Opgespoorde sporen van bewoning. Een archeologische, historische en geografische interpretatie van het laatmiddeleeuwse landschap van de Noordoostpolder

This paper focuses on the historical geography of the Noordoostpolder region, a reclaimed part of the former Zuiderzee in the centre of the Netherlands. The flat and open landscape of this region hides a dynamic history: from land into sea into polder. It is commonly accepted that the area was inhabited in the late Middle Ages, but this research proves that habitation was not limited to a couple of sites on the islands Urk, Schokland and the coastal zone. The central question addressed in this research therefore is: ‘what is known of the medieval landscape of the Noordoostpolder region and to what extend were humans present within the region?’ The research has an interdisciplinary nature in which archaeological, (landscape) historical and geological datasets are combined in a spatial environment. The results of the research contribute to the reconstruction of the maritime cultural landscape of the former Zuiderzee.