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Belvédère Quarry

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Lat/Long:
50.87, 5.67
Country:
Netherlands
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The Belvédère quarry was a loess quarry in the municipality of Maastricht where the oldest dated archaeological remains in the Netherlands have been excavated. During excavations in the 80s of the 20th century, remains from different periods of the Stone Age have been found. Here was also a brick factory and pebble operation (1897-1982).

From the earliest phase, around 250,000 years ago, traces of human habitation in temporary encampments have been unearthed. The finds consist of stone tools of Homo heidelbergensis and remains of animal bones. One of the more spectacular finds is that of a flint knife, which has been examined by scientists at Leiden University for microscopic traces of use. This showed that the knife had been used to slaughter a woolly rhinoceros, of which bone remains had also been found on the spot. From a later phase, around 80,000 years ago, remains of an encampment of Neanderthals have been found.

Also in the Belvédère quarry, as in other places around Maastricht, villages of the first peasant culture that occurred in the Netherlands, the bandceramic culture, have been found.