Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
P3
Stroe
-2800

Stroe – Houtbeek Stream

Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream

The Houtbeek Stream near Stroe, supposedly dates back to the last glacial period when meltwater cut a trench in the surrounding landscape, creating a stream. This stream seems to have had strong appeal to prehistoric man during the Mesolithic Age. Hunter-gatherers used the area as a place for setting up temporary camps, and 5000 years ago, the first farmers settled here.

Hunting in the Veluwe
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a temporary settlement of a group of hunter-gatherers. Some 12,000 years ago, the Veluwe region was a tundra. The nomads built base camps on this territory and went out hunting, primarily for reindeer. The area around the Houtbeek Stream was the ideal place for them to set up camp, because the stream provided them with clean drinking water, and there was also plenty of wood for fuel and building materials.

Burial ground
At the end of the Stone Age (around 2800 BC) a small farming community settled here. The farmers lived and worked their fields to the north of the stream, whilst they buried their dead on the other side. The largest burial ground is located a short distance from the source of the stream. There is a row of burial mounds here, which was close to an old river crossing. This burial ground was in use for some 2000 years. As time passed, the stream gradually started to dry up and the inhabitants were forced to dig wells. One of these wells still exists and is called the Konijnenkolk (Rabbit Well).

Houtbeek Stream
The inhabitants of the area around the Houtbeek Stream left at some point around the year 1 AD. The reason for this can only be speculated, but perhaps the stream had dried up, or the land had become too infertile. Either way, it was not until the Middle Ages that people started living here again. The intensive arable farming that followed, and grazing of sheep, exhausted the land. Wind and drifting sands got the upper hand and the Houtbeek Stream disappeared. Today however, the ancient route that the stream once followed can be seen near Stroe.  

Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
P3 Houtbeek Stroe
2:17

More information

Stroe – Houtbeek Stream
Houtbeekweg 18
3776LZ Stroe

Marker of location
locatie