Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Le sondage de Fays (Polleur)
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Reconnaissance de l'extension du filon de marcassite de Heure par géochimie de surface et sondages inclinés
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The structure of the Boom Clay at Ramsel
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The correlation of Famennian and Tournaisian deposits of the USSR and French-Belgian basin on conodonts
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Recherches sur les indices de minéralisations uranifères dans la région de Visé
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Ostracods and rock facies across the Givetian/Frasnian boundary interval in the Sourd d'Ave section at Ave-et-Auffe (Dinant Synclinorium, Ardenne, Belgium)
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Voedsel en wat daarbij komt kijken
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Offering up the very young at HK6
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Ostracods and rock facies across the Givetian/Frasnian boundary interval in the Sourd d'Ave section at Ave-et-Auffe (Dinant Synclinorium, Ardenne, Belgium).
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Prologue
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History of excavations, discoveries and collections.
- Spy cave, also known as the Betche aux Rotches cave, is one of the most famous Palaeolithic sites in Belgium. Excavated on numerous occasions beginning in 1879, the remains of two adult Neandertals were discovered in 1886. For the first time in the history of palaeoanthropology, human fossils were found in a stratigraphic context associated with rich archaeological material including the remains of extinct megafauna. The history of work at Spy presented here is based on a review of publications concerning the various excavations, the Lohest and Vercheval-De Puydt family archives, as well as inventories and archives possessed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museums of Art and History. This archival review clarifies several aspects concerning the discovery of the two Neandertal specimens, particularly in light of new studies concerning the Spy material which is now dispersed amongst several public and private collections.
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Through the correspondence: the little story of the “Spy bones”.
- In the summer 1886, the Neandertal fossils of Spy were unearthed in the so-called Betche aux Rotches cave. Ever since, they have been through many events and have been the stake of discords, sometimes impassioned, between the various protagonists of their discovery and their conservation. The succession of these events will be redrawn here and the positions of each cleared up in the light of the rereading of two archives collections coming from the discoverers, namely the correspondence collection of Maximin Lohest, which is Mrs Dallemagne-Ophoven’s property, and the correspondence collection of Marcel De Puydt, handed over to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), which we shall refer to as “the Vercheval collection”.
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Geological context
- The geological context of the Spy area is presented, from Lower Palaeozoic to Quaternary. It focuses on Upper Palaeozoic, including the Lower Carboniferous limestone in which the Spy cave opens. Special attention is also given to the Quaternary.
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The stratigraphy of Spy cave. A review of the available lithostratigraphic and archaeostratigraphic information.
- This chapter presents a general review of the lithostratigraphy associated with the various excavations carried out at Spy cave since the end of the 19th century, incorporating what little information is available concerning sedimentogenesis. In addition to reviewing the types and possible causes underlying the mixed nature of the Spy archaeological material, the history of the published archaeostratigraphic interpretations of the site is presented alongside the different techno-complexes identified amongst the Spy material. Finally, the stratigraphic position of the Neandertal remains is considered and an overall stratigraphy is proposed that takes into consideration the available chronostratigraphic data.
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Non-flint raw materials.
- This paper presents a macroscopic and mesoscopic characterisation of different non-flint raw materials identified amongst the archaeological material from Spy cave. Already available information for each raw material is discussed before introducing relevant new terminology. Finally, a litho-stratigraphic attribution is proposed alongside a discussion of the geological and geographical origin of each raw material. More detailed information was recorded for black, finely bedded silicites using Raman spectrometry, and for fluorites by measuring strontium isotopes or LA-ICP-MS of rare-earth elements. In both cases, these analytical approaches allowed mac - roscopically similar materials to be distinguished and their outcrops identified. The Orneau Valley has a relatively high lithological diversity (outcrops and fluvial deposits) from which a large part of the raw materials utilised at Spy derive. These materials were complemented by sources found in the Brabant Massif (Ottignies) and the area surrounding Landen.
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Oolithic ironstones from Spy cave.
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What do we know today about the Middle Palaeolithic of Spy?
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Typological, technological and functional analyses of Mousterian points.
- Spy cave provided the most important number of Mousterian points in Belgium. Most of them were found in the “second fauna-bearing level” (De Puydt & Lohest, 1887) and are stored at the Grand Curtius Museum in Liège (De Puydt collection). They revealed morphological particularities and a remarkable similarity that encouraged a more detailed techno-morpho-functional analysis. Their good state of preservation allowed us to observe macro-traces and sometimes microwear polishes
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Radiocarbon dating of human remains and associated archaeological material
- The Neandertal skeletal material from Spy cave has finally been directly dated by AMS 14C one hundred twenty-five years following their discovery. Fifteen human bones and teeth were dated in order to verify new morphological analyses and determine the age of the Spy Neandertals. Collagen from 14 faunal remains and three bone or ivory artefacts were also dated in order to establish a radiocarbon framework for the three “fauna-bearing levels” defined by the original excavators. Apart from several dates that are clearly too young due to contamination or diagenetic influences, our results show that the three oldest dates (ca. 36,000 uncal BP) for the two Neandertal adults are reliable given that the quality parameters are within the accepted confidence interval. We discuss the results of these new dates and their significance in light of the site's stratigraphy, the local Belgian context, and the wider European framework. Radiocarbon dating of Neolithic human skeletal material is also presented and discussed.
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The fossil mammals of Spy.
- The large faunal sample from Spy, a Belgian cave site famous for its Neandertal remains, is for the first time studied in detail. Some 11,600 bones were examined. A wide spectrum of Pleistocene species is present. Horse, cave hyena, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer are the primary taxa. Hyena scavenging activities are indicated by the gnawed mammoth and rhinoceros postcranial bones and cervid antlers. Bears used the cave as a hibernation den evidenced by remains of cubs, and of female and male adult bears. Indications of human manipulation (cut marks, ochre traces, worked bone/tooth) occur especially on remains from foxes, mammoth and deer. The age profile of the mammoth is dominated by calves. This selective mortality suggests that they were hunted by prehistoric people. AMS dates range from c. 44,400 BP to c. 25,700 BP. The Spy bone assemblage therefore accumulated through a series of agents over a long period of the Pleniglacial.
