Archaeological features and absolute dating of historical road tracks in the North-western European Sand Belt.

ABSTRACT It is very difficult to obtain absolute historical datings of road features found at archaeological excavations. Nevertheless, various physical dating methods have been developed for this purpose, including Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). After a small-scale archaeological campaign, samples from a medieval trading route in the Veluwe area (central Netherlands) on sandy soils have been dated with OSL, in order to compare these with archaeological and historical data of the same route. The absolute datings of tracks of this so-called Harderwijkerweg appeared to correspond largely with the archaeological interpretations and historical sources (datings between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries). The soil profiles also revealed new insights into the diachronical development of the excavated tracks. It was concluded that the combination of archaeological excavation, OSL dating and historical archive research could be a reliable method for the dating and contextualisation of historical roads on Pleistocene sandy soils.