Vroeg-Middeleeuwse ringwalburgen in Zeeland(Early-Medieval circular fortresses in Zeeland)

Robert M. van Heeringen, Peter A. Henderikx & Alexandra Mars (red)Authors: J. Buurman, R.M van Heeringen, P.A. Henderikx, I. Joosten, H. Kars,H.W. van Klaveren, R.C.G.M. Lauwerier, B. Oele, A. Pol, F. Verhaeghe.Goes/Amersfoort 1995. ISBN 90-72138-41-4

English summariespages 229-239

1. History of the study- The natural landscape and the first human presence on the salt marshes- Archaeological evidence of occupation along the coast- Historical data on the period 810-839- Historical data on the period 839-892- The Zeeland fortresses: size and construction- Dating of the construction of the fortresses- The function of the fortresses- Historical data on the tenth century- Occupation within the fortresses- The finds- Historical data on the eleventh and twelfth centuries- Developments from the thirteenth century to the present day

2. Summaries of the material studies- Medieval Coins from the Beach at Domburg - Plant Remains from a Sewer of the Fortress at Middelburg- The Early Glazed Pottery found in Oost-Souburg- Slag and Ironworking in Oost-Souburg- he Stone Objects from Oost-Souburg- Objects of Bone, Antler and Horn from Oost-Souburg- Distribution and Function of Bone Three-pronged Objects- Stock breeding in Oost-Souburg

1. General summary

This book is the culmination of the researchproject launched in 1990 by the State Service forArchaeological Investigations (ROB) on the earlymedieval occupation history of Zeeland ingeneral, and more particular on the circularfortresses and their later occupation.An attempt has been made to present all thearchaeological and historical informationcurrently available, as well as the relationshipbetween them. The book also contains the finalelaboration of the results of the excavations at thefortress of Oost-Souburg, and a series of studiesconcerning the material culture that give us abetter insight into how the early medieval societyin Zeeland functioned. The main results are reviewed briefly below.

History of the studyAs shall be explained below, the province ofZeeland has at least five fortresses that wereconstructed in the last quarter of the ninth century.Their locations, where traces of some of them arestill present below ground, are all typified by thetoponym burg in the present place name:Oostburg in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Oost-Souburg,Middelburg and Domburg on the island ofWalcheren and Burgh on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland. A sixth fortress might be located nearto the village of Kloetinge on the island of Zuid-Beveland .

In 1935 the historian J. Huizinga published ahistorical-topographical study which drew

attention to the fortresses on Walcheren and theirrelationship with the earliest history of the island.He convincingly linked the circular site on theborder of the late medieval town centre of Oost-Souburg and of the double circle located withinthe street plan of Middelburg with theconstruction of fortresses in the Early MiddleAges, which is mentioned in the historical sourcesfort the Flanders and northern France region.Huizinga presented sound arguments for theexistence of a burg at Domburg, although itsprecise location could not be determined. Hecalled upon archaeologists to substantiate ordispute his conclusions. The archaeologist W.C.Braat of the Archaeological Museum in Leidentook up the challenge. With a series of trialexcavations carried out between 1939 and 1952he demonstrated conclusively that there had beenfortresses and moats at Oost-Souburg,Middelburg and Burgh. The dating of the fewfinds roughly concurred with the historical datingto the ninth or tenth century.

In 1969 it became necessary to conduct anarchaeological investigation into the western halfof the fortress at Oost-Souburg. The investigationwas carried out by the ROB and was led by thethen provincial archaeologist, J.A. Trimpe Burger.The excavations continued until 1971 andproduced a wealth of information, particularlyabout the later settlement situated within theramparts.

In view of the historical significance of thefortresses location, the first, preliminarypublication of the excavations in 1973 referred tothe study published in 1965 by H. van Werveke,who had assumed that the Zeeland fortressesformed part of the line of defences that extendedfrom northern France to Zeeland. This theory wasbased largely on a historical reference tofortifications erected prior to 891 (castella ibirecens facta) near St. Omaars in the estuary of theriver Aa in northern France.

From 1990 to 1994, the ROB undertook a newproject, led by provincial archaeologist R.M. vanHeeringen, focusing on the early medievaloccupation history of Zeeland. The fortresseswere one of the main subjects of study. Theproject involved a problem-oriented archaeo-logical investigation designed to increase ourknowledge of the fortress sites. To this end,

necessary rescue excavations were carried out atBurgh, Domburg, Middelburg and Oostburg. Oneof the most remarkable results of the field workwas the discovery of the fortress at Domburg, andpossibly a fortress at Kloetinge. Another aspect ofthe project involved collating all the availableinformation on the occupation history.

Independently of the ROB project, the historianP.A. Henderikx recently undertook a study of theearly medieval occupation history of Walcheren.He has argued that the northern French, Flemishand Zeeland fortresses did not actually form achain along the coast, but in fact can be dividedinto groups. They were concentrated in placeswhere the seafaring Normans generally entered acountry: at points where large rivers flowed intothe sea. For instance, the fortress at Oostburg issituated on one of the two estuaries of the Zwin,and the other Zeeland fortresses are on the estuaryof the river Scheldt, which flowed towards the seaalong what is now the Eastern Scheldt. This newinterpretation of the historical facts once moreunderlines the need for an indepen-dentarchaeological dating of the construction of theZeeland fortresses.

The natural landscape and the first humanpresence on the salt marshesWith the exception of a narrow strip comprisingbeach barriers and Older Dunes along the coast,the whole of Zeeland was flooded after theRoman period. Geologists refer to this as theDunkirk II transgression phase. Early medievaloccupation, in the sixth and seventh centuries, hasbeen established only in the elongated dunelandscape along the coast. As a result of erosion,in many places this original landscape can bereconstructed only on paper. In the course of theninth century, and possibly as early as the end ofthe eighth century, a number of areas of marinesandy clay and clay had silted up to such a levelthat people were able to settle on them. Initially,visits to the 'new land' would have been onlytemporary. But since the huge salt marsh area wasnaturally highly suitable for the raising of sheep,in particular, and the mineral subsoil was found tobe very fertile for arable use, the human presencethere soon became a permanent feature. Theprospect of salt extraction would also haveattracted newcomers. Unfortunately, we have noprecise archaeological dating for this pioneeringphase on the salt marshes.

The oldest archaeological traces are layers ofmanure of unknown date, which have beenobserved under a number of small terps that canbe roughly dated to the tenth century althoughtheir exact age is uncertain. The layers of manuremight indicate places where sheep were kept.No settlements are known from this period. Onemay assume, by way of a working hypothesis,that the activity observed does not pre-date theninth century. However, there are references tosalt marsh meadows and salt extraction in eighthcentury texts. It seems obvious to assume that thehuge salt marsh area was especially exploitedfrom the occupa-tion centres along its edges, thusfrom the Wa1cheren and Schouwen dune area,and from the Flemish sandy area..

Archaeological evidence of occupationalong the coastThere was an important settlement in the OlderDunes at Domburg from the sixth to the earlyninth century. The remains of this settlement andthe associated cemetery(ies) were visible for 600m along the high tide line on the beach in 1866.Remains of wooden houses and numerous graveswith coffins were recorded by amateurarchaeologist avant la lettre I.C. Frederiks fromOostkapelle. Unfortunately, no attention was paidto the dating of any of these remains or theirinterrelationship. Attention was subsequentlyfocused mainly on washed up coins and other,mainly metal, objects. Few of the other artefactsfound, including fragments of pottery and stoneobjects, were collected. Study of the coins, morethan a thousand in number, has shown that thesettlement existed from the sixth to the ninthcentury. The settlement might be the Walichrummentioned in the sources; the name literallymeans 'wet sandy ridge'. The name Walchereneventually came to be applied to the entire island.

As an emporium, the settlement was involved inlong-distance trade between the Frisian area andEngland, among others, and its status can becompared with that of Dorestad in the centralNetherlands river area. A renewed study of theyoungest coins, Carolingian denarii, carried outby the numismatist A. Pol of the Cabinet of Coinsand Medals in Leiden, has suggested thatWa1cheren had become less important by themid-ninth century. Clearly, this may well havebeen linked to the historically recorded Vikingattack on Wa1cheren in 837.

As we stated above, the island had a seditio, ormilitary settlement, although no evidence ofphysical defences were found under thesettlement remains on the beach. There is at anyrate no link with the fortress at Domburg. Thesedefences lie around a kilometre to the south-westand are almost half a century younger.There must also have been a significant site onthe island of Schouwen, since similar finds werefound on the beach on the other side of theScheldt estuary. Identification with Scaltheimmentioned in the early medieval sources howeveris nothing more than speculation.

Historical data on the period 810-839From the end of the seventh century the Zeelandcoastal area formed part of the Frankish empire.Little is known for certain about how the emperorCharlemagne (768-814) and his successor Louisthe Pious (814-840) ruled the province ofZeeland, situated as it was on the periphery oftheir empire. In principle, the emperor delegatedsome of his power to a count, who held sway overa certain area of one or more pagi (countships).We know the name of one countship in theZeeland coastal area, the pagus Rodaninsis. Thiscountship, which was situated in what is nowZeeuws-Vlaanderen, was named after the riverRodana, for which Aardenburg (Rodenburg) wasalso named.

The countship occurs in historical sourcesbetween 707 and 840. We also know the name ofa count, Eggihard, who was mentioned in 837 inrelation to the island of Wa1cheren.

The king possessed a number of estates whichwere managed by bailiffs. The management of thecountship and the king's lands was probably in thehands of one person, the count. The sources alsorefer to homines franci, who played a role in themilitary defence of strategically located areas.The Vikings first attacked the Frankish empire in810. Charlemagne had watches set up along allthe estuaries, including the Scheldt estuary, andbuilt ships to stop the Vikings landing. In 811 heeven visited Ghent personally to inspect theprogress of the work.

In 820 thirteen Viking ships appeared off theFlemish coast. The defence system appears tohave worked, since the Vikings were forced intoretreat by men who had entrenched themselves in

a praesidium (a fortified guard post). One candeduce from a report in 834 that the custodiamaritima, the coast guard, was still intact in theFlemish coastal area after this campaign.When the war for the succession of Louis thePious broke out, the attacks by the Normans alsobecame more frequent. From 834 to 839 the entirecoastal area was pillaged and many Frankishtrading settlements were destroyed, includingDorestad in the central Netherlands river area,Witla in the Maas estuary, and Antwerp andWalcheren (Walichrum) on the Scheldt.Unfortunately, we are unable to deduce withcertainty from the written reports whether thesettlement of Walcheren was made physicallycapable of defending itself prior to the attack in837. There is mention of a seditio on Walcheren;in Medieval Latin, this word can refer either tothe presence of a military settlement, a garrison,or to a reinforced garrison. The surviving textdoes however indicate that there was some kindof military settlement on the island of Walcheren.Eggihard, the count of the area, Hemming, aDanish leader fighting for the Franks and otherhigh-ranking individuals are mentioned.

Historical data on the period 839-892After the death of Louis the Pious in 840, theFrankish empire was divided into three parts bythe Treaty of Verdun in AD 843. The borderbetween West Francia (the Kingdom of westfranks) under Charles the Bald and the MiddleKingdom under Lothair I was the river Scheldt,although in Flanders (which included the presentprovince of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen) the borderturned slightly towards the south. Present-dayZeeland formed part of the Middle Kingdom,apart from the area around Aardenburg andOostburg, which belonged to West Francia. Afterthe division of the empire, regional rulersincreased their power, as evidenced, for instance,by the creation of the county of Flanders underBaudouin I of Flanders (862-879). His successor,Baudouin II (879-918), was the first trulypowerful example of these new regional rulers,whose county included the Oostburg area.

Little is known about public authority in theZeeland area governed by Lothair I. Since thetime that Lotharius granted Walcheren as land infief to the Norseman Harald (841), most likelyunder pressure from adverse political conditions,it can be assumed that the imposition of central

authority in the region was not wholly effective.After the death of Lothair II, Lorraine wasdivided by the Treaty of Meersen in 870.

For a short time, the Zeeland coastal area thenbecame part of West Francia under Charles theBald. After his death in 877, Zeeland finally, andpermanently, became part of East Francia (underthe Treaty of Ribemont in 880). It was ruled byCharles III the Stout ( 882-887), Arnulf (887-895), Zwentibold (895-900), Louis the Child(900-911) and Charles III the Simple (911-923).After 925, 'Zeeland' Lorraine became part of theHoly Roman empire. Again, a lack ofcontemporary written evidence means that wehave no information regarding the actual powerrelationships in the Zeeland coastal area.

During the periods 850-864, 879-885 and 891-892 the Scheldt area was repeatedly attacked byVikings. At the beginning of the first period, mostof these were lightning attacks made by ship.Having entered the country via the EasternScheldt, the Vikings set St. Baaf's Abbey in Ghenton fire in 851. In 859 and 860 they plundered thearea to the east of the river in Lorraine, and thearea upstream towards France. They attackedFlanders from the sea in 850, 860, and 864. Thereare few sources about the coastal defences. Anyreports that do exist refer to West Francia, theFlemish countship. There must have beenfortifications in Bruges, and it is also known thatCharles the Bald charged Count Adalelmus, countof Laon, with the defence of the Flemish coast in853, but it is not known how he carried out thetask.In July 879 the huge Norman army crossed to thecontinent after their defeat in England. They firstsacked the Flemish coastal area and then sailed upthe Scheldt to plunder Brabant. They set up campfor the winter six times between November 879and October 885, in Ghent, Kortrijk, Asselt,Conde, Amiens and Louvain. By this time theyhad changed their battle tactics. Since most of thewealthy places near the river had already beenpillaged, they used horses to venture furtherinland. Their forays mainly took them south andeast, where they fought many battles with thelocal population. For instance, in November 880the Normans defeated from their camp at Kortrijkthe Flemings and Zeelanders. The chronicler ofthis incident stated that the Normans wereparticularly vengeful towards the Zeelanders,

perhaps because of earlier skirmishes, althoughthis is not known for certain. In the period 890-892 the Normans were mainly active on theSeine, Oise, Somme and the upper reaches of theScheldt in northern France. The Scheldt wasalmost certainly used as an access route for thefleet, although no records have survived. Recordsof one of their journeys overland, in April 891,include a detailed description of the fortress of St.Omaars. Besides describing the ramparts, theauthor also mentions that on the way to Lorraine,in the West Francia coastal area they marched pastthe castella ibi recens facta. These 'recentlyconstructed fortifications' cannot possibly be oneof the Zeeland fortresses because, with theexception of Oostburg, they were all in Lorraine.

If we consider all the voyages made by theVikings between 879 and 892 of which recordshave survived, the fleet must have passed theScheldt estuary upstream and downstream, inboth directions, at least four times. Since duringthat period the Vikings spent the entire year in theScheldt valley, it must have been a great effort forthem to gather enough food and horses for theircavalry. It is very probable that the chroniclesmake no mention of these forays, since notreasure would have been plundered or importantplaces attacked - the very things that interestchroniclers. And this is where the islands ofZeeland come in. It is quite likely that theZeelanders did not appreciate the regular visits byVikings in search of provisions, and thereforebuilt the Zeeland fortresses. The Bayeux Tapestry(ut cibum raperentur) shows clearly how theVikings went about collecting food.

The Zeeland fortresses: size andconstructionStructures that have been interpreted as theremains of early medieval fortresses have beenfound at five locations in Zeeland. There ishistorical and geographical evidence to suggestthat a sixth fortress may have existed. Thedefences all have the same construction, withcircular ramparts of varying diameters. In crosssection, the outer ramparts range, in ascendingorder of size, from 144 meters in Oost-Souburg,200 m in Burgh, 220 m in Middelburg andOostburg and 265 m in Domburg. The possiblefortress site near Kloetinge could contain afortress with a diameter of some 200 m.

The inside and outside of the ramparts are madeof regular piles of clay sods. The centre usuallycomprises unstructured sandy clay or sand. Theremay have been a palisade on top or just inside theramparts. Only in Burg was such a palisade welldocumented during an excavation. However, theradiocarbon dating does not exclude thepossibility that the palisade was constructed later,during the occupation of the fortress site.

The total width of the rampart base varies from 4to 12 m. Various phases of the ramparts are oftenvisible, although it is not clear whether thesebuilding phases should be interpreted as localisedrepairs or as a pars pro toto of an entirely newfortress. It was possible to calculate that there wasan interval of some 50 to 70 years between thetwo phases at Domburg. The excavated fragmentsof the Domburg fortress contained at least one,and possibly even two, building sacrifices .

Archaeological evidence and later maps show thatall the fortresses had a system of two paths thatcrossed at right angles in the centre. These pathslead to the passages through the ramparts, each ofwhich lead to a narrow bridge over the moat.These bridges have been confirmed archaeo-logically by the discovery of the west and southpassages in Oost-Souburg and by the north-western passage in Middelburg. The structure ofthe ramparts of the Zeeland fortresses concurslargely with a description of the construction ofsimilar defences built between 878 and 882around the Church of St. Omaars. These rampartsconsisted of fuste, gleba et cespite, or 'posts, earthand sods'. The earth and clay sods used for theconstruction of the Zeeland fortresses came fromoutside the fortress sites themselves. The methodof construction was extremely efficient. Theramparts were built and a wide, shallow moatcontaining water was created at the same time.The archaeologically determined width of themoat varies from 30 to 50m.

Dating of the construction of thefortressesIt is essential that the Zeeland fortresses will bedated as accurately as possible, since as we haveseen, the dating based on the castella ibi recensfacta text (Miracula Sancti Bertini) can no longerbe regarded as applicable to the situation inZeeland. Thanks to the favourable conditions inthe Zeeland coastal area, a great deal of organic

material, such as wood and animal bone, has beenpreserved.

A dendrochronological dating of an oak plankfrom a coffin in the rampart of the fortress ofDomburg has been obtained and the radioactivecarbon content of twenty samples of organicmaterial from the ramparts and the lateroccupation of the different fortresses has beendetermined. The results of the measurements mustbe calibrated to establish the precise age of thesamples. In around AD 900 there was a deviationin natural radiocarbon levels in the atmosphere,and in consequence there are several possibleabsolute datings for a number of results.Nevertheless it proved possible to draw furtherconclusions from comparison between the datingsand with the archaeological context of thesamples. This indicated that all the fortresses werealmost certainly built in the same period, in thelast quarter of the ninth century. In those caseswhere there is information about the dating of thelater occupation of the fortress sites, it appearsthat, with one exception, the occupation began inthe early tenth century. The exception is thefortress at Domburg, which was largely coveredwith dune sand in the second half of that century.The fortresses in Zeeland- Lorraine weretherefore probably built in the reign of Charles IIIthe Stout or of King Arnulf of East Francia. Wedo not know to what extent they were constructedon the orders of the local power in the Zeelandcoastal area. The fortress at Oostburg, on the WestFrankish side, could have been built under the'authority of Count Baudouin 11 (879-918) ofFlanders. However, it would be more obvious toassume that the fortresses were built on the ordersof the powers that be in the area, given themanpower needed for their construction.

The function of the fortressesNo occupation remains on the old ground levelwithin the fortresses have been found. It istherefore assumed that they were built asvluchtburgen (refuge places) to offer a safe havenfor the population and - more especially -livestock when danger loomed. We have assumedthat the population at the time of the constructionof the fortresses consisted of shepherds, at least inthe salt marsh area around Oostburg, Oost-Souburg and Middelburg.It is uncertain whether the fortresses ever didactually sustain a Norman attack. Apart from the

attack on Walcheren in 837 - when the knownfortresses had not yet been constructed - a fewvague reports have survived from the tenthcentury which refer to Walchenars who weredefeated, and their land despoiled. At this time,too, the area was apparently still importantenough to the Vikings for them to continuevisiting. However, the tenth-century sources alsomake no mention of defences.

Fortresses of this kind were not unknown outsidethe province of Zeeland, in the Netherlands andneighbouring countries in the Early Middle Ages.A revival in the construction of wood and earthdefences in fact occurred throughout north-western Europe from the eighth century. Thedefences were advanced for their time, and couldwell withstand attacks from men on foot orhorseback, armed with bows and arrows. Thereasons for their construction differed from placeto place. Of course, the primary need forprotection in times of unrest and strife played arole, but the construction of such defences mightalso have been connected with power politicsamong local rulers.Real refuge places for civilians and fortresses thatwere constructed around a pre-existing settlementor the king's or count's base both occur. Otherdefences can best be interpreted as strongholds,while buildings were added to others whosestrictly geometrical pattern could point to militaryuse. The Danish fortresses are an example of this.

Historical data on the tenth centuryIn the course of the tenth century the fortresssettlement of Middelburg developed into thecentral settlement on the island of Walchereneventually becoming the regional centre for thewhole of Zeeland to the south-west of the Scheldt(Zeeland Bewestenschelde). During this centuryZeeland Bewestenschelde was one parish, underthe church at Middelburg later known asWestmonster. This church was probablyestablished in the mid-tenth century. OnSchouwen and the neighbouring island ofDuiveland, too, there must have been one or twoparishes.

The abbeys owned a lot of land, the majority ofwhich was used for pasturing sheep. For instance,in 949 Count Arnulf I of Flanders presented someof his land to St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent,including pasture for 120 sheep at Morena. This

place is near to, or was actually, the settlementimmediately bordering the fortress at Oostburg.Emperor Otto 11 placed St. Baaf's Abbey inpossession of pasture for 900 sheep on Schouwenin 976. The area must have relied for a largeproportion of its income on the production ofwool or worsted, known better in other writtensources as pallia Fresconia, or Frisian worsted. In972 Otto 11 gave the provintia UUalacra,Walcheren, to his wife Theophanu as a gift(morgengave). Forty years later, in 1012, KingHenry 11 rewarded Count Baudouin IV ofFlanders with Walcheren. Zeeland to the east ofthe Scheldt (Zeeland Beoostenschelde) cameunder the influence of the counts of Holland. In985 King Otto III gave Dirk 11 everything he hadpreviously had in fief in the villa Sunnimeri.The time of the great Norman invasions was overby the tenth century, although they probablyvisited the Scheldt estuary several more times. Ofthe fortresses, in the tenth century only Oostburgis mentioned in passing in 949 in connection withthe above-mentioned gift from Arnulf I.

Occupation within the fortressesOccupation has been established in all thefortresses. In the cases where it was possible tosee signs of occupation, it was preceded by araising of the ground level using clean sandy clay.Apparently the sites were suitable for occupationonly once they had been raised to a minimumheight above the water table. The water table wasof course associated with the average high tide,since the land was still undiked. Systematic dikebuilding did not begin until the mid-twelfthcentury. The reports of the huge storm surge of1014, which according to a Ghent analyst cost thelives of many inhabitants of Zeeland, show thateven the artificial raisings were probably notalways adequate. It is difficult to establish byarchaeological means the amount of time thatelapsed between the construction of the fortressesand the moment at which the raising and firstoccupation commenced. The dating of the potteryis too inaccurate for this purpose. However, onecan argue that the occupation would not havebegun any more than a generation later. With theexception of Domburg, the occupation ceased inthe last quarter of the tenth century.

The large-scale investigation at Oost-Souburg hasrevealed details of the internal structure of thewestern half of this fortress settlement. In the first

occupation phase the houses were built onindividual sandy clay platforms. These podia wereraised along a system of axes that crossed at rightangles in the centre of the site. The systematicraisings automatically created ditches along thesystem of paths which were covered with woodentrackways. These 'ditches' carried rainwaterthrough a wooden drain or sewer via the passagethrough the rampart to the moat. Remains of thedrain were found in Oost-Souburg, and inMiddelburg the wooden sewer was found in situin the north-western passage. It is not possible todetermine which houses were in use at the sametime. However, it is highly likely that theexcavation reflects the building over the entireoccupation period, lasting around 75 to 100 years.There would therefore have been some four to sixbuildings in use at the same time in the westernhalf of the fortress site.

The buildings constructed on the podia are allrectangular, but display little uniformity. Thosewith walls more than 1 m thick made out of claysods are undoubtedly among the oldest. Nodoorways or inner walls were found, and there areno divisions that might indicate the presence ofstalls. Large, rectangular pits were found in manybuildings, however. These might have been usedfor storing sheep dung, and the rooms they are inmay have been used as sheep stalls. Roundhearths made of clay sods were found in most ofthe houses. Some of these hearths containedsmithing slag and have therefore been interpretedas smithy furnaces.

It can be shown, on the basis of the age at whichpigs were slaughtered and the presence of boneskates, that people lived in the settlement in theautumn and winter at least. Given the fact thatspindle whorls were found - wool spinning beingtraditionally women's work - and that horsebreeding and the growing of arable crops such asbarley, wheat and linseed have been established, itis likely that the fortress settlement was occupiedall year round.

The findsNo finds are known from the time of theconstruction of the fortresses, with the exceptionof wooden posts from the ramparts at Burgh andDomburg, a vague posthole on top of the rampartof the Middelburg fortress and two irregularburials. The other find material can be linked with

the occupation of the inner sites, which almostimmediately followed the construction of thefortress. Most of the material naturally comes from thelarge-scale investigation at OostSouburg. Sincethe find material from the other fortresses isvirtually identical, only the OostSouburg materialis discussed here. In terms of numbers, the mostimportant category of finds from Oost-Souburg isthe sherds of earthenware pots. Since very fewtenth-century find assemblages have beendiscovered in the Netherlands, the pottery fromOost-Souburg is an important point of referencefor the study of the development of form,distribution and dating of ceramic types in thetransition from the early to High Middle Ages.

Around half of the total of sherds are from coarsegrey pottery. This is also known asKugeltopfware, after the type of sagging baseprevalent among this pottery. But not all the jarshave this type of base. In fact, geographicallyZeeland marks the transition from the actualKugeltopfware of the north to the grey ware of thesouth. Although the origins of the 'local' potteryfound at OostSouburg are unknown, it is assumedthat it was produced nearby in the area. In thecase of the Zeeland findspots, this might alsomean that it came from production centres furtherup the Scheldt.

The second important category of pottery isPingsdorf ware, which comes from Pingsdorf inthe German Rhineland. More than 40% of thesherds are of this type. In relation to the findspotsoutside Zeeland this is a very high proportion,which suggests that this high quality product waseasily available, probably by means of the port ofMiddelburg. However, a more well-foundedexplanation for the high percentage of Pingsdorfware must wait until further, urgently required,research has been carried out.

The other types of pottery found in Oost-Souburgoccur only in low percentages. They comprise, indescending order of abundance, white potterywith a yellow-green glaze, reliefband, Paffrath,red-fired, Hunneschans and Badorf ware. Braat'ssuggestion that the white pottery with yellow-green glaze from Oost-Souburg represents anearly group that pre-dates the Andenneproduction, has long been the subject of doubt.

A further study by F. Verhaege, a seniorresearcher for the National Fund for AcademicResearch in Belgium, has clearly shown that thiscategory of pottery opens up interesting prospectsfor the study of the origins of glazed pottery innorth-west Europe. The white pottery withyellow-green glaze found at Oost-Souburgprobably originated in Hoei in the Belgian Meusevalley. The groups of reliefband, Hunneschansand Badorf ware are the youngest representativesof these categories of imported ceramics, whichare so characteristic of the Early Middle Ages.The Paffrath ware, which generally dates fromlater, is one of the earliest occurrences.Not only a lot of the pottery was imported. All thestone implements - querns and whetstones and abowl or bucket - came from outside the Scheldtregion. The analysis of the type of stone showsthat the querns came from the Eifel in Germany,while the whetstones come from Scandinavia.

The iron, too - whether objects, semi-finishedproducts or raw iron - must have been imported,as is shown by the slag that was studied by Ms C.Joosten as part of a larger study on the earlymedieval iron industry on the Ve1uwe. In a number of cases, the distribution of iron slagsand further study of the slag material were used asa basis to show that some of the hearths foundwere used for smithing iron. This traditionalactivity will mainly have involved manufacturingor repairing the implements used in thesettlement. These included simple knives, manyof which are included in the find material.

The category of bronze objects makes a fairlypoor impression and consists of a series of simplefibulae. These items were almost certainly madeelsewhere. A round bone fibula might well havebeen made in the settlement, and might serve toillustrate the difficulty of obtaining metalequivalents. The study of the objects of bone,antler and horn have shown that at least some ofthem, such as the combs and spindle whorls, camefrom outside the Scheldt region. This is suggestedby the wide variety of types and the fact that theraw material, red deer antler, cannot have comefrom Walcheren. The salt marsh landscape is notsuitable for red deer, and no red deer remainswere found among the slaughtered animalremains within the settlement.If one looks at all the objects found from thetenth-century settlement in Oost-Souburg, one is

forced to conclude that many of these objectsmust come from elsewhere. Clearly, thesettlement was dependent on trade or barter inorder to obtain these goods. The most obviousplace for the exchange of goods was of courseMiddelburg, which probably already had portfacilities in the tenth century. Exported productswill have included sheep's wool (possibly spun),salt, and perhaps horses. The opportunities forsurplus agricultural production would not havebeen great in the brackish landscape, where therewas a great risk of flooding. Imported products atany rate included quality pottery and querns fromthe Belgian Meuse valley and the Rhineland. Bothareas were then part of the Holy Roman empire,to which Zeeland also belonged in this period.

Historical data on the eleventh and twelfthcenturiesIn 1012 King Henry 11 rewarded Count BaudouinIV (988-1035) of Flanders with the villa Walcras,thus adding Zeeland Bewestenschelde (the areabetween the Eastern- and Westernscheldt) toFlanders. The punitive expedition carried out byRobrecht de Vries, the brother of the count ofFlanders in 1067 indicates that the inhabitants ofMiddelburg and Walcheren were not alwaysobedient. The Count was defeated and theinhabitants of Walcheren subsequently becameembroiled in skirmishes among themselves. Weknow this because abbot Thiofried of Echternachwrote of it in 1103 in his biography of Willibrord.Thiofried also described how he tried to settle thedispute, travelling to Middelburg by ship for thispurpose. This is also the earliest indication thatMiddelburg had a harbour or roads. Until the endof the first quarter of the twelfth century ZeelandBewestenschelde belonged to Flanders, afterwhich the Count of Flanders presented the Countof Holland with the whole of Zeeland Bewesten-schelde.

In the eleventh century, many village settlementsarose, almost all of them with their own church.Since the presence of a parish church was aprecondition for an independent trade, the locallords played a major role in founding churches.This is indicated among other things by villagenames, which were composed of an individual'sname with the suffix -kerke (church), such as 's-Heer-Arendskerke on ZuidBeveland.The fact that in the eleventh century ZeelandBewestenschelde was owned by the Count of

Flanders and the Count of Holland alternatelyindicates that, in practice, the area found itself ina kind of power vacuum. Internal defences weretherefore organized by the local lords, each ofwhom built a motte-and-bailey castle, generally asimple moated timber-earth defence. At one timethere were over 135 such small timber-earthcastles in Zeeland. Nowadays no more than 30survive, which are known by the somewhatconfusing name of vliedberg (refuge mound).

The population also had to fight a constant battleagainst the water. Floods - those in 1014 and 1134were recorded as particularly serious - led to thebuilding of dams and dikes. Much of this workwas done by the large Flemish abbeys. Thewritten sources are not terribly informative whenit comes to the old fortress sites in the eleventhand twelfth centuries. The following informationis, however, available about the individual fortresssettlements.

Oostburg The mother church of the north-eastern part of the countship of Flanders, theChurch of St. Eligius, would appear to have stooddirectly to the south of the fortress site in 1038. Itwas a private church belonging to the count,which makes it likely that the fortress, too,belonged to the count. The centre of thesettlement was probably already outside thefortress by 1038.

Middelburg In 1123 the count placed thenorthern part of the fortress site at Middelburg atthe disposal of the Abbey of Our Lady and in themid-thirteenth century, the area directly to thewest was given to a monastery of the Order ofFriars Minor. The manifestations of the count'ssocial and judicial power were then concentratedwithin the fortress. In addition, the fortress alsofunctioned as a spiritual centre. The actual tradesettlement would appear to have had two centresat that time: one to the south-west of the fortressaround the Westmonster Church established therein the tenth century, which had a market function.And one immediately to the north-east of thefortress, centred around the NoordmonsterChurch, which had been founded at the end of theeleventh century, and which was the focus of portactivities.

Oost-Souburg The old parish church of thevillage of Souburg was a daughter church of the

Westmonster church in Middelburg. The Souburgparish covered a large part of south Walcheren.Part of this area probably originally belonged tothe count. The church stood at some distance fromthe fortress in what would later (after 1250)become known as West-Souburg, possibly at thecentral manor house, on the counts estate. Theparish was first mentioned in 1162, but the churchprobably dates from the first half of the eleventhcentury. The church at Oost-Souburg dates from1250, when the parish of (West-) Souburg wassplit into an eastern and western section.

Domburg When, in around the year 1000, theparishes of Oost- and Westkapelle were created asdivisions of the parish of St. Maarten, which thattime covered the whole of Walcheren, the fortress,which had partially disappeared under the sand,was used as the border. The site of the fortresswas assigned to the territory of Oostkapelle. Inthe course of the eleventh century, a settlementcalled Dumburgh infra castellum, 'Dune fortresswithin the fortress' arose on the site of thefortress. The name suggests that the fortress muststill have been partially visible. Subsequently, a settlement known as Dumburghextra castellum, 'Dune fortress outside thefortress', was established directly to the west ofthe former fortress site, in the parish ofWestkapelle. In both places village churches werecreated as divisions of the parishes of Oostkapelleand Westkapelle. The names Domburg binnen(within) and Domburg buiten (outside) thefortress occur for the first time in a charterestablishing the abbey of Middelburg in 1235.Burgh Little mention is made of Burgh in thewritten sources, except that in 1219 a local lordby the name of Wolfert van Burgt was appointed.The parishes of Burgh and Haamstede were firstmentioned in the second quarter of the thirteenthcentury. Both parishes are divisions of the motherchurch of western Schouwen; Haamstede isprobably the eldest of the two. The mother churchprobably stood to the west of Westenschouwen,and is mentioned in a written source concerningpossessions of the Lorsch Abbey in 776.

Kloetinge It is known for a fact that one of theoldest dikes on Zuid-Beveland, dating from themid-twelfth century, bisects the presumed fortresssite. The relatively low location of the sitepossibly explains why no settlement arose at thefortress site in the tenth century. This is why thenatural character of the place where the settlementwas founded eventually determined its name. Thename Clotinge means something like 'placecharacterized by an elevation'. The village wasfirst mentioned in the sources in 1216.

Developments from the thirteenth centuryto the present dayAfter the period when the towns and villages wereestablished, the state of the fortress sites changedlittle. The fortress at Domburg, hidden by dunesand, was forgotten. The circular form of thefortress of Middelburg can still be seen within thestreet plan of Middelburg. The fortress sites atOost-Souburg, Burgh (and Kloetinge) havecontinued to be used for agriculture. Finally, theuninhabited fortress site at Oostburg wasincorporated into the construction of towndefences in the early seventeenth century.

In 1860 the round fortress at Oost-Souburg wasstill regarded as the site of a castle built againstthe Flemish invasions.The true nature of the fortresses has only beenrevealed by the interest of twentieth centuryarchaeologists and historians. The investigationsprompted by this interest have shown that manyremains of the fortresses are still present in thesoil, remains which have much to tell, asdemonstrated by this book.The sites of these, more than a thousand year olddefences, will in future enjoy the status of'archaeological monuments'. A good example ofthe benefits of this new status was thereconstruction in 1994 of the fortress rampart atOost-Souburg in the municipality of Vlissingen.With its double role of archaeological monumentand local park, this site has taken the lead amongthe fortresses in terms of their role in thepreservation of archaeological monuments andthe cultural and historical life of the province ofZeeland.

2 Summaries of the material studies

Medieval Coins from the Beach atDomburg Arent Pol

On the beach at Domburg many early medievalcoins have been picked up in the last fewcenturies. The finds include quite a fewMerovingian and other gold pieces (tremisses)from the sixth and seventh centuries, but the bulkof the coins found there are Merovingian, AngloSaxon and Frisian silver coins (denarii andsceattas) struck over a period of three-quarters ofa century around the year 700. This largediscrepancy need not come as a surprise, for therate of production of the coins in the secondgroup was much higher than that of the goldcoins. The picture, however, changed in theCarolingian period. While the silver coins(denarii) continued to be struck on a large scaleuntil far into the second half of the ninth century,there is a considerable decline in the incidence offinds on the Domburg beach: coins struck before840 abound, whereas coins struck after that dateare much more scarce. This seems to confirm thesupposition that 'Domburg' was severely hit bythe Viking attack of 837, because a similar breakdoes not occur in the general pattern of finds inthe Netherlands around that date.

Plant Remains from a Sewer of theFortress at MiddelburgJanneke Buurman

During the excavation of the early medievalfortress at the Balans in Middelburg the remainsof a wooden sewer containing undisturbed sludgewere found. This sludge has been dated to the lastphase of use of the sewer in the first half of thetenth century. The sludge was subjected to anarchaeobotanical investigation to allow areconstruction of the vegetation andenvironmental conditions in and near the fortressand to provide an insight into the plant componentof the food. A sample from the sludge was sievedusing meshes of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mm. Seeds andfruits appeared to be very well preserved in anuncarbonized condition. Some carbonized plantremains were also present. Pollen analysis wasalso carried out on two small samples from thesludge. ...

It appears that the plant species could not havegrown together, but must originate from verydifferent vegetations. Plants which grow on thehighest parts of the salt marshes are particularlywell represented in the sludge. They indicate thepresence of extensive natural grasslands suitablefor grazing. The pollen analysis also shows a veryopen vegetation. The animals might have beenkept in the settlement within the fortress duringthe night, so that dung passed into the sewer fromthe stables. The plant remains may also derivefrom bedding, hay or sods originating from thehigh salt marshes. Plants from ruderal habitatsmay have grown in the fortress itself on dungheaps, roadsides, waste ground, neglectedgardens, etc. Barley, wheat and linseed/flax weregrown on the highest parts of the salt marshes.Whether or not oats were also cultivated is notclear. Rye may have been imported. The seeds ofarable weeds, together with some chaff remains,may derive from the waste from crop processingactivities. These weeds may also have grown invegetable gardens in the fortress. Theenvironment was very suitable for animalhusbandry, but the archaeobotanical investigationof the sludge from the sewer shows that arablefarming was also practised.

The Early Glazed Pottery found in Oost-SouburgFrans Verhaeghe

This contribution discusses the early white-firedpottery with yellow lead glaze which wasassociated with the settlement within the lateCarolingian circular fortress at Oost-Souburg anddates to the period 900-975. The small, butnevertheless indicative, amount of these waresrepresents 4.6% of the total sherd assemblage andmay well include two separate fabric groups, bothtempered with quartz-like inclusions: a fine-grained fabric with a smooth surface, reminiscentof the typical Andenne-type wares and a slightlycoarser fabric with a more pimply surface. Thefinds comprise a coherent group of specific typesof tableware: medium-sized to fairly large, ovoid-shaped spouted pitchers with small strap-handleson the shoulder and an reverted rim which often

has a lid-seat (at least six and possibly twelveexamples), conical lids (four examples) and smallglobular-shaped drinking vessels (at least sevenand possibly twelve examples). Many of thevessels are decorated with block or diamondrouletting or with applied strips (some with thumbimpressions); only a few are decorated withbosses or incised lines. Cooking pots seem to betotally absent from the assemblage, but thefragmentary state of the finds makes definiteconclusions in this respect difficult.Technical and typological features indicate thatthe finds are closely comparable to others fromAlkmaar, Antwerp, Bruges, Douai, London andelsewhere, a fact which, in addition, confirmstheir chronology. The origins of such features are,however, more difficult to identify. A brief surveyof the main finds in France, England, Belgiumand the Netherlands makes it possible toemphasize that white-fired glazed wares occurredfairly regularly from the late ninth centuryonwards, having been produced in many regions.Two possible sources are identified for the Oost-Souburg and related finds: north-western France(including the Paris area) and the Belgian Meusevalley. A reassessment of some of the earlier findssuggests the Meuse valley as the more likelyprovenance and kilns may quite possibly havebeen located in or near the town of Hoei.The evidence re-establishes the credibility of W.E.Braat's somewhat intuitive hypothesis for theexistence of an early, pre-Andenne group ofglazed wares, characterized by a more lavish useof glaze.

The interpretation of the finds in terms of socio-economic patterns remains difficult. Thesequality, or even luxury, items do not necessarilyindicate the presence of an elite, though they dopoint to a certain degree of well-being. Togetherwith the fairly large amount of other importsfound at Oost-Souburg, mainly Rhenish red-painted wares, they also suggest that the site hadclose links with the new urban network ofinternational exchange which emerged after theViking invasions and after the demise of themajor emporia such as Dorestad.

Many questions related to the production andsocio-economic significance of these waresremain unanswered pending further research(including science-based approaches). Similarly,more detailed comparative work on other early

finds of this type is needed, particularly inFlanders and in the Netherlands, includingattempts at ranking the relevant sites. Togetherwith related finds, the Oost-Souburg examples ofearly glazed wares do point to tenth-centuryprocesses of innovation and behavioural patternswhich were far more complex than waspreviously generally believed. They also show thedangers of linking white-fired, glazed sherdsintuitively to the well-known Andenne-typeproducts and of using them indiscriminately asreliable chronological guide-fossils for the lateeleventh and twelfth centuries.

Slag and Iron-working in Oost-SouburgIneke Joosten

Excavations in the early medieval fortress atOost-Souburg produced 16 kg of slag and 1 kg offurnace lining which was associated with thesettlement from the tenth century. Macroscopicaland chemical analyses of the slag materialshowed that it originated exclusively fromsmithing activities and not from iron production.A perforated clay disc, fired on the outside andvitrified on the inside, was also found. This hadbeen used as a bellows protector. In order toinvestigate the provenance of the iron, ametallographic study of some of the iron objectsfrom the site was undertaken. The slag inclusionsin the iron objects were known to carry thechemical characteristics of the ore from which theiron was produced. Analysis of these inclusionswith a micro-probe indicated high phosphorus andlow manganese contents. Such a chemicalcomposition is thought to be the 'fingerprint' ofbog iron ore.

The Stone Objects from Oost-SouburgHenk Kars

The stone object assemblage excavated at Oost-Souburg (900-975) comprises fragments of fifteenquerns, around 30 whetstones and one fragmentof a bowl or bucket. The querns, which aretypologically comparable to early medievalquerns (as described earlier), are all made oftephrite deriving from the Mayen quarries in theEifel region of Germany. Amongst thewhetstones, one rotary whetstone of new redsandstone (Buntsandstein) was identified. This

sandstone type also derives from the Eifel region,most probably from a quarry south of Aachen.The other whetstones are bar-shaped and mostlyheavily used; three of them have a hole boredthrough them. Most of these whetstones are ofquartz phyllite. Whereas one may have comefrom south-eastern England, most are probablyfrom quarries in Telemark, southern Norway. Therelatively high frequency of good qualitywhetstones at Oost-Souburg is linked to forgingactivities.The most intriguing find is the fragment ofsoapstone that must have been part of a largebowl or a bucket. Although soapstone finds arerare in the Netherlands, they are more common inareas with natural deposits of soapstone, such assouthern Scandinavia and the Alpine regions. Onthe basis of a comparison between the materialfrom Oost-Souburg and that from the earlymedieval trading site of Haithabu near Schleswigin Germany, it is concluded that the Oost-Souburgspecimen originally derived from either southernNorway or Sweden.

Objects of Bone, Antler and Horn fromOost-SouburgRoel C.C.M. Lauwerier

The 129 objects found in the fortress ofOostSouburg, mainly combs, needles, needle-shaped objects, spindle whorls, three-prongedobjects, skates, and spikes from skating sticks,give a picture of the rich variety of object typesand decoration current in the tenth century. All thecombs are composite types and, except for one,are all made of antler. They can be roughlydivided into four types with very diverse patternsof decoration. The fact that red deer was notindigenous on the island of Walcheren, incombination with the presence of semi-finishedcomb tooth plates and waste from antler working,leads to the conclusion that antler was imported asraw material for the on-site production or repairof combs. This does not exclude the possibilitythat finished combs could also have beenimported from elsewhere. The very variety incomb types found, however, makes it unlikelythat a specialised craftsman worked within thefortress. The variability, the half-finished state ofsome objects and the waste material can be betterexplained by assuming that the combs are theproducts of itinerant craftsman who sold their

wares in the fortress. In addition, it is possiblethat combs were acquired via the market. There isno evidence to suggest that the handled combsfrom Oost-Souburg were imported from Frieslandor England, as has been put forward for handledcombs found elsewhere.

As with the combs, the antler spindle whorls, or atleast the raw material for their production, musthave been imported from elsewhere. The varyingdimensions and weights of the spindle whorlspoints to the spinning of threads of differentthicknesses. The absence of loom weights, in aperiod when the technique of knitting was not yetknown in north-western Europe, suggests that theinhabitants of OostSouburg probably traded woolin its spun form. The thirteen needles found areall made from the long bones of mammals. Aswell as needles used for stitching together verycoarse material, or those used in the making ofbeehives or for mending fishing nets as eyelessneedle shaped objects have been found. Thesewere possibly used as hairpins, styli, or utensilsfor either needlework or leatherworking.

The discovery of production waste means thethree-pronged objects were certainly made withinthe settlement. The function of these objects isunclear. Since the inhabitants of OostSouburglived, in part, from the production of wool, onecould speculate that these comb-like objects hadsomething to do with its processing.The bone skates from Oost-Souburg were allactually used as skates rather than sledge runners.They were made from various bones (the radius,metacarpus and metatarsus of horse and cattle)and can be categorized into different types. Sometypes were made to be used without the need forsecuring ties. Other types were clearly used withties. Yet others were possibly only tied on at theheel so that they couldn't slip away. Anotherpossibility for this latter type is that they werealso used without ties and the naturally occurringor drilled hole under the heel merely allowed theskates to be bound together with a cord. Thesecoarsely-made objects in which, for example, theholes were made with a knife or another sharptool and not with a drill, were clearly notprofessionally made but rather home produced.The same is true of the coarsely-finished spikes.These are probably spikes from skating stickswhich were used for pushing off while skating. Afew sawn-off horn-cores indicate the use of horn.

Distribution and Function of Bone Three-pronged ObjectsHerman W. van Klaveren

During the excavations at the site of the earlymedieval fortress of Oost-Souburg ten specimensof worked animal bone were found, which belongto a single, three-pronged, artefacts. Similarartefacts are known from parts of the Netherlands,Belgium, France and Germany. Their name andfunction are unknown. The number of specimensfound is steadily increasing.The most common material used in theirproduction is a cattle metapodium; other bones dohowever occur. The form is tapering andresembles a 'D' in cross-section. It carries fromtwo to four, usually three, teeth on top; therounded side is mostly decorated in a simple way.Wear is clearly visible, but only on the outside.An enquiry was made into the limited availabledata concerning their distribution, context, datingand possible function. Dating falls roughlybetween the late ninth and the twelfth century orpossibly even somewhat later. These artefacts canoccur in any kind of settlement of this period andarea. Their name and function could not bededuced from archaeological records. Written orpictorial evidence or parallels from other periodsin bone or any other material are not known. Theymight have served some purpose in the workingof perishable materials such as leather, wool, flaxand the like.

Stock breeding in Oost-SouburgRoel C.G.M. Lauwerier

The information in tables 23 and 24 gives asurvey of the bone material found in the tenthcentury circular fortress of Oost-Souburg. Nosieved samples were taken which means that littleinformation is available pertaining to fowling andfishing activities. The remains of red deer are allparts of antler and are mostly found in the form of

worked tools. The meat of red deer was not eatenby the inhabitants of the site and the animals donot appear to have been hunted since they wereprobably not indigenous to Walcheren. Theworked antler objects, or the raw material, wouldtherefore have been imported from elsewhere.

Cats and dogs were also not eaten by theinhabitants. The bones indicate great variability inthe size and appearance of the dogs. The biggestdog, perhaps a watchdog or sheepdog, had aheight of 65-68 cm. The smallest dog, with aheight of only 23-25 cm, had legs bent like adachshund and was possibly used for huntingfoxes. The horses, with a height of about 138 cm,were rather small. As well as being used for ridingand as draught animals, the horses were possiblybred for the market. Horse meat was not eaten,but the bones were used for making bone skates.The cattle, with a mean height of 115 cm, weremainly kept for their meat, but possibly also formilk. A number of sheep were clearly slaughteredyoung for their meat. The greater part of the flock,however, was kept primarily for wool and onlyconsumed after some years. The sheep wereprobably not milked. Goats were kept for thispurpose on a small scale, as is indicated in thebone assemblage from the circular fortress ofMiddelburg, dating from the first half of the tenthcentury. For purposes of consumption, beef wasfar more important than mutton: expressed inweight, probably three or four times moreimportant. The contribution of pork to the dietwas markedly small. The overall picture given bythe bone assemblage for the inhabitants ofOostSouburg is, in the first place, not that of agroup of shepherds, but much more that ofstockbreeders. It is concluded that there musthave been a surplus of animal products. Horseswere possibly bred for the market and theinhabitants sold, amongst other things, wool,including spun wool, indicated by the presence ofspindle whorls and the absence of loom weightson the site.