Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 4-2 (April 2013)Annet Nieuwhof: Anglo-Saxon immigration or continuity? Ezinge and the coastal area of the northern Netherlands in the Migration Period.

5.2 Midlaren-De Bloemert

As many as 563 individual pots^[13] (based on rim sherds as well as identifiable wall sherds) from the 4th and 5th centuries were found during the excavation of the settlement of Midlaren-De Bloemert (fig. 10; Nieuwhof 2008a; 2011). This assemblage confirms the continuing development of northern Drenthe pottery that was recognized by Taayke (1996, V, 180). The angular forms of the middle Roman Iron Age, with the Driesum-style as latest representative, gradually developed into K4- and G7-forms with S-shaped profiles. Decoration on the pottery of the middle Roman Iron Age is rather formal; it developed into the expressive and curvy decoration of the Anglo-Saxon style, which was applied to indigenous forms, especially beakers. Beakers of types Dr. K4c and -d and large pots of types Dr. G7b, -c and -d are most common. There is a small number of narrow-mouthed vessels in Anglo-Saxon style and Schalenurnen (fig. 10, numbers 796/739; 3816; 88A/79). One fragment of a vessel in late-Anglo-Saxon style was found in Midlaren, with Hessens-Schortens-type pottery (fig. 11).

The pottery from the nearby cemeteries differs from the pottery found in the settlement. In the cemeteries, pottery in clearly Anglo-Saxon style is dominant. Lanting and Van der Plicht (2010, 142; 2012, fig. 3) provide dates for a number of these pots. The earliest are dated to the 4th century (fig. 14). One of them, a beautifully decorated Buckelurne (no. 88A/79; fig. 10), was found during the excavation of 2005 (Tuin 2008). The others come from the cemetery that was discovered in 1856. The finds from this cemetery consist of two Schalenurnen and at least fifteen decorated pots of Plettke types B2/A6 and A7 (figs. 12 and 13).

The indigenous development of pottery forms and decoration shows that habitation was continuous in Midlaren. This is confirmed by the number of settlement features from this period (Nicolay 2008b). An overview of the number of pottery finds through time (fig. 15) indicates that the population probably did decrease at the end of the Roman Iron Age, but habitation did not come to an end. In the early Middle Ages, the number of houses and other settlement features does not change; as in Ezinge, the smaller number of pottery finds from this period is undoubtedly caused by a smaller number of pots per household.

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