Meterik () is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Horst aan de Maas, bordering rich farmland to the north and a moor called De Peel to the west. Meterik is located along a brook, the Kabroekse beek, which provides fertile grazing lands. On 1 January 2019, Meterik had 1627 inhabitants. Meterik is the ancestral home of astronomer Peter Jenniskens. The village is known as a haven for temporary workers for seasonal work in the agricultural sector. Currently many of the workers are from Bulgaria and Romania. History Based on stone tools found, hunter gatherers of the mesolithic (10,000-5,300 BC) frequented the heathlands that formed in Northern Limburg after the Weichselian glaciation. Slash and burn farming came to the region at the start of the neolithic around 5500 BC, with Aegean Neolithic Farmers of the Bandkeramic (linear pottery) culture, mostly settling in the loss lands to the south. Around 2900, the Bronze Age and increased mobility from the domestication of the horse and consumption of milk brought farmers of the Corded Ware culture and the proto-Indo European language to the area. Languages evolved from Italo/Celtic (Tumulus culture 1600-1200 BC) to proto Celtic (Urnfield culture 1300-750 BC). The Iron Age arrived with farmers of the proto Celtic Hallstatt culture (800-450 BC) and Celtic La Tène culture (450-50 BC). In 1983, parts of the grating and the cupola of a pottery oven were found along the St. Maartensweg in Schadijk and dated to about 500 BC. Traces of Iron Age pottery from a nearby settlement were found along the Crommentuynstraat. And the outline of a farm from the late Iron Age (about 200 BC) was discovered in Meterik's Field in 2006. The region was part of the Roman empire (50 BC - 456 AD), located in the Civitas Tungrorum, with the influx of the Tungri and later Salian Franks Germanic tribes. Roman coins were found that might suggest the name Meterik originated when a Roman soldier was given land here. After 515 AD, the area was part of Frankish Austrasia, the Carolingian empire and the Holy Roman Empire. A Carolingian settlement was found in the Meterik's Field with the floor plans of 23 large and 21 small buildings and four wells dated to 625-1000 AD. A feudal system of agriculture developed, with farming areas and moving farms in the service of lords. Sod heather