What are Terp Villages?

Question

I think they are dutch.

Answer 1

Terp is a term for a hillock, mound or knoll used for refuge from high tide and floods. Terp means "village" in Frisian (The Frisian language, which itself is divided into three languages:
West Frisian language, spoken in the Netherlands
East Frisian language, spoken in Lower Saxony, Germany
North Frisian language, spoken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)

The ancient tribe of Frisians inhabiting Friesland (Fresia generally is considered as consisting of the province of Friesland in the Netherlands, and portions of the states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany) were built on artificial terpen (pl. of terp) measuring up to 15 m in height to be safe from the floods in periods of rising sea levels. The first terp-building period dates from 500 BC, the second from 200 BC to 50 BC. In the mid 3rd century, the rise of sea level was so dramatic that the clay district was deserted, and settlers returned only around AD 400. A third terp-building period dates from AD 700 (Old Frisian times). This ended with the coming of the dike somewhere around 1200. During the 18th and 19th centuries many terps were destroyed to use the fertile soil they contained to fertilize farm fields. The largest terp is still preserved.

Another Dutch word for "terp" is wierde.

Many villages in the Dutch province of Friesland still have names which are related to these words, showing that the village was built on a terp.

Answer 2

Because people need protection against the water they build their houses on a higher level than the water could come. They used the soil of the area to do that. There are still a lot of small villages build on a 'terp', but with the dikes and other water control systems, they are not really needed anymore.
Sometimes if there is to much water coming from the rivers into the Netherlands, and it's not possible to get it out of the country in time, the water is going on the land. Than a Terp should be great.

Answer 3

Terp (plural terpen) is a term for a hillock, mound or knoll used for refuge from high tide and floods

Many villages in the Dutch province of Friesland still have names which are related to these words, showing that the village was built on a terp.

Answer 4

A "terp" is a mound or midden, an artificial hill constructed to avoid being flooded in water rich Holland.
Centuries of refuse thrown down its sides slowly increased their size and some became big enough to carry several buildings, qualifying them as "terp villages".

Answer 5

Terps are small mounds of earth on top which the people used to build their houses and stables.This would leave them dry in the days before all the dikes where built.
Most of them date from the roman and preroman period in the Netherlands.Most of them are found in Friesland and Groningen but in Zuid-Holland,Noord- Holland and other provinces you will find them too.Today you can still see some of them.