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The Senne river as a waste collector of 14th-15th century Brussels
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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The settlement of the Cistercian abbey of Villers-la-Ville in the Thyle valley (Dyle tributary) during the 12th century: Archaeobotanical approaches.
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The Cistercian abbey of Villers-la-Ville, situated between Brussels, Charleroi and Namur in Belgium, was founded in the 12th century and abandoned after the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. The construction, architecture and distribution of buildings, courtyard and gardens of the abbey are recognized as very remarkable and exceptional. The site has also been classified as historical monument and remarkable site in 1972. The ruins of the abbey of Villers-la-Ville has been excavated for a long time. Since the end of the 19th century, it has been punctually excavated by some architects and religious. However, all of these results have never been published. It is only from 1985 that, thanks to the work of the Governance of Buildings to the consolidation of the ruins of the abbey, ongoing and regular excavations are undertaken. Indeed, since then, the History Center of Architecture and Building assumes an archaeological mission to support this project and since 1988 the Archaeological Service of Wallonia has excavated many parts of the site. While most of these excavations concern the architecture of buildings, for their restoration and rehabilitation, none of them, up to now, was interested in the period before and during the settlement: Why did the monks choose this site? How was the natural environment when they arrived? And how the abbey’ settlement affect this environment? To answer this question, several archaeobotanical analyses (pollen, fruit and seeds, wood and wood charcoal) have been undertaken for the first time in two different sectors of the abbey. The samples come from mechanical deep coring which have recently been done at the Gate of Brussels, the main gatehouse situated at the western part of the abbey, and at the former major mill situated more at the south.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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The shaping of Brussels‘ urban landscape: an interdisciplinary perspective
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RBINS Staff Publications
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The small-mammal assemblage from Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Hastière-Lavaux, Belgium): environmental and climatic approach of the marine isotope stage 3 in North-Western Europe
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Small mammal faunas from the Pleistocene of Belgium are not well-known. Some have been studied from the second half of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene. However, only a few sites from the first half of the Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage 3, MIS 3, ca. 60-30 ka) have yielded small mammal assemblages. Among them is the Marie-Jeanne Cave that is situated in the southeast of Belgium, in the Ardennes region. It is formed in the Early Carboniferous limestone deposits above the Meuse River, near the town of Hastière-Lavaux. The excavated deposits evidenced ten different layers but only the layers 6 to 2 yieldeda large collection of faunal remains. Recent dating of the stratigraphic sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave shows that these layers have a chronological range pertaining to MIS 3 (about 50-40 ka BP). During the first field campaign in 1943, about 40 m3 of sedimentswereextracted recovering a large collection of disarticulated bone fragments and several plant, mollusc and archaeological remains housed at the RBINS. A first study of this material underlined the presence of 29 taxa of insectivores, bats and rodents. The recent revision of the material revealed 9897 identified specimens, corresponding to a minimum of 4980 individuals. This permitted us to add to the previous list two vole species, the steppe lemming Lagurus lagurus and the European pine vole Microtus (Terricola) subterraneus. We also undertook new paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions based on alternative methods from those previously used for the MIS 3 sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave. Our results indicate that MIS 3 is characterized by dynamic alternations of forest expansion with semiarid area expansion in accordance with the warming and cooling, respectively, of the sea-surface temperatures. It was in this context of rapid fluctuations that the terrestrial sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave in north-western Europe was formed. The fossiliferous layers underwent cold and dry environmental and climatic conditions. This is indicated by lower temperatures and slightly higher precipitation than today, together with an environment dominated by open woodland formations and open dry meadows. Our results are consistent with the available chronological, large-mammal, herpetofaunal, and mollusc datasets for this lower part of the sequence. They are also consistent with regional loess studies in Belgium and with previous work performed on small mammals from MIS 3 in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. Grant Information: Generalitat de Catalunya projects, Synthesis Grants, PhD grant of the Erasmus Mundus Programme - International Doctorate in Quaternary and Prehistory.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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The species and quantity of bats sold at the Mbaele Island Market (Kisangani, Tshopo province, DRC) and the associated health hazards as perceived by traders and customers
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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The state of the art of the exotic mosquito species in Belgium: new invasion pathways detected.
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In July 2017, a three year monitoring project (MEMO) aiming at detecting and evaluating the occurrence and invasion phase of exotic mosquitoes (EMS) in Belgium started. Adult traps and ovitraps were placed and larval sampling was conducted at 23 locations. These locations were selected based on their high potential of introducing EMS. DNA-based techniques are used to verify the morphological identification of 5% of the collected mosquito specimens. In 2017, 2622 adult mosquitoes, 2916 larvae and 650 eggs were collected. In total 15 species (or complexes) belonging to 5 genera (Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Culiseta and Coquillettidia) were identified. Morphological and DNAbased identifications were in agreement. Furthermore, DNA sequence data confirmed that adults of the Anopheles maculipennis complex were Anopheles messeae and that both Culex pipiens biotype pipiens and biotype molestus were collected. Culiseta longiareolata was for the first time observed in Belgium. EMS made up 2% of all collected specimens. Three EMS, Aedes japonicus, Aedes koreicus and Anopheles pharoensis were intercepted in 2017. In the first six months of 2018, Aedes albopictus was intercepted at four locations. Previous monitoring projects indicated that Aedes mosquitoes entered Belgium via import of lucky bamboo plants and of tyres. New for Belgium is the interception of Aedes albopictus and Aedes japonicus along the border with France and Germany, respectively. And the interception of Anopheles pharoenis in a cargo airport. In the first case, a possible natural spread from these countries may have occurred. In this perspective, the understanding of the invasion process of the three exotic Aedes species, based on field observations and population genetics, will provide information on their invasion phase (introduction, establishment or spread) and seasonality which will be essential to guide surveillance and control.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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The subsurface hydrogen storage potential in Belgium
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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The Trier diabase: a possible regional source rock for Roman "green porphyry"
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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The Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium): An exceptional site with both Neandertal and UpperPaleolithic human remains
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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The unexpectedly short Holocene Humid Period in Northern Arabia
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
