Look around you: less than a century ago you would have been surrounded by a heather landscape here. And this is where the Island of Weert, the Eiland van Weert, stood. A big lump of sand about 10 by 5 kilometers with a lot of loam to give it firmness. Perfect to work with!
And now we must travel far back in time ...
In early prehistoric times, first Neanderthals and then later modern man travelled through the tundra landscape that was here to hunt big game.
The temperature rose and with it the groundwater: it gave rise to dense forests and fens. Incidentally, still great for hunting. They didn't really live in one spot, but they did camp.
That wandering around stopped about 4000 years before Christ in the New Stone Age. Then fields were laid on the fertile loam. A looooot of fields! And they did what is still done today; trees were set on fire or felled to make room. The soil became exhausted and there were sand drifts everywhere. So, most people moved further up the lump to where the loam was.
And from this the seed was planted from which Weert and all the neighbouring villages would grow. Weert was previously part of a large granary for the Roman army and they dug wells of up to 5 meters deep here! That is when the vicus Weert was born, which is a fancy word for a small city on a junction of roads. In the Late Middle Ages there were small settlements here, hamlets linked by hollow roads where trade was conducted. And this is how Weert developed from the fifteenth century into a fortified city.
Living people leave clues, but their cemetaries tell us so much more! The grave gifts have given us even more insight into the history of human development. And that makes the Isle of Weert a truly unique archaeological area of interest within the Netherlands.
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NOTE: The location of the spear is opposite the house with address Sint Sebastiaanskapelstraat 38 in Weert
TIP: This location is part of the archaeological experience route on the island of Weert and Weert archaelogical cycle route the island and its spheres.
Visit other Archeo route Limburg locations
Archaeological site Weert - the island of Weert
Archeologische vindplaats Weert - Eiland van Weert
Sint Sebastiaanskapelstraat 38
6003 NT
WEERT
Experience the archaeological story from the island of Weert. Download the app and get face-to-face on site with our archaeologist. He tells you the history and the importance of the island of Weert through most modern virtual technology. This makes you feel as if you transform into the past.