Before Temples: Rectangular Structures of the Low Countries and Their Place in the Iron Age Belief System

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Before the introduction of Roman temples in the Low Countries, there used to be ‘open air cult places’ in the Iron Age. That is at least the assumption based on descriptions given by classical writers and several structures typified as sanctuaries that were excavated in France.

Several of these French sanctuaries portray long usage, modifications, disarticulated human remains, and depositions of animal bones and Iron Age weaponry. However, the regularly encountered rectangular structures in Belgium and the Netherlands that are often interpreted as cult places do not have any of these indicators. Even though the shape is similar, the evidence these structures deliver testifies to short term utilisation, pottery depositions and a vaguely defined relation to cremation graves.

Can these structures and accompanying depositions be perceived as the result of actions to invoke gods or deities as is claimed for the French sanctuaries? The finds and features seem more suitable when the rectangular structures are interpreted as part of ancestral worship. Although, what does that actually entail? How did Iron Age people actually conceptualise or practise interaction with ancestral spirits?

In this thesis the use of rectangular structures during the Iron Age is explored and the meaning of related depositions interpreted. The structures fulfilled a special sociocultural position in Iron Age society, emphasised by the deliberately chosen liminal location in an increasingly structured landscape.

AUTHOR:
After finishing a Bachelor degree in Maritime Engineering in 1996 at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Roosje worked on stability calculations for drilling rigs and technical designing for several engineering agencies for a couple of years. In 1998 she started studying Archaeology at Leiden University, besides work. During her studies she gained fieldwork experience in the Netherlands, Mali, Malawi, and Tanzania. In 2003, the final year of prehistoric studies, with a specialization in maritime archaeology, she started to work at Archol, a commercial archaeological company attached to Leiden University. In 2004 she got a Master degree in Archaeology with a thesis on East African ship building traditions. After working for 8.5 years as a field archaeologist, she changed in 2011 to working as a forensic archaeologist at the Netherlands Forensic Institute. The work there involved case investigations commissioned by the police and judicial authorities such as the International Tribunal in The Hague, research and development related to missing persons, buried victims, crime scene investigation and identification. In 2017 she changed back to field archaeology and since works as a project manager at RAAP West conducting archaeological research in Central and West-Netherlands. In 2023 she received a PhD in archaeology for her thesis ´before temples´, on structures related to the Iron Age belief system in the Low Countries.

74 colour, 61 b/w illustrations

ISBN: 9789464280609
Author: DE LEEUWE, ROOSJE
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 01/05/2024
RRP: $155.00
Pages: 284
Dimension: 280mm X 210mm
Imprint: Sidestone Press