Archeologists have found pottery, charcoal, flint and bones dating back 4,000 years during the digging of a high water trench along the river IJssel.

Most of the finds date from between 2000 BC and the beginning of the Christian era, although some are from the older Neolithic period.

The finds were made during the construction of a high water trench between Vorchten and the Werver dike in Gelderland which is designed to give the IJssel more room to flood, the Volkskrant reports.

The IJssel did not exist before the year 0 and archeologists expected to find traces of civilisation along its banks. For example, the remains of a well and Roman pottery have already been found at Vorchten.