When the shore becomes the sea
| PhD ceremony: | Mr Y.T. (Yftinus) van Popta |
| When: | October 29, 2020 |
| Start: | 12:45 |
| Supervisors: | prof. dr. A.F.L. van Holk, prof. dr. D.C.M. (Daan) Raemaekers, prof. dr. ir. M. (Theo) Spek |
| Co-supervisor: | dr. K.M. Cohen |
| Where: | Academy building RUG |
| Faculty: | Arts |
Archaeological remains reveal history of the Noordoostpolder
The Noordoostpolder, an area of low-lying land surrounded by dikes, contains more traces of its own medieval past than previously thought. According to maritime archaeologist Yftinus van Popta, many settlement remains that disappeared into the Zuiderzee bay and were later found in the fields of the reclaimed Noordoostpolder have been wrongly interpreted as ships’ waste. For the first time, Van Popta’s PhD research charts the changes in the Noordoostpolder region during the late Middle Ages. While the villages of Urk and Schokland fought and won the battle against the water, other settlements disappeared beneath the waves. Van Popta will be awarded his PhD from the University of Groningen on 29 October.