20th Conference of the IWGP
Groningen, The Netherlands
Excursions
Clay excursion
The northern parts of the present city are characterized by much younger Holocene soils. These are the most southern parts of fluvial and marine deposits which continue all the way to the Wadden Sea coast. These, even for Dutch standards, very flat areas were subject to flooding before the construction of permanent sea walls. In these days, people built their villages on artificial dwelling mounds. In the clay excursion, we will get to know this landscape, as they say in Groningen ‘van Stad tot Wad’: from the city to the Wadden Sea. The excursion will include archaeology from the Iron Age until the modern era. We will also visit the World Heritage Wadden Sea area both by foot, exploring the wonderful salt-marsh flora on the fringes of the sea itself, and by boat.
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Sand excursion
A characteristic feature of the southern parts of Groningen is the Drents plateau, which stretches from the province of Drenthe to the south, towards the city of Groningen in the north. The plateau reaches up to 20 meters above sea level and was formed during the Penultimate Glacial Period, while the sandy soils covering the plateau were deposited during the Last Glacial Period. The melting of land ice during the penultimate interglacial carved the landscape, leaving behind sandy ridges and stream valleys, including the UNESCO Global Geopark “De Hondsrug” and the national park “Drentsche Aa”. During the excursion, we will explore the rich cultural heritage, traditional management practices, and picturesque flora of this ancient landscape.
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