Drag to turn the globe

Mines/Belgium

Spiennes Neolithic flint mines

Spiennes Neolithic flint mines, Belgium. Heritage site, underground, mining flint.

Why Spiennes Neolithic flint mines is famous

ICOMOS dates underground flint mining here from the second half of the 5th millennium BCE (between 4400 and 4200 BCE), making it one of the oldest mining sites in Europe. Dates show mining went on through the 4th millennium and into the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. The site lies 6 km south-east of Mons on two chalk plateaux. Closing year -2500 is a rounded reading of "first half of the 3rd millennium".1,2

Story cards

Spiennes Neolithic flint mines today

Mining in Belgium

Where next

Mines

An example ofGrime's GravesSpiennes dug flint from 4400 BCE. Grimes Graves was worked from about 2600 BC.1

Sources

  1. Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes, evaluation No 1006 UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS advisory body evaluation
  2. Wikidata item Q677879 (Spiennes flint mines) Wikidata (CC0)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

History of miningThe first miners: ochre, flint, copper and silver25000 BC-AD 400History of miningThe cost underground: mining disasters and the laws they forced1887-2020The world runs on rockThe BatteryInside a lithium-ion cellThe Big Hole at Kimberley, South Africa, seen from above, with water at the bottomMining historyThe Big Hole, KimberleyDiamonds · South Africa

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0. Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).