European Patent Office Project Location Rijswijk Municipality of Rijswijk preliminary archaeological study a field survey conducted for inventory purposes (exploratory phase)

<p>February 2012 RAAP Archeologisch Adviesbureau undertook a preliminary archaeological study in the form of a field survey conducted for inventory purposes (exploratory phase) in relation to the soil interventions that would result from the proposed construction/reconstruction operations at the project location in the municipality of Rijswijk.</p><p>During the field survey a total of 60 boreholes were drilled distributed over rows at roughly 25 m intervals. The general structure of the subsurface at the project location is as follows, from top to bottom: a stratum exhibiting (anthropogenic) fill and disturbance; the original surface level (topsoil); Gantel deposits; peat; lagoon deposits; dune sand; and sand. North(-west) of the line between boreholes 20 and 32, the Gantel channel has cut its way down deeply into the underlying beach deposits and lagoon deposits, and no peat and/or dune sand was found within the boreholes here.</p><p>Layers with good archaeological prospects:</p><p>Iron Age and Roman period - Gantel deposits<br>The survey indicates that the project location harbours a possibly intact cultural landscape that was presumably conducive to habitation in the Roman period. Soil interventions extending to depths greater than about 1 m -NAP may reach the archaeological level and thus could constitute a threat.</p><p>Neolithic - dune deposits<br>The potential archaeological level of the dune landscape (Neolithic) has been encountered at about 4.2 and 4.4 m -NAP in a few isolated locations. No significantly developed dunes constituting an attractive location for habitation or use (agriculture) seem to have formed upon the naturally undulating lagoon or beach landscape. The probability of finding dunes in which remains of (largescale) settlement sites from the Neolithic period might be present should be adjusted downwards (to “low”) for the southern part of the project location (car park level), for the area with high-rise buildings and for the area north(-west) of the line between boreholes 20 and 32, within reach of the deeply incised Gantel channel. Dunes may well be present in the non-built-up parts of the project location, particularly underneath the tennis courts. The boring system used (rows of boreholes) does not provide enough certainty to conclusively rule out the presence of dunes here or to systematically map them. The “moderately high” probability of encountering (large-scale) settlement sites should be upheld here.</p>