for further characterization of zebrafish brain lipids. Our results show that the lipid composition of the zebrafish brain is rather similar to the human brain and thus confirms that zebrafish represents a good model for studying various brain diseases.
Fish is a find category that is sparsely used in archaeological reconstructions of the Netherland... more Fish is a find category that is sparsely used in archaeological reconstructions of the Netherlands, even though fish bones can provide extensive information when investigated in detail. In this study, fish species of six Bronze Age West Frisian sites in the Netherlands were used for the reconstruction of both the aquatic landscape around sites and human activities regarding fish.
In both reconstructions, essential information was obtained from the analysis of fish behaviour. Habitat preferences of fish for certain
water types and salinities showed that the North Sea permeated the hinterland up to Hoogwoud, where previous research had proposed
an absence of saltwater influence. Moreover, based on the environmental reconstruction proposed here, two distinct regions could
be discerned within West Frisia, between which no evidence of trade or exchange of fish was observed. Further behaviour of fish, including
spawning and migration, has provided means to investigate the practice of fishing in the Bronze Age. The applied analysis indicates that
fishing was practiced differently on both regional and local scales.
The results of this research confirm that fish can be of major importance in archaeological reconstructions of both landscape and human subsistence. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken at excavation sites to ensure that fish bones remain accessible for future archaeological research.
Wild plant gathering and consumption has previously been described as being unimportant during th... more Wild plant gathering and consumption has previously been described as being unimportant during the Bronze Age in the western Netherlands. It was believed that the people were full-time farmers and that the food produced on the settlement was enough for people to be self-sufficient. However, the analysis performed here to re-evaluate this statement has shown that wild plants were also essential to life in the Bronze Age. The combined information obtained from ethnography, ethnobotany, archaeology, ecology, nutritional studies, and physical anthropology has indeed indicated that wild plants, and especially their vegetative parts, would have had to have been gathered yearround in order for people to remain healthy.
Based on critical evaluation of wild animal remains from several West-Frisian sites (NL), a lands... more Based on critical evaluation of wild animal remains from several West-Frisian sites (NL), a landscape reconstruction was made, as well as an analysis of the process of hunting and fishing in the Bronze Age. The landscape reconstruction shows
that around West-Frisian sites a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial habitats was exploited, and that trees formed a substantial part of the landscape outside settlements, where previously a treeless landscape was proposed. The analysis of hunting and fishing shows that during the Bronze Age, possibly a more passive (with the use of traps) and concentrated form of hunting (during specific periods) was practised, in combination with other activities on the farm. A shift towards other reasons for catching wild animals than solely for sustenance, i.e. for raw materials not found on the settlement, could explain why bone assemblages show lower percentages of wild animal bones than in previous periods.
This volume focuses on reconstructing the daily lives of Bronze Age farmers as well as the landsc... more This volume focuses on reconstructing the daily lives of Bronze Age farmers as well as the landscape for their subsistence practices. Doing so, Wild West Frisia analyses the separate components comprising Bronze Age subsistence (i.e. crop and animal husbandry, hunting and gathering) rather innovatively: instead of summarizing the known data for each subsistence strategy and drawing conclusions solely based on these observations, this study first determines what may have been present yet perhaps is no longer visible.
Contrasting this expectation with the actual archaeological data reveals missing elements, findings for which include recognizing that wild resource exploitation was perhaps equally if not more vital to farming life than crop and animal husbandry. Comparing the case-study area of West Frisia, the Netherlands, with north-west European coastal communities in general, local variation appears to be a consistent feature of Bronze Age farming. It can in fact be regarded as a common feature of subsistence during this time.