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

- 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

- 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

This book is the culmination of the research
project launched in 1990 by the State Service for
Archaeological Investigations (ROB) on the early
medieval occupation history of Zeeland in
general, and more particular on the circular
fortresses and their later occupation.
An attempt has been made to present all the
archaeological and historical information
currently available, as well as the relationship
between them. The book also contains the final
elaboration of the results of the excavations at the
fortress of Oost-Souburg, and a series of studies
concerning the material culture that give us a
better insight into how the early medieval society
in Zeeland functioned.
The main results are reviewed briefly below.

As shall be explained below, the province of
Zeeland has at least five fortresses that were
constructed in the last quarter of the ninth century.
Their locations, where traces of some of them are
still present below ground, are all typified by the
toponymbu rg in the present place name:
Oostburg in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, Oost-Souburg,
Middelburg and Domburg on the island of
Walcheren and Burgh on the island of Schouwen-
Duiveland. A sixth fortress might be located near
to the village of Kloetinge on the island of Zuid-
Beveland .

attention to the fortresses on Walcheren and their
relationship with the earliest history of the island.
He convincingly linked the circular site on the
border of the late medieval town centre of Oost-
Souburg and of the double circle located within
the street plan of Middelburg with the
construction of fortresses in the Early Middle
Ages, which is mentioned in the historical sources
fort the Flanders and northern France region.
Huizinga presented sound arguments for the
existence of abu rg at Domburg, although its
precise location could not be determined. He
called upon archaeologists to substantiate or
dispute his conclusions. The archaeologist W.C.
Braat of the Archaeological Museum in Leiden
took up the challenge. With a series of trial
excavations carried out between 1939 and 1952
he demonstrated conclusively that there had been
fortresses and moats at Oost-Souburg,
Middelburg and Burgh. The dating of the few
finds roughly concurred with the historical dating
to the ninth or tenth century.

In 1969 it became necessary to conduct an
archaeological investigation into the western half
of the fortress at Oost-Souburg. The investigation
was carried out by the ROB and was led by the
then provincial archaeologist, J.A. Trimpe Burger.
The excavations continued until 1971 and
produced a wealth of information, particularly
about the later settlement situated within the
ramparts.

In view of the historical significance of the
fortresses location, the first, preliminary
publication of the excavations in 1973 referred to
the study published in 1965 by H. van Werveke,
who had assumed that the Zeeland fortresses
formed part of the line of defences that extended
from northern France to Zeeland. This theory was
based largely on a historical reference to
fortifications erected prior to 891 (castella ibi

From 1990 to 1994, the ROB undertook a new
project, led by provincial archaeologist R.M. van
Heeringen, focusing on the early medieval
occupation history of Zeeland. The fortresses
were one of the main subjects of study. The
project involved a problem-oriented archaeo-
logical investigation designed to increase our
knowledge of the fortress sites. To this end,

necessary rescue excavations were carried out at
Burgh, Domburg, Middelburg and Oostburg. One
of the most remarkable results of the field work
was the discovery of the fortress at Domburg, and
possibly a fortress at Kloetinge. Another aspect of
the project involved collating all the available
information on the occupation history.

Independently of the ROB project, the historian
P.A. Henderikx recently undertook a study of the
early medieval occupation history of Walcheren.
He has argued that the northern French, Flemish
and Zeeland fortresses did not actually form a
chain along the coast, but in fact can be divided
into groups. They were concentrated in places
where the seafaring Normans generally entered a
country: at points where large rivers flowed into
the sea. For instance, the fortress at Oostburg is
situated on one of the two estuaries of the Zwin,
and the other Zeeland fortresses are on the estuary
of the river Scheldt, which flowed towards the sea
along what is now the Eastern Scheldt. This new
interpretation of the historical facts once more
underlines the need for an indepen-dent
archaeological dating of the construction of the
Zeeland fortresses.

With the exception of a narrow strip comprising
beach barriers and Older Dunes along the coast,
the whole of Zeeland was flooded after the
Roman period. Geologists refer to this as the
Dunkirk II transgression phase. Early medieval
occupation, in the sixth and seventh centuries, has
been established only in the elongated dune
landscape along the coast. As a result of erosion,
in many places this original landscape can be
reconstructed only on paper. In the course of the
ninth century, and possibly as early as the end of
the eighth century, a number of areas of marine
sandy clay and clay had silted up to such a level
that people were able to settle on them. Initially,
visits to the 'new land' would have been only
temporary. But since the huge salt marsh area was
naturally highly suitable for the raising of sheep,
in particular, and the mineral subsoil was found to
be very fertile for arable use, the human presence
there soon became a permanent feature. The
prospect of salt extraction would also have
attracted newcomers. Unfortunately, we have no
precise archaeological dating for this pioneering
phase on the salt marshes.

The oldest archaeological traces are layers of
manure of unknown date, which have been
observed under a number of small terps that can
be roughly dated to the tenth century although
their exact age is uncertain. The layers of manure
might indicate places where sheep were kept.
No settlements are known from this period. One
may assume, by way of a working hypothesis,
that the activity observed does not pre-date the
ninth century. However, there are references to
salt marsh meadows and salt extraction in eighth
century texts. It seems obvious to assume that the
huge salt marsh area was especially exploited
from the occupa-tion centres along its edges, thus
from the Wa1cheren and Schouwen dune area,
and from the Flemish sandy area..

There was an important settlement in the Older
Dunes at Domburg from the sixth to the early
ninth century. The remains of this settlement and
the associated cemetery(ies) were visible for 600
m along the high tide line on the beach in 1866.
Remains of wooden houses and numerous graves
with coffins were recorded by amateur
archaeologist avant la lettre I.C. Frederiks from
Oostkapelle. Unfortunately, no attention was paid
to the dating of any of these remains or their
interrelationship. Attention was subsequently
focused mainly on washed up coins and other,
mainly metal, objects. Few of the other artefacts
found, including fragments of pottery and stone
objects, were collected. Study of the coins, more
than a thousand in number, has shown that the
settlement existed from the sixth to the ninth
century. The settlement might be theWal ic hru m
mentioned in the sources; the name literally
means 'wet sandy ridge'. The name Walcheren
eventually came to be applied to the entire island.

As ane mpor ium, the settlement was involved in
long-distance trade between the Frisian area and
England, among others, and its status can be
compared with that of Dorestad in the central
Netherlands river area. A renewed study of the
youngest coins, Carolingian denarii, carried out
by the numismatist A. Pol of the Cabinet of Coins
and Medals in Leiden, has suggested that
Wa1cheren had become less important by the
mid-ninth century. Clearly, this may well have
been linked to the historically recorded Viking
attack on Wa1cheren in 837.

As we stated above, the island had as edi tio , or
military settlement, although no evidence of
physical defences were found under the
settlement remains on the beach. There is at any
rate no link with the fortress at Domburg. These
defences lie around a kilometre to the south-west
and are almost half a century younger.
There must also have been a significant site on
the island of Schouwen, since similar finds were
found on the beach on the other side of the
Scheldt estuary. Identification withSc alt he i m
mentioned in the early medieval sources however
is nothing more than speculation.

From the end of the seventh century the Zeeland
coastal area formed part of the Frankish empire.
Little is known for certain about how the emperor
Charlemagne (768-814) and his successor Louis
the Pious (814-840) ruled the province of
Zeeland, situated as it was on the periphery of
their empire. In principle, the emperor delegated
some of his power to a count, who held sway over
a certain area of one or morepa g i (countships).
We know the name of one countship in the
Zeeland coastal area, the pagus Rodaninsis. This
countship, which was situated in what is now
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, was named after the river
Rodana, for which Aardenburg(Ro d en b u rg ) was
also named.

The countship occurs in historical sources
between 707 and 840. We also know the name of
a count, Eggihard, who was mentioned in 837 in
relation to the island of Wa1cheren.

The king possessed a number of estates which
were managed by bailiffs. The management of the
countship and the king's lands was probably in the
hands of one person, the count. The sources also
refer to homines franci, who played a role in the
military defence of strategically located areas.
The Vikings first attacked the Frankish empire in
810. Charlemagne had watches set up along all
the estuaries, including the Scheldt estuary, and
built ships to stop the Vikings landing. In 811 he
even visited Ghent personally to inspect the
progress of the work.

In 820 thirteen Viking ships appeared off the
Flemish coast. The defence system appears to
have worked, since the Vikings were forced into
retreat by men who had entrenched themselves in