Twenty-five Years Excavating Flint Mines in France and Belgium: an Assessment Françoise Bostyn INRAP Nord-Picardie, UMR 8215-Trajectoires, 11 rue des Champs, 59650 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France e-mail:
[email protected] Hélène Collet Service public de Wallonie, Service de l’Archéologie de la Direction du Hainaut I, 52 rue d’Harmignies, 7032 Spiennes, Belgium e-mail:
[email protected] Emmanuel Ghesquière INRAP Grand-Ouest,UMR 6566-CReAAH, Base INRAP Bourguébus, 4 bd de l’Europe, 14540 Bourguébus, France e-mail:
[email protected] Anne Hauzeur sarl Paléotime, 6173 rue Jean-Séraphin Achard-Picard, 38250 Villard-de-Lans, France e-mail:
[email protected] Pierre-Arnaud de Labriffe UMR 8215, 6, rue Pagès, 34070 Montpellier, France e-mail:
[email protected] Cyril Marcigny INRAP Grand-Ouest, UMR 6566-CReAAH, Le Chaos, 14400 Longues-sur-Mer, France e-mail:
[email protected] In collaboration with Philippe Lavachery Société de Recherche préhistorique en Hainaut, 9 rue Gontrand Bachy, 7032 Spiennes, Belgium e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: Twenty-five years of experience in excavating flint mines allow us to give a methodological overview about sites char- acterized by the sheer depth of some structures, the often vast extensions of the deposits and the specialised activities that were carried out there. By comparing operations undertaken up to fifteen years apart, the importance of accurate stratigraphic and planimetric records becomes clear. Palaeoenvironmental approaches probably have to be multiplied in view of the results ob- tained when sampling is systematic. If the use of a mechanical excavator is inescapable to create large geological cross sections and allows the excavation of a large number of structures, an agreement emerges to consider that its exclusive use should be avoided.