Since the last decades, well preserved Late Glacial dune formations containing numerous prehistoric sites buried deeply below peat, OM rich clays and marine clayey to sandy sediments have been discovered during extensive construction works in the harbor of Antwerp situated in the lower Scheldt river basin in northwest Belgium. Archaeological excavations have identified the first presence of the transitional Mesolithic-Neolithic Swifterbant culture, previously only known from sites in the Netherlands and one site in northwest Germany, and evidence for the presence of other Final Paleolithic to Early Neolithic cultural remains. High quality organic preservation at these sites have offered the opportunity to reliably place Swifterbant occupation within the absolute chronology of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in this region, as well as the reconstruction of Swifterbant subsistence practices, most notably the incorporation of cattle husbandry into a traditional hunting-fishing-gathering economy. This PhD dissertation focuses on three aspects of prehistoric occupation in the wetland region of the lower Scheldt river basin, namely (1) the development of a protocol for mapping the buried paleolandscape in view of archaeological surveys, (2) the modelling of peat rise and the dating of a short expansion of the tidal influence as a tool for assessing the gradual drowning of the area and human response and (3) the refinement and the optimization of the archaeological sampling strategies. 1. Development of a protocol for mapping buried paleolandscape Until recently, (hand-)coring used to be the main tool for mapping prehistoric landscapes in comparable wetlands. In this PhD a more effective approach, including near surface geophysical and geotechnical techniques, has been developed and tested, mainly at Doelpolder-Noord. Firstly, electrical resistance imaging and shear wave land seismics are judged to be unproductive, due to the required effort and limited results. Secondly, high resolution electromagnetic induction ...