Swifterbant

Swifterbant is a village in the Netherlands, located in the province of Flevoland. It is part of the municipality of Dronten. The village sits within the reclaimed polder landscapes of central Flevoland, an area developed as part of the Zuiderzee Works in the second half of the 20th century.

Swifterbant gave its name to the Swifterbant culture, one of the earliest farming communities in the Low Countries. Based on excavations at the nearby Swifterbant site, the culture dates roughly to 5300–4200 BCE and represents a transition from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to agricultural societies. Settlements were small and often located near water; pottery appears in the archaeological record along with flint and bone tools. Evidence indicates domesticated barley and animals such as cattle, along with continued fishing and foraging.

Today, Swifterbant is a small residential community. The legacy of the Swifterbant site continues to be significant for Dutch prehistory; the culture is a major reference in the study of early Neolithic in northwestern Europe. Artifacts from the site are housed in regional and national collections, and the area remains a focus of archaeological research.