One of the oldest archaeological national monuments in the Netherlands is located in Valkenburg: a site with the partly visible remains of seven prehistoric flint mines. Here the very first Dutch miners (about 5,500 years ago) searched for the steel of the Stone Age: flint.
Flint is a versatile material. At a time when bronze and iron had not yet been invented, flint was used to make all kinds of tools and weapons.
To obtain flint, people dug meters deep mines during part of the New Stone Age (between about 4,000 and 2,800 BC). You can see the remnants of this in Plenkertstraat.
Flint mining was one of the oldest forms of raw material extraction in the Netherlands. Flint is the oldest Dutch 'export product'. Archaeologists have found flint tools made from South Limburg flint hundreds of kilometers from here.
In onsen Lande van Valckenborgh, foundation for cultural-historical and archaeological research, gives guided tours of the mines and presentations about the prehistory of Valkenburg aan de Geul. Please refer to the website for more information.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.
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