Minières néolithiques de Spiennes

SILEX'S

Useful Information

Location:	300 Rue du Point du Jour, 7032 Spiennes. 5 km south east of Mons (Bergen). E42 exit Mons-Est, follow R5 and Chaussée du Roeulx. Turn left on Chemin des Mourdreux, which becomes Chaussée de Beaumont. Turn right on N564 to Spiennes. (50.4198283, 3.9818230)
Open:	MAR to NOV Tue-Sun 10-16. First Sunday of the month free. Mine: MAR to NOV Sat, Sun Hol 14. School Holidays Thu-Sun 14, Free Sunday 10, 11:30, 14. [2025]
Fee:	Museum: Adults EUR 6, Children (12-18) EUR 4, Children (0-11) free. Museum + Mine: Adults EUR 14, Children (12-18) EUR 12, Children (10-11) free. [2025]
Classification:	Stone Age Flint mine Oldest Mines
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=30 m, VR=2 m, T=10 °C.
Guided tours:	L=50 m, VR=8 m, D=45 min, MinAge=10, Max=12.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Robert Shepherd (1980): Prehistoric Mining and Allied Industries, Academic Press, 1980, pages 68-76.
Address:	SILEX'S, Rue du Pont du Jour, Spiennes, Tel: +32-65-353478. E-mail: Reservation, Tel: +32-65-33-55-80.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

4350 BC	beginning of mining.
2300 BC	end of mining.
1842	mines discovered by quarry workers.
1851	hypothesis that the flints at Spiennes were the remains of axe-making workshops from Prehistory first published by Albert Toilliez (*1816-✝1865), an engineer from Mons.
1867	first excavations by the geological engineer Alphonse Briart (*1825-✝1896) and two others during the construction of the railway.
1872	results presented on the International Prehistoric Congress in Brussels.
2000	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
APR-2015	SILEX'S opened to the public.

Description

The Minières néolithiques de Spiennes (Neolithic Flint Mines of Spiennes) are the largest and earliest known Neolithic flint mine complex. They cover more than 100 ha with some 20,000 shafts, in Petit Spiennes, the shaft density reaches 5,000 on 16 ha. The mines were used between 4,300 and 2,200 BC during the late Neolithic. They are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000.

A large diversity of techniques were used to mine the flint. Open quarries, pits and networks of underground horizontal galleries can be found. Shafts between 10 and 15 m deep were sunk through the chalk, the galleries for the mining are radiating out. The tour shows one such shaft with a depth of 10 m below the ground, descent into the mine is made by a 10 m high vertical ladder. The tours are accompanied by a guide, and as this is a mine tour, visitors are equipped with helmets.

Even in the neolithic mining produced slag heaps, and as flint was mined there were heaps of low quality flint which were deposited outside the mines. The locals were aware of those heaps, and in the 19th century the first collectors came to find interesting items. In 1842 the regional newspaper Le Modérateur mentioned the discovery of underground galleries by workers. They were actually mining the slag heaps as a resource for earthenware factories at Camp-à-Cayaux. First the called them grottes à fossiles (fossil caves) a descriptive term, as they actually had no idea what they had discovered. Albert Toilliez (*1816-✝1865), an engineer from Mons, published the hypothesis that the flints at Spiennes were the remains of axe-making workshops, probably from the end of prehistory, in 1851. The railway line between Mons and Chimay was built in 1867, and over a length of 220 m it was necessary to excavate a ditch for the railroad track across the Petit-Spiennes plateau. This revealed hundreds of artifacts and remains of extinct fauna such as mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses. As a result the geological engineers Alphonse Briart (*1825-✝1896), his colleague François Léopold Cornet (*1834-✝1887) and Auguste Houzeau de Lehaie (*1832-✝1922) studied the excavated materials as well as the exposed rocks. They also discovered 25 cheminées (chimneys), animal bones, ceramics, polished stones, rough sketches, and other human remains. The discoveries were presented on the International Prehistoric Congress in Brussels in 1872 and the site became well known among European scientists. However, the first actual excavation was made 40 years later, between 1912 and 1914 by Alfred de Loë (*1858-✝1947) for the Cinquantenaire Museum (Brussels). He excavated tow deep shafts and the associated galleries yielded more than 1,500 tools. Some of the discoveries are on display at the Royal Museums of Art and History.

Numerous excavations followed, and continue until today. At the moment the Walloon Heritage Agency (AWaP) in collaboration with the Hainaut Prehistoric Research Society (SRPH) are responsible for the archaeological research. The current excavation is at Petit-Spiennes, where a 10 m deep shaft is currently excavated, revealing bones of two adult humans, and more details about the mining methods developed by Neolithic miners. One of the rock layers which is crossed by the shaft is the Mesvin alluvial aquifer (280,000 to 350,000 BP) which is also researched for faunal remains from this time. While the results of the excavations were presented in museums in Brussels in the past, there is now a new museum named SILEX'S on site, which was opened to the public in 2015.

One of the mines is open for tours starting at the museum, which was built to allow natural light to enter the mine to make the visit as realistic as possible. and there is an archaeological museum on site with the same SILEX’S. While the museum may be visited self-guided without reservation, the mine tour is guided, and one guided tour is offered on Sundays. Reservation for mine tours is mandatory. There is a free day, the first Sunday of the month, which means that there are lots of visitors. On the other hand there are three mine tours on those free days. However, access to the underground is limited to 5,000 people per year to preserve this archaeological heritage.