Cite this as: Bouwmeester, J. 2025 Urban Archaeology at a Crossroads, Internet Archaeology 70. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.7
Since the Second World War, archaeological remains in towns have come under increasing pressure: major construction works have led to considerable degradation of the archaeological record. From the 1970s onwards, there has been growing awareness of the vulnerability of archaeology in old towns, yet it was not until the introduction of the Malta legislation in 1992 that archaeological research in towns really took off. In the Netherlands, however, application of the legislation also has an obvious downside. With research being mainly documentary in character, synthesising research is lagging behind. In addition, it is not always clear where within the 19th- and 20th-century urban expansion archaeology can be expected, and what type of remains there will be. The effect of construction on the remains has also remained unclear for a long period of time. Research by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands has provided important insight into this. As a result, this article provides an agenda to address some of the key challenges faced by the field of urban archaeology.
Corresponding author: Jeroen Bouwmeester
J.bouwmeester@cultureelerfgoed.nl
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE)
Figure 1: A graph showing the number of excavations that took place in towns between 1982 and 2022, plotted against time and by type of excavator (J. Bouwmeester, RCE).
Figure 2: A graph showing the number of excavations that took place in towns between 1982 and 2022, plotted against time and by research type (J. Bouwmeester, RCE).
Figure 3: The archaeological heritage management cycle by Willems (Willems 1997, 4), adapted for 21st-century conditions (after Bouwmeester and Belford 2021, 13).
Figure 4: A map of Deventer around 1560, by Jacob van Deventer.
Figure 5: A map of Deventer showing its urban expansion, different zones, and the location (in red) of sites derived from the Jacob van Deventer map (J. Bouwmeester/M. Kosian, RCE).
Figure 6: The siege of Deventer by the Count of Rennenberg (1578), detail (Anonymous, Museum de Waag Deventer, https://deventer.adlibhosting.com/ais6_museumdewaag/Details/museum/4140) [Last accessed: 10 February 2025]
Figure 7: The most common foundations underneath buildings in relation to archaeological remains (Bouwmeester et al. 2017, 150).
Figure 8: (A) A map of Deventer showing buildings in red (A); (B) a map of Deventer showing the extent of urban developments; and (C) a map of Deventer showing density of buildings in different areas (J. Bouwmeester, RCE/M. Kosian, RCE/M. Haars, BCL Archaeological Support).
Table 1: An overview of the structures found around Alkmaar, Nijmegen, Deventer, Zutphen, Arnhem, Sneek, Doesburg, Vlaardingen and Wijk bij Duurstede.
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