Usselo
ÊsÉ™loËis a Dutch village in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Enschede
Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...
in the eastern
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
region of
Twente
Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germ ...
. It is located just west of
Enschede
Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...
and east of
Boekelo
Boekelo () is a village in the municipality of Enschede in the eastern Netherlands, the population is estimated at approximately 2,500. It is located just west of Usselo. The village is known for the Military Boekelo Enschede, an international eq ...
. It has existed for over 800 years. Archaeology shows that the region was inhabited more or less continuously since the last ice-age. The region is very fertile and will support agriculture and cattle. The countryside is marked by artificial hills, called es or esch, which were formed by depositing dung mixed with dirt. A prime example is the Fleringer Esch, near
Fleringen
Fleringen (Tweants: ) is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Tubbergen, and lies about 10 km east of Almelo.
It was first mentioned in 1227 as van Vlederingen. The etymology is unknown. The ''h ...
.
History
The village was one of the earliest settlements in the area. This was confirmed by finds of the remains of a prehistoric village (on the Usseler Es). During World War II the village was bombed by Allied fighters strafing the retreating German forces. This unfortunately led to casualties in the village bakery.
The village has a Dutch Reformed church, a church of the Christelijke Gemeente Nederland, a primary school and some shops. Of interest are the windmill (of the rare ''Stenderkast'' model), called ''
Wissinks Möl'' ("Wissink's Mill"), and the ''Usseler Es'', the man-made elevation forming the heart of the village farmlands. The village has a primary school, dating back to 1766 but now housed in a new building behind the church.
Grolsch Brewery
Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch (), is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in E ...
is located on the road to Boekelo. Usselo's rural landscape, notably its es, has been transformed by encroaching housing and industry.
Usselo, together with neighbouring Boekelo and Enschede, hosts the annual ''Military Boekelo Enschede'', an international
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
event usually held in October.
The village is also notable for being the location of the novel, ''
The Upstairs Room'' by
Johanna Reiss
Johanna Reiss ( ; born 4 April 1932) is a Dutch-American writer whose work focuses on her experiences as a Jewish child during the Second World War. Her books have been compared to the writing of Anne Frank.
Early life
Johanna Reiss was born ...
. She was a Jewish girl taken into a family in Usselo while hiding from the German occupation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Further literary links consist of the poets
H.H. ter Balkt, who was born in Usselo, and
Willem Wilmink
Willem Wilmink (; Enschede, 25 October 1936 – 2 August 2003) was a Dutch poet and writer. He was best known for the large number of songs he wrote for popular children programs and his accessible, straightforward poetry.
Life and career
Wilmi ...
, who spent part of his youth in Usselo.
Usselo observes the tradition of Noaberschop, which is the social framework governing relations in Twenthe.
Usselo Soil
Usselo is the type site for the 'Usselo Soil', which is also known as either the 'Usselo horizon' or 'Usselo layer'. It is a distinctive and widespread
Weichselian
The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet (the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet) ...
(Lateglacial) buried soil,
paleosol
In the geosciences, paleosol (''palaeosol'' in Great Britain and Australia) is an ancient soil that formed in the past. The precise definition of the term in geology and paleontology is slightly different from its use in soil science.
In geolo ...
, that is found within Lateglacial
eolian sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
s known as 'cover sands' in the Netherlands, western Germany, and western Denmark. This paleosol is classified as either a weakly podzolized Arenosol or as a weakly podzolized Regosol. Numerous
radiocarbon
Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
dates,
optically stimulated luminescence
In physics, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is a method for measuring doses from ionizing radiation. It is used in at least two applications:
* Luminescence dating of ancient materials: mainly geological sediments and sometimes fired pott ...
dates,
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
analyses, and archaeological evidence from a number of locations have been interpreted to show that the Usselo Soil formed as the result of
pedogenesis
Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order (anisotropy) within soils. These alterations l ...
during a period of landscape stability during the
Allerød oscillation
The Allerød oscillation ( da, Allerødtiden) was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred c.13,900 to 12,900 BP, nearly at the end of the Last Glacial Period. It raised temperatures in the northern Atlantic region to almost present-da ...
. Locally, the period of landscape stability and pedogenesis associated with the formation of the Usselo Soil continued into the
Younger Dryas stadial. The 'Usselo Soil' is an extremely important and very useful
marker bed
Marker horizons (also referred to as chronohorizons, key beds or marker beds) are stratigraphic units of the same age and of such distinctive composition and appearance, that, despite their presence in separate geographic locations, there is no do ...
that is used by European archaeologists and geologists in their research.
[Kaiser, K., I. Clausen (2005) ''Palaeopedology and stratigraphy of the Late Palaeolithic Alt Duvenstedt site, Schleswig-Holstein (Northwest Germany).'' Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt. vol. 35, pp. 1-20.][Kaiser, K., A. Barthelmes, S.C. Pap, A. Hilgers, W. Janke, P. Kühn, and M. Theuerkauf (2006) ''A Lateglacial palaeosol cover in the Altdarss area, southern Baltic Sea coast (northeast Germany): investigations on pedology, geochronology and botany.'' Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. vol. 85, no. 3, pp. 197-220.][Vandenberghe, D., C. Kasse, S.M. Hossain, F. De Corte, P. Van den Haute, M. Fuchs, and A.S. Murray (2004) ''Exploring the method of optical dating and comparison of optical and 14C ages of Late Weichselian coversands in the southern Netherlands.'' Journal of Quaternary Science. vol. 19, pp. 73-86.]
It has been proposed that the abundant
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
, which is found in the Usselo Soil, and contemporaneous Lateglacial paleosols and organic sediments across Europe, may have been created by wildfires caused by a large bolide impact. This conclusion is based upon the reported occurrence of alleged extraterrestrial impact indicators and hypothetical correlations with
Clovis-age organic beds in North America.
[Kloosterman, J.B. (2007) ]
Correlation of the Late Pleistocene Usselo Horizon (Europe) and the Clovis Layer (North America)
'. American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007, abstract no. PP43A-02 However, many geologists and geomorphologists wholly dispute the contemporaneous nature of the Usselo Soil with Clovis-age organic beds in North America, the presence of impact indicators within it, and the impact origin of the charcoal.
[van Hoesel, A., W.Z. Hoek, F. Braadbaart, J. van der Plicht, G.M. Pennock, and M.R. Drury (2012) ''Nanodiamonds and wildfire evidence in the Usselo horizon postdate the AllerødeYounger Dryas boundary.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. vol. 109, no. 20, article 7648e7653.][van Hoesel, A., W.Z. Hoek, J. van der Plicht, G.M. Pennock, and M.R. Drury (2013) ''Cosmic impact or natural fires at the AllerødeYounger Dryas boundary: a matter of dating and calibration.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. vol. 110, no. 41, article E3896.][van Hoesel, A., W.Z. Hoek, G.M. Pennock, and M.R. Drury (2014) ''The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: a critical review.'' Quaternary Science Reviews. vol. 83, pp. 95–114.]
References
External links
Usselo.nlDutch)
{{Authority control
Populated places in Overijssel
Twente
Enschede