for the purpose of archaeological investigation. It was here that the Forum Hadriani of the Peutinger Map was thought to be situated, mainly because of the discovery of Roman remains in preceding centuries.

Although a literary man, Reuvens had a keen eye for technical detail, and he meticulously recorded his field observations—plans with different scales, carefully measured cross sections of walls, full leveling, and even perspective drawings of important aspects. Soil samples from his excavations were analyzed by chemists; cremations were analyzed by physicians. In other words, he was interested in the archaeological context, not solely or even mainly in objects, and he achieved a very high standard of fieldwork. Reuvens also worked on Iron Age field systems and had planned to excavate a megalith grave. His early death at the age of forty-two prevented that research, and it also prevented the foundation of a tradition of high quality fieldwork. Posthumously, the first archaeological map of the Netherlands was produced, based on his notes.

Willem Pleyte (1836–1903) was keeper and later director of the RMO. Educated as an Egyptologist, he had to teach himself Dutch archaeology, but he did so so thoroughly that he wrote the first synthesis of Dutch antiquities (Pleyte 1877–1903). His previous vocation is visible in that work, for one of the chapters is preceded by a frontispiece showing a pharaonic Egyptian for no obvious reason, and all the wonderful places in it were lithographed by Pleyte himself “after the original objects or photographs.” He interfered with the “conservation” practices of local authorities to such an extent that some denied further cooperation. For example, in his day, most megalithic graves were threatened by restorations, which were no doubt well meant. Covering mounds were removed, as they were considered to be dunes; tumbled and leaning stones were set upright; and capstones were straightened by the local authorities. Pleyte argued against such practices, and local authorities became considerably annoyed with him. Fortunately, there was also international opposition to such restorations, and at the 1874 Prehistoric Congress in Stockholm, it was specifically recommended that “the ruins of the megalith graves in Drenthe remain ruins and in that state be protected.” Soon afterward, the restorations ceased.

Jan Hendrik Holwerda (1873–1951) became a keeper at the RMO in 1904 and its director in 1919 when he succeeded his father, A.E.J. Holwerda. One of the son’s major accomplishments in the museum was a reorganization of the collections and documentation. He modernized exhibitions by putting reconstructions and models on display with original artifacts, and he wrote the accompanying guidebooks and appointed instructors to show visitors around. Holwerda wrote for a wider public than his contemporaries, and several of his books became quite popular, so much so that one can credit him with putting prehistory into Dutch schoolbooks. One major work was his Oudheidkundige Kaart van Nederland (1924; Archaeological Map of the Netherlands), which was followed by Nederland’s vroegste geschiedenis (1925; Netherlands’ Earliest History), the first attempt to systematize and present this knowledge to a wider public. In 1939, he retired from the Leiden Museum. His writings show that he believed that the archaeologists’ task was to describe people rather than draw up the typo-chronology of a certain class of artifacts.

In 1908, Holwerda joined the German archaeologist Carl Schuchardt, who was excavating the Roman castellum (fortified settlement) at Haltern, Germany, to be trained in the modern German field technique of wide area digging and the systematic registration of soil discolorations as vestiges of ancient timber structures. Holwerda was the first in Dutch archaeology to emphasize the necessity of large-scale settlement research, and with his early assistant (1912–1917) and later enemy Van Giffen, Holwerda turned Dutch archaeology into a field science. His first large-scale excavations were at the Arentsburg site (1910–1912), the same site Reuvens had excavated almost a century before him. Holwerda’s excavations were well below contemporary German standards, for he dug in narrow trenches, presumably to save time and money, and he conducted excavations all over the country, some bad by