ABSTRACT
In the northern part of the Netherlands a number of frost mound remnants are known. Some of these have been interpreted as pingo scars which have historically been regarded as good habitation locations for hunter-gatherers because of their relatively high position in the landscape and their easy access to water. The existence of a direct association between the higher ridges, known as ramparts, of the pingo scars and finds from early prehistory has been a common idea in archaeology in the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Indisputably, pingo scars provide an excellent base for environmental reconstruction as they have been filled with organic sediments from the early Holocene onwards and have proven to be an effective pollen trap, making them indispensable for local palynological research.
In a recent study the connection between archaeological remains, pingo scars and the corresponding landscape was investigated, resulting in an unexpected outcome. The historically assumed association between the pingo scars as isolated features and human occupation thereof seems to be nonexistent when researched on a metadata scale. It was concluded that other parameters lie at the basis of this assumption. The human occupation and its interaction with the landscape seem to be based on much larger environmental elements than these specific features themselves.
