Preserving the Nieuwdonk collection, a hidden Pleistocene mammal assemblage from the Flemish Valley (Berlare - Belgium)

Abstract

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the municipality of Berlare (East Flanders, Belgium) acquired an important collection of Late-Pleistocene remains from the former Nieuwdonk quarry (near Uitbergen and Overmere, province of East Flanders). This previously private collection comprises a diverse assemblage of Pleistocene mammals from the Flemish valley and covers an important part of Belgium's Quaternary fossil record, offering a window into the regional biodiversity of the last Ice Age and Interglacials (ca. 10 Ka - 126 Ka). Within the collection, various remains (318 specimens) of roughly 20 different taxa are represented, as well as reworked Tertiary ichnofossils and Stone Age artefacts, including a bone tool. Although sampling bias occurred during collecting in the 1970s, it still counts as one of the most complete Pleistocene collections from this classic location within the Scheldt basin and Unesco Global Geopark (Schelde Delta). As a result of years of poor storage conditions, almost all of the specimens suffered from desiccation and pyrite decay. A restoration project was set up during the coronavirus pandemic with restrictions imposed by the Belgian government on daily activities. In this article, we focus on the lessons we learned from both the restoration and inventorisation project during the pandemic, as well as the challenges faced in transitioning a former private collection into a public one.