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<< 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:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : A rare engraving on a bone : a fish, assumed to be a trout. This species of fish is still very common in the region (Replica). (Vote or comment on this photo)
Cave or Rock Shelter in Province of Namur, Belgium.

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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Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : A young archaeologist studying a newly excavated bone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : One of the several (6) entrances to the caves. A rivers flows about 50 m downhill ; the cliff is oriented to the South. September 2015. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : A very rare exemplar (replica) of a whistle. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : Very stylised engraving (replica). (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : Specialists will tell the difference between artefacts from the Neanderthal era (top) and the Cro-Magnon era (bottom) at first sight.

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : The guided tour is most captivating. Count two fascinating hours.

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : The bones of a great variety of wild animals have been carried by the stream running through the caves, where they piled up into pits.

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : This photo is not directly related to human activity : it just shows the erosion caused by the powerful stream which created the caves. September 2015.

Grottes de Goyet
Grottes de Goyet submitted by Alta-Falisa : Entrance to the site. September 2015.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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