PaleoMaps shows paleogeographical maps of the Netherlands: maps of the past.

The app enables to browse a time series of maps and shows what the country once looked like, in surprising detail. Just the app you need for your time travelling through the landscapes of the Netherlands!

On opening the app, it shows the recent situation. One can then swipe back and forth to situations in the further past, zoom in and out and locate the current position on the map. The oldest situation shown is that of 9000 BC when the last ice age had just ended. The impact of (Holocene) sea-level rise and shifting of coasts and rivers is shown in successive maps for 5500, 3850, 2750, 1500 BC, 500 BC. The series continues to 100 AD, 800, 1500, 1850 and 2000, where and when reclamation of the delta plain by humans becomes a second main cause of change.

The map series featured in the second generation of the map series (Vos & De Vries, 2013). This series was earlier published online on www.archeologieinnederland.nl , where it is available in PDF and GIS format. It updated a first generation of the map series, featured in the popular book Atlas van Nederland in het Holoceen (Vos et al., 2011). The production of the series was a joint effort of Deltares (department of Applied Geology and Geophysics), RCE (Netherlands’ cultural heritage agency) and TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands.

About Deltares

Deltares is an independent institute for applied research in the field of water, subsurface and infrastructure, based in the Netherlands. Throughout the world we work on smart solutions, innovations and applications for people, environment and society. www.deltares.nl