Artificial dwelling hill
Encyclopedia
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
, created to provide safe ground during high tide
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...
and river flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s.
These hills occur in the coastal parts of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(in the provinces of Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
, Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
and Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
), in southern part of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where, before dikes were made, tides interfered with daily life. They also occur in the Rhine and Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
river plains in the central part of the Netherlands.
In Friesland
In the Dutch province of Friesland, an artificial dwelling hill is called terp (plural terpen). Terp means "village" in Old FrisianOld Frisian
Old Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Weser on the European North Sea coast. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland also spoke Old Frisian but no medieval texts of this area are known...
and is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
thorp
Thorp
Thorp is a Middle English word for a hamlet or small village, from Old English /Old Norse þorp . There are many place names in England with the suffix "-thorp" or "-thorpe". Most are in East Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk but some are in Surrey.Old English þorp is cognate...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
torp, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Dorf, modern West Frisian
West Frisian language
West Frisian is a language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. West Frisian is the name by which this language is usually known outside the Netherlands, to distinguish it from the closely related Frisian languages of Saterland Frisian and North Frisian,...
doarp and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
dorp. The better word for these mounds would therefore be wierde or Wurt, but terp has become the predominant term.
Historical Frisian settlements were built on artificial terpen up to 15 m height to be safe from the floods in periods of rising sea levels. The first terp-building period dates from 500 BC, the second from 200 BC
200 BC
Year 200 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Cotta...
to 50 BC. In the mid 3rd century, the rise of sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
was so dramatic that the clay district was deserted, and settlers returned only around AD 400. A third terp-building period dates from AD 700
700
Year 700 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- North America :* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex...
(Old Frisian
Old Frisian
Old Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Weser on the European North Sea coast. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland also spoke Old Frisian but no medieval texts of this area are known...
times). This ended with the coming of the dike somewhere around 1200. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many terps were destroyed to use the fertile soil they contained to fertilize farm fields. Terpen were usually well fertilized by the decay of the rubbish and personal waste deposited by their inhabitants during centuries. The largest terp, seen on the picture to the right, is still preserved.
Wierden in the province of Groningen
In the Dutch province of Groningen an artificial dwelling hill is referred to as wierde (plural wierden). Like in Friesland the first wierde-building occurred 500 BC or maybe earlier.List of artificial dwelling mounds
Place names in the Frisian coastal region ending in -werd, -ward, -uert etc. refer to the fact that the village was built on an artificial dwelling mound (wierde). The greater part of the terp-villages though have names ending in -um, from -heem or -hiem, meaning (farm)yard, grounds. There are a few village names in Friesland ending with -terp (e.g. UreterpUreterp
Ureterp is a village consisting of about 5000 inhabitants in the municipality of Opsterland in the east of Friesland in the Netherlands.-External links:* *...
), referring not to a dwelling mound but merely to the Old Frisian word for village. The first element of the toponyms is quite often a person's name or is simply describing the environmental features of the settlement (e.g. Rasquert (prov. Groningen) Riazuurđ: wierde with reed, where reed grows).
Some 1,200 terpen are known in Groningen and Friesland only, varying from abandoned settlements, mounds with only one or a few farmhouses, until larger villages and old towns. A few of them are listed below.
Friesland
- Aalsum
- BolswardBolswardBolsward is a city in Súdwest Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward is just short of a population of 10,000.- History :The town is founded on three artificial dwelling hills, of which the first was built some time before Christ....
(Boalsert) - BritsumBritsumThe village of Britsum is sited within the municipality of Leeuwarderadeel , in the Netherlands. Britsum was built on an artificial bank running along the eastern side of the former Middelzee. The church, built around 1300, is also located on this bank. It has a population of about 1100 citizens...
- CornwerdCornwerdCornwerd is a small village in Wûnseradiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 100 citizens . Cornwerd is the location of the most westerly windmill in Friesland, De Cornwerdermolen....
(Koarnwert) - DokkumDokkumDokkum is a Dutch fortified town in the municipality of Dongeradeel in the province of Friesland. It has 13,145 inhabitants . The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the bolwerken . - History :...
- EeEe, DongeradeelEe is a village in the Dongeradeel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It is located east from the town of Dokkum, on the N 358 road. Ee has approximately 780 inhabitants ....
- FerwertFerwertFerwert is a small village in Ferwerderadiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 1900 citizens....
- GinnumGinnumGinnum is a small village in Ferwerderadiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 100 citizens....
- HegebeintumHegebeintumHegebeintum is a small village in Ferwerderadiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 115 citizens . There is a restored windmill in the villag, De Hogebeintumermolen....
- JannumJannumJannum is a small village in Ferwerderadiel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 60 citizens ....
- JouswierJouswierJouswier is a small village in Dongeradeel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands. It is located on a mound to the northeast of Dokkum and to the southeast of Metslawier. It has around 50 citizens ....
- Leeuwarden (Ljouwert)
- MetslawierMetslawierMetslawier is a small village in Dongeradeel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around the 920 citizens .About half a mile to the north there is the Ropta-windmill, which is in good operational shape....
- WijnaldumWijnaldumWijnaldum is a village in northwest Friesland, Netherlands. The village lies within the municipality of Harlingen; prior to 1984, it was a part of the municipality of Barradeel...
Groningen
- AdorpAdorpAdorp is a village in the municipality of Winsum, in the Netherlands. It is located about 6 km north of Groningen.Until 1990, Adorp was a separate municipality.Adorp is next to Sauwerd and Groningen...
- BedumBedumBedum is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands. Populated by around 10,000 inhabitants, Bedum is one of the larger of Groningen's several satellite towns....
- Bierum
- EzingeEzingeEzinge is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Winsum, about 12 km northwest of the city of Groningen.Ezinge was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Winsum.-External links:*...
- Feerwerd
- Garnwerd
- Holwierde
- LeensLeensLeens is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of De Marne.Leens was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Ulrum, Eenrum and Kloosterburen....
- MiddelstumMiddelstumMiddelstum is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Loppersum.Middelstum was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Loppersum.-External links:* * *...
- Niehove
- RottumRottumRottum may refer to any of the following places:*Rottum , a small group of islands in the Netherlands, part of the West Frisian Islands*Rottum, Groningen, a village in province of Groningen, in the Netherlands...
- Saaksum
- SpijkSpijkSpijk may refer to several villages in the Netherlands:* Spijk , in Gelderland* Spijk , in Gelderland* Spijk...
- UlrumUlrumUlrum is a small village/town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of De Marne.Ulrum was a separate municipality until 1990, when it merged with Eenrum, Kloosterburen, and Leens. The new municipality was called Ulrum at first, but was renamed to De Marne in...
- UsquertUsquertUsquert is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Eemsmond.Usquert was a separate municipality until 1990, when it became part of Hefshuizen. After that, the name of the municipality was changed to Eemsmond in 1992....
Northern Germany
- LoquardLoquardLoquard is an old village, now part of Krummhörn in Ostfriesland in the modern nation-state of Germany. It is part of the Aurich rural governmental district of the state of Lower Saxony ....
(Ostfriesland) - Eckwarden (Butjadingen)
- Itzwärden (Land Wursten)