<< Our Photo Pages >> Grottes de Goyet - Cave or Rock Shelter in Belgium in Namur
Submitted by Alta-Falisa on Sunday, 06 September 2015 Page Views: 2811
Natural PlacesSite Name: Grottes de Goyet Alternative Name: Grotten van Goyet (NL) / Caves of Goyet (EN)Country: Belgium
NOTE: This site is 6.153 km away from the location you searched for.
Province: Namur Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Namur
Latitude: 50.444100N Longitude: 5.014200E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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The Grottes de Goyet (Caves of Goyet) proved to be among the richest in Europe.
The caves were inhabited at several periods, from Neanderthal to Cro-magnon. Each population left its marks, not by any painting on the walls of the caves but by various decorative artefacts, some of them of exceptional interest like the engraving of a trout on a bone (see photo), and a whistle (see photo).
The caves have also provided the skull of a dog, dated 34000 bp, far earlier than any other attested dog anywhere else -- to be complete, that skull may possibly be a regional branch of species between wolf and dog.
Replica of these items, plus more, are circulated by the guide during the visit, for everybody to see and touch them.
Uncountable bones of nearly all the living species, carried by the stream going through the cave and deposited in pits, have been recovered and await further investigation.
The feasibility of igniting fire using flint on its own has rightly been dismissed as impossible, but the archaeologist will show you what is needed to supplement a flint to actually produce a fire in just a few minutes, in front of you.
Adults and children alike will find interest in the lively 2-hour guided tours lead by a team of enthusiastic archaeologists, who cover various aspects of geology and anthropology down to daily life facts.
Back to present : to crown it all, the cafeteria serves "neolithic" food, complete with utensils in flint. A small shop (books, souvenirs) is also available.
You would not visit the Grottes de Goyet for its aesthetics (huge caves in Slovenia, for example, are far more fascinating).
You would visit the Grottes de Goyet, frankly, for the guided tour as described.
Car park in front of the site.
Official page (in French & Dutch) : Grottes de Goyet
Practical informations (in French) : Practical informations
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