News from the north: A late Middle Palaeolithic site rich in handaxes on the DrentheeFrisian till plateau near Assen, the Netherlands; first results of a trial excavation M.J.L.Th. Niekus a, * , R.T. van Balen b, c , J.M.G. Bongers d , J.H.A. Bosch c , D.C. Brinkhuizen e , H. Huisman f , J. Jelsma d , L. Johansen g , C. Kasse b , S.J. Kluiving b, h , H. Paas i , E. Schrijer j , D. Stapert g a Stichting STONE / Foundation for Stone Age research in the Netherlands, c/o, Lopendediep 28, 9712 NW Groningen, The Netherlands b Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands c TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands d De Steekproef B.V., Hogeweg 3, 9801 TG Zuidhorn, The Netherlands e Stichting STONE / Foundation for Stone Age research in the Netherlands, c/o, Koninginnelaan 18-A, 9717 BT Groningen, The Netherlands f Riemsnijder 39, 9301 BT Roden, The Netherlands g Ossewei 6, 9751 SC Haren, The Netherlands h Department of Archaeology, Ancient History of Mediterranean Studies and Near Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105,1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands i Groene Dijk 1, 9406 XM Assen, The Netherlands j Rijnstraat 8, 9725 ET Groningen, The Netherlands article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Northern Netherlands Glacial till residue Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian of Acheulian tradition type A (MTA-A) H€ alleflinta Apprentice flint-knappers abstract The first Middle Palaeolithic artefacts to turn up in situ in boulder sand (erosional residue of glacial till) were found in 2011. The open-air site is located on the Saalian till plateau in the northern Netherlands, not far from the city of Assen, the capital of the province of Drenthe. The finds from a trial excavation comprise flakes, blades, cores and retouched tools. The latter category consists predominantly of han- daxes, but a few side-scrapers and backed knives are also present. Apart from erratic Baltic flint, of which most artefacts are made, raw materials include quartzitic sandstone, quartzite and, remarkably, h€ alleflinta (‘rock-flint’). The assemblage is exceptional because of the many handaxes that dominate the tool spectrum, leading the authors to suggest that butchering activities played a major role in the formation of the assemblage. One of the reasons for Neanderthals to frequent this location, which is situated near a stream valley close to the confluence with a small tributary, might be the presence of relatively good- quality flint nodules and fairly large slabs of h€ alleflinta. The site is one of the northernmost Middle Palaeolithic occurrences in the Netherlands e in Europe as well e and obviously postdates the Saalian glaciation (MIS 6). ‘Assen’ most likely dates to MIS 3 or MIS 5a/5c of the Weichselian. The presence of many relatively small (sub)cordiform and (sub)triangular handaxes indicates a cultural affiliation with the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition, Type A. The site is situated near the northern limit of the occu- pation range of Middle Palaeolithic hominins, and the lithic assemblage is comparable to that from several other sites in the northern part of the North European Plain. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction to the Middle Palaeolithic in the Netherlands 1.1. Geological background and the archaeological record The northern Netherlands are situated along the northern fringe of the Neanderthal world and are virtually a terra incognita with respect to Middle Palaeolithic settlement (Fig. 1). Data on hominin occupation postdating the Saalian ice cap (MIS 6: c. 150 ka), are * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: marcelniekus@gmail.com (M.J.L.Th. Niekus), r.t.van.balen@vu. nl (R.T. van Balen), jaap.bongers@desteekproef.nl (J.M.G. Bongers), aleid.bosch@tno. nl (J.H.A. Bosch), bmt.dick@planet.nl (D.C. Brinkhuizen), h.huisman3@hetnet.nl (H. Huisman), johan.jelsma@desteekproef.nl (J. Jelsma), l.johansen@planet.nl (L. Johansen), c.kasse@vu.nl (C. Kasse), s.j.kluiving@vu.nl (S.J. Kluiving), henk- paas@hotmail.com (H. Paas), elma_schrijer@hotmail.com (E. Schrijer), d.stapert@ planet.nl (D. Stapert). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.06.034 1040-6182/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2015) 1e21 Please cite this article in press as: Niekus, M.J.L.T., et al., News from the north: A late Middle Palaeolithic site rich in handaxes on the DrentheeFrisian till plateau near Assen, the Netherlands; first results of a trial excavation, Quaternary International (2015), http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.06.034