Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes
Large Neolithic flint mines in Belgium, active 4,300–2,200 BC.
The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes are among the largest and earliest Neolithic flint mines surviving in north-western Europe. Located close to the Walloon village of Spiennes, southeast of Mons, Belgium, they were active during the mid and late Neolithic between 4,300 and 2,200 BC. The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, noted for the diversity of technological solutions used for extraction.
- location
- Spiennes, southeast of Mons, Belgium
- period_active
- 4,300–2,200 BC
- area
- 100 ha (250 acres)
- depth_of_shafts
- over 10 m (33 ft)
- discovery_year
- 1843
- first_excavation
- 1867 by Alphonse Briart and two others
- unesco_designation
- 2000
Lore & Background
Discovered in 1843, the first excavations were undertaken by mining engineer Alphonse Briart and two others during railway construction in 1867, with results presented to the International Prehistoric Congress held in Brussels in 1872. Intermittent excavations have been carried out up to the present day. The mines cover some 100 ha of downland four miles southeast of Mons, dotted with millions of scraps of worked flint and numerous mining pits that Neolithic settlers gradually turned into vertical mine shafts to depths of over 10 m. Underneath is an elaborate man-made network of caverns accessible via the many shafts.
Reader's Guide
The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes represent a seminal stage of human inventiveness, technological and cultural application, and progress. The transition between opencast and underground mining for flint nodules is impressively displayed and documented. Research has illustrated Neolithic techniques for cutting flint and extracting large slabs weighing up to hundreds of kilos. Nodules were extracted using flint picks, then knapped into rough-out shapes of axes and polished to achieve the final state. The rough-outs were exchanged over a wide area, about 150 km, and often polished at their destination. Polishing strengthens the final product, making the axe- or adze-head last longer and aiding cutting action by lowering friction with wood. The axes were used initially for forest clearance and for shaping wood for structural applications such as timber for huts and canoes. An interpretative centre called SILEX'S opened in spring 2015, with a museum on the surface and normally possible to descend into a mine. The site has been compared with Grimes Graves and Cissbury in the United Kingdom, and Krzemionki in Poland.
Did You Know?
- The mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic between 4,300 and 2,200 BC.
- The site covers some 100 ha (250 acres) and contains vertical mine shafts over 10 m deep.
- Flint nodules were extracted using flint picks and then knapped into rough-out shapes of axes.
- An interpretative centre called SILEX'S opened in spring 2015.
More in World Heritage Sites in Belgium 1-24
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