Macrolithic stone artefacts from Swifterbant and Michelsberg Culture sites in the Lower Scheldt valley 139 Notae Praehistoricae, 38/2018 : 139-148 Macrolithic stone artefacts from Swifterbant and Michelsberg Culture sites in the Lower Scheldt valley (NW Belgium) and their significance for understanding interregional contact and exchange during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition Liesbeth MESSIAEN, Tim DE KOCK, Roland DREESEN, Éric GOEMAERE & Philippe CROMBÉ 1. Introduction The macrolithic (non-flint) stone assemblages of four wetland sites from the sandy low- lands of northern Belgium were studied as part of a larger project investigating all material culture remains in view of understanding the neolithization process of the Lower Scheldt basin. The sites of Doel, Bazel and Melsele are located in the vicinity of the river Scheldt on sealed Pleistocene coversand dunes and natural levees (Fig. 1), and yielded large num- bers of pottery fragments, lithics (flint, Wommersom and Tienen quartzarenite and vari- Fig. 1 – Location of studied sites and approximate outcrop locations of raw materials discussed in the text, based on Dusar et al., 2009; Gullentops & Wouters, 1996; Pirson et al., 2008.