Stories from the soil

How did the inhabitants of the Lage Kempen deal with their dead in prehistoric times? IOED Lage Kempen developedthe  ErfgoedApp a tour that takes you past several relevant archaeological sites.

During a bike ride, you will learn how people from the Bronze and Iron Ages buried their dead in this region and why the Celtic Fields in Pelt have nothing to do with the Celts. Local heritage ambassadors will take you back to prehistoric times and tell you the story behind this unique archaeological heritage.

European Year of Cultural Heritage

The tour is part of the project Stories from the Soil. This is a project for which IOED Lage Kempen received subsidies as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The municipalities of Bocholt, Hamont-Achel, and Pelt became partners. The project consisted of two parts, participation and access, and revolved around three archaeological sites spread across the municipalities involved: the Dorperheide urn field in Kaulille, the burial mounds of the Haarterheide in Hamont-Achel, and the Celtic Fields complex in Pelt.

Heritage Ambassadors

For the participation part of the European project, a guided tour and a lecture evening were organized at each site. At these events, enthusiastic participants were sought who wanted to commit themselves to this local heritage. The result: a group of around twenty heritage ambassadors who helped to open up the sites. Now that the project has been completed, they continue to work in various teams to raise awareness of the sites and increase support for their preservation and management. The heritage ambassadors who participated in the project are now planning to use the ErfgoedApp for other projects within their organization.

Accessibility

To make the sites accessible, it was decided to place an information panel and a bench at each site. In this way, the sites—which were often unknown and therefore unloved—were transformed into meaningful resting places for walkers and cyclists. The digital tour ensures that the sites are not overloaded with information panels. Anyone who wants to can obtain ErfgoedApp information via the ErfgoedApp . The various geographical points in the ErfgoedApp linked together in a brochure with a cycling route. This is made available free of charge by the tourist offices of the municipalities concerned.

Working within a limited time frame

As local volunteers, the heritage ambassadors are closely involved in the development of the information panels and the cycling brochure. They were entirely responsible for determining the content of the ErfgoedApp. The IOED ErfgoedApp the information they provided ErfgoedApp the ErfgoedApp . Now that the project has been completed, results are being collected on the use of the app, so that a subsequent version can be developed at a later date.

By working with heritage ambassadors during a relatively short period (January-May), the IOED was ErfgoedApp to use the ErfgoedApp entirely as originally intended. The intention was to make more intensive use of audio and video clips, but there was not enough time for this during the short duration of the project. This 'first' version of the tour is therefore simple, with a few theme buttons that open a carousel of images. However, this approach had some limitations. The IOED's main takeaway from this is that a participatory approach such as this requires a longer period of time to work something out together.

What are you waiting for?

Cycle approximately 40 km past archaeological sites. Stops will be made at the archaeological sites of Haarterheide and Dorperheide, among others.

• In Pelt, it is difficult to recognize the remains of the Celtic Fields on the ground, but they ErfgoedApp clearly visible through the ErfgoedApp ! Thanks to the images from the digital elevation model, you can recognize the structure of these prehistoric mounds.
• In an old clip from the archives of the VRT, grave robbers from the 1970s show how they worked in the Limburg urn fields and burial mounds.

Download the Stories from the Soil tour in the ErfgoedApp pick up the free brochure at the tourist office of the participating municipalities.