Page 37 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRIESLAND REGION

Thousands of years ago, when the last Ice Age ended, the oceans rose as
the ice melted. This submerged the lowlands of northern Europe. Great
floods washed sediments down toward the sea and great storms moved
and reshaped the coastline. Human settlement of this region repeatedly
came and went as conditions changed. The region became prosperous
for a time under Roman settlement, but declined when the Roman
Empire declined.

In the early middle ages, 800-1000AD, the population was sparse, and
concentrated at the coastline. The interior was a vast region of moors
and marshes, and travel by land was very slow and difficult. The coast
became a prosperous intersection of trading routes between the British
Isles, Europe, the Nordic countries, and the Baltic Sea. However, coastal
life was precarious. Periodically, large storms washed away islands and
towns. Yet these same storms would redeposit the sand and mud to
enlarge or create other islands. So the coastal towns, though
prosperous, could not establish large built-up cities as happened in the
Mediterranean Sea.

The coastal areas had shallow water, and as trading ships became larger,
they could no longer use these shallow northern coastal ports, and the
shipping trade moved southward toward Amsterdam. The population
that remained in the north continued local shipping and fishing but
directed effort toward new economic activities. The vast moors could
support crops in the dry season, and animals could graze. Mounds could
be raised and small villages built upon the mounds. The protection
given by the many miles of natural coastal sand dunes was
supplemented by local seawalls and small dams to reduce inland
flooding. Drainage channels were dug to help the water drain faster.

A valuable export was discovered very early - salt. Another commodity
was peat. Northern Europe was too cool and damp to produce salt by
using salt ponds to evaporate seawater. However, peat could be washed
in the ocean to clean it, and absorb the salt water. After the peat dried,
it could be burned and the remaining ash contained a useful quantity of
salt. This ash was then washed with seawater to make clean
concentrated brine, which was then boiled to produce pure dry salt. The
heat to boil the brine came from burning the salted peat that had to be
burned to make the salt-ash. This helped make the process more
efficient. Salt was valuable and was an important export to northern
Europe. Peat was also used as a general-purpose fuel and was sold to
nearby towns.

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