18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Citizen scientists discover more than 1,000 new burial mounds in a Dutch archaeological project

A Dutch archaeological project in which thousands of amateur sleuths combed specialized maps and high resolution photographs resulted in the discovery of 1200 additional potential bronze age burial mounds in the Utrecht and Veluwe region.

In addition, the citizen science project run by the University of Leiden and regional cultural heritage organizations has helped to identify nearly 38 square kilometers of prehistoric agricultural fields and 900 potential charcoal production sites.

Heritage Quest, a fruitful collaboration between Leiden University and Gelderland Heritage is the first large-scale citizen-science project in Dutch archaeology. People could search for archaeological remains in the Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug areas from their homes.

In total, over 6,500 people worked on the project and identified thousands of potential archaeological objects, such as burial mounds (c. 2,800-500 BC), Celtic fields (prehistoric field complexes dating from 1,100 to 200 BC), charcoal kilns (places where wood was burned to make charcoal) and cart tracks.

“This research wouldn’t have been possible without the tremendous efforts of the volunteers. And without their help the help of the citizen scientists, it may have taken us archaeologists ten years to arrive at the same results,” says Eva Kaptijn, an archaeologist from Gelderland Heritage.

One of the photos, showing potential burial mounds. İmage: Leiden University
One of the photos, showing potential burial mounds. İmage: Leiden University

The team project started in April 2020 and the findings are shedding new light on the history of the Netherlands in drier parts of the country, said Kaptijn. ‘The Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug are now nature reserves where you walk through the heather fields and woods, but in the in the Iron Age, 1,000 BC, it was one enormous agricultural area. So you look at the landscape in a completely different way.’

Once the online detective work had been completed, volunteers, archaeologists and archaeology students from Leiden University went out into the field to verify a sample of the remains that had been found. Fieldwork was then carried out at 300 of the potential grave sites, and 80 were found to be the real thing.

‘We can now calculate that if seven different volunteers have identified the same spot as a possible burial mound then it is very likely to be so,’ she said. ‘If we look at the rest of the area, then we can say there are potentially 949 new burials mounds and that would be double the figure we are currently aware of.’

“Having so many volunteers participate has produced an unprecedented amount of new data and radically changed our view of prehistory. The Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug prove to have been much more intensively inhabited than we thought,” says Quentin Bourgeois, an assistant professor at Leiden University.

The remains discovered have not only produced new academic knowledge but also made it easier to protect this unique heritage. Municipalities and park managers can use the data in their policy and management plans. In addition, involving the general public in this research has increased people’s awareness of the presence and value of their archaeological heritage.

Leiden University

Related Articles

Significant Archaeological Discovery on Failaka Island: Hellenistic Courtyard and Building Unearthed

17 February 2025

17 February 2025

The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) has announced a remarkable archaeological find on Failaka Island, revealing a...

Ancient shipwreck dating back to the 2nd century BC was discovered off the coast of Croatia

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

A shipwreck dating to the 2nd century BC has been discovered in the shallow waters of the Adriatic Sea near...

A pre-Hispanic ceremonial center with unknown characteristics was discovered in the Andes

15 April 2023

15 April 2023

While investigating at Waskiri, near the Lauca River and the Bolivian-Chilean border, archaeologists found an impressive circular construction on a...

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists identify unknown sites and Serbia’s hidden Bronze Age megastructures

17 November 2023

17 November 2023

Using Google Earth and aircraft reconnaissance, archaeologists at University College Dublin identified more than 100 previously unknown sites. Satellite remote...

Palau’s green pyramids: could be a geo-archaeological project

19 February 2022

19 February 2022

Archaeologists from Kiel University’s Institute for Ecosystem Research (CAU) and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) studied the so-called “Pyramids of...

Restoration of Türkiye’s 2,000-year-old King’s Daughter Roman bath nears completion

1 August 2023

1 August 2023

The 2,000-year-old Roman bathhouse Basilica Therma or King’s Daughter in Türkiye’s central Yozgat province is nearing the final stages of...

Botanical Findings Analysis from Biblical area of Goliath sheds Unprecedented Light on Philistine Ritual Practices

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

Bar-Ilan University researchers shed “unprecedented light” on Philistine ritual practices, such as the use of psychoactive and medicinal plants, by...

Ancient Greeks Built a Road to Haul Cargo Overland: The Father of the Railway: Diolkos

6 May 2024

6 May 2024

The Diolkos, an ambitious road that crossed the entire Isthmus of Corinth and was partially paved with stone, was built...

Smoke archeology finds evidence Humans visited Nerja Cave for 40,000 Years

26 April 2023

26 April 2023

A new study by a team from the University of Córdoba reveals that Nerja is the European cave with the...

Czech archaeologists discovered a unique bronze belt buckle dating back to the eighth century

12 December 2023

12 December 2023

Czech archaeologists have unearthed a bronze belt buckle from the early Middle Ages, depicting a snake devouring a frog-like creature....

Ancient rubbish dump under Hatshepsut temple reveals hundreds of artifacts

24 November 2021

24 November 2021

Polish archaeologists uncovered a 3,500-year-old dump while working on the reconstruction of the Hathor Goddess Chapel, which is part of...

2,300 years old amazing preserved looks almost new Celtic scissors discovered in Germany

30 April 2023

30 April 2023

During a construction project in Munich’s Sendling district, Celtic cremation tombs were discovered. The quality of preservation of the grave...

Paleontologists Unearth Dozens of Giant Dinosaur Eggs in Fossilized Nest in Spain

15 November 2021

15 November 2021

Spain was the scene of a new paleontological discovery. Paleontologists extracted 30 Titanosaurus dinosaur eggs from a two-ton rock in...

Human remains found at prison sewer site are 4,500 years old in East Yorkshire

26 March 2024

26 March 2024

Archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail being built at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire,...

Lost sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci show that he understood gravity long before Newton

19 February 2023

19 February 2023

Leonardo da Vinci’s centuries-old sketches show that he may have understood key aspects of gravity long before Galileo, Newton, and...