Grotte de Ramioul
Ramioul Cave · Grotte du Coleoptère
Middle Palaeolithic to Neolithic·Mousterian / Aurignacian / Neolithic·🇧🇪 Wallonia, Liège, Flémalle, Belgium
About
About Grotte de Ramioul
Limestone cave in Flémalle with Mousterian to Neolithic deposits (70,000–2500 BCE), Neanderthal tooth, Upper Palaeolithic engravings and Neolithic collective burial. Houses Préhistomuseum and excavated by Hamal-Nandrin 1908 onward.
Why it mattersWalloon type-site for Neanderthal-modern transition with art.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Neanderthal occupation intensity
- 02Engraving chronology
Theories
- 01Meuse valley Neanderthal refugium
- 02Neolithic burial cave reuse
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 70000 BP (natural cave)
- Period
- Middle Palaeolithic to Neolithic
- Culture
- Mousterian / Aurignacian / Neolithic
- Purpose
- Habitation and burial cave
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 19th–20th century
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 70000 BP (natural cave)
Initial construction / first occupation at Grotte de Ramioul
19th century / 1960s
Antiquarian notice and modern systematic excavation of Grotte de Ramioul
2000s
Conservation and publication of final reports for Grotte de Ramioul
On the ground
Structures & features
50.5950° N · 5.4500° E · 90 m · 3 mapped features
Neanderthal Tooth Horizon
occupation layerMousterian layer with Neanderthal molar and Levallois flakes
50.5951° N · 5.4501° EEngraved Plaquette Gallery
rock artUpper Palaeolithic engraved plaquettes with ibex motifs
50.5949° N · 5.4501° ENeolithic Collective Burial
burialNeolithic pit with 10 inhumations near entrance
50.5952° N · 5.4499° E