But after all these years of strolling, searching and picking up, it is not done by finding traces of Neanderthals? Niekus is convinced that there is more: “A part is still quite deep in the bottom, so there is undoubtedly more.”
This year he once again proved that the soil still reveals beautiful historical artifacts. “This year in February I found a very nice fist ax during a working visit with the municipality and provincial archaeologists, completely complete. I suddenly picked it up.”
On the plot, this and next year, new archaeological research will be conducted by Stichting Steentijd Research Nederland (Stone) together with Archaeological Research Office, which also involves Niekus. According to him, the research, commissioned by the province of Drenthe, is not so much about finding stones.
“In the second concentration, we drilled soil with sampling to determine the structure of the soil. There we found so -called stream dating editions. We hope to find very much remains of twigs or pollen, so that you can better date the soil and therefore the finds.”
“We do have an idea how old the fist axes are, because we compare them with French finds that can be date. In the northern part of Europe there are few locations with good dating, so Peest could be a very important development in it. Finding a piece of bone from a Neanderthal is my biggest wish,” says a hopeful niekus.
The fact that the province has now purchased the land is a good thing for Niekus. “I think this is a golden move. This location deserves a certain degree of protection. The province of Drenthe has Neanderthal research as one of the spearheads in the policy. I think it is the only province that is so committed to this. The purchase of this field offers us the opportunity to do targeted research together. And it helps to preserve the location, also for future generations.