The past along the track - page 3
From the time of fire and stone
The site uncovered in Remicourt is extra special: Dominique’s team came across the remains of a Neanderthal encampment dating from the Palaeolithic Period, about 80,000 years ago. Archaeological sites yielding such ancient and well-preserved remains are very uncommon. Sites are generally in a jumble and lie very often hidden deeper under the ground than recent sites. Over a distance stretching for 80 km this is like looking for a needle in haystack: just how do you set about such a task?
Dominique: “The presence of flint is a good indication, because this material was most commonly used in the Paleolithic Period. We have therefore chosen all places where flint could be quarried over the entire length of the HST line we focused our search on places with a high concentration of flint. At these places we dug deeper, to a depth of 5m.”
Three areas with a high flint concentration were selected, and the team hit the jackpot with one of them: the Remicourt site, in the south of the fertile Hesbaye area. 80,000 years ago Neanderthals set up camp here. The open location makes the find even more exceptional: camps like these are usually only found in caves. “Not only that, but the remains are exceptionally well preserved”, says Dominique, “especially when we consider just how old this encampment is.”
Would you like to know more about the archaeological excavations on the HST line? Aude and Dominique have put the results together in a travelling exhibition entitled “Les traverses du temps” [The Past Along the Tracks], which can still be seen at several locations in Belgium in the months to come. More info can be found under the heading ‘Museum newspaper’.
Stone and bone
The finds gave us a new insight into the habits of the Neanderthals. On a piece of ground measuring 2m² we discovered microscopic remains of wood and animal bones. Organic material is only preserved for this length of time if it is burned: so they made fire here. The most striking thing is that this prehistoric fireplace mostly contains bone fragments with a sponge-like structure. As a matter of fact, these bits of bone contain a lot of fat, which makes it burn well.
The traces of use investigation also revealed that a few of the pieces of flint could have been used as a sort of chisel to break bones. These finds indicate that it was general practice among these Neanderthals to use fatty pieces of bone for fuel.
“This example again shows the importance of bringing as many elements together as possible,” stresses Dominique. “This is the only way of coming up with a conclusive theory about the practices of the past!”
