An throp ol o g i ca et Pr ahis t or i ca, lLz, 2001,21-38
2
Neandertalsfrom Belgium LesNdandertaliens de Belgique
Michel ToussAINT, Stephane PIRSoN and Herv6 BocHERENS
Abstract On at least six or seven occasions since 1830, the caves of the Mosan basin, in the southem part of Belgium, have provided Neandertal human remains. Some of these finds, like Engis, La Naulette or Spy, are famous; they have played a role of primary importance in the genesis and initial development of palaeoanthropology and prehistory ($ 2). Others, modest (Fonds de For6t) or recent (Sclayn, Walou), should be better known. The different sites are first presented individually, from historical, geological, palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and palaeoanthropological points of view ($ 3). They are then integrated in analytical approaches successively developing the nature of the sites ($ 4.1.),the archaeological material associated with the Neandertal remains (S 4.2), the deposition processes of the bones (S 4.3), anthropology (representativity of the bones, age/ sex; S 4.4), pathology (S 4.5), anthropic traces (S 4.6), diet ($ 4.7) and DNA analyses (S 4.8). Finally, we will present a proposition for Mosan Neandertal chronology (S 4.9) as well as a discussion of future approaches to regional Neandertal research ($ 5).
R6sum6 Les catternesdu bassin mostn, dans le Sud de la Belgique, ont, d six ou sept reprisesau moins depuis 1939, liuri des restesd'hommes de Niandertal. Certaines de ces trouuailles, comme Engis, La Naulette ou Spy, sont cilibres; elles ont joui un r6le de premiire importance dans la genise et les premiers diaeloppements de la palioanthropologie et de la prihistoire ($ 2). D'autres, modestes(Fonds de ForAt) ou rdcentes (Sclayn, Walou), gagnent d Atre connues. Les dffirents sites sont d'abord prisentds indiztiduellement, tant du point de uue historique que giologique, palioenztironnemental, archAologiqueet palioanthropologique ($ 3). lls sont ensuite intigris dans des approchesanalytiques abordant successitrementIa nature des sites (S 4.D, Ie matiriel archiologique associi aux ossements niandertaliehs ($ 4.2), Ie mode d'introduction des ossementsdans les sidiments 6 4.3), l'anthropologie (reprlsentatiaitd desfossiles, 6ge, sexe; $ 4.4), Ia pathologie (S 4.5), les traces anthropiques ($ 4.6), le rigime alimentaire $ 4.7) et les analyses de I'ADN (S 4.8). Enfin, une proposition de sdriation chronologique des Niandertaliens mosans (S 4.9) et une discussion des perspectiuesd'auenir de la rechercheniandertalienne rigionale ($ 5) sont prisenties.
1. INTnOpUCTION of one of the most fascinating taxa in human history. On at least six or seven occasions since 1830,Belgium has provided Neandertal human remains, all from caves of the Mosan basin (fig. 1). Some of these finds, like La Naulette 2. THE Hlsrony AND IMPoRTANcE oF or Spy, are famous; they have played a role of MoseN NEa.NpERTALS primary importance in the genesis and initial Ph.-Ch. Schmerling, a doctor and non- developments of palaeoanthropology and pre- conformist nafuralist, was the first scientist history. Others, modest or recent, should be to have clearly understood and demonstrated better known. The quality of information avail- the contemporaneity of man and large extinct able on the stratigraphic, archaeological and prehistoric mammals 12.97;2.981. During the palaeoenvironmental contexts of these fossils winter of 1829-7830,in the second Engis cave, varies greatly. Some human remains were he discovered two skullcaps, notably associated found during recent multidisciplinary excava- with woolly rhinoceros and mammoth bones. tions. Others, brought to light during the Even if this illustrious precursor did not 19th century, have only been placed in simplistic affirm that this man was even morphologically stratigraphic records, without exact distribu- slightly different from our contemporaries, sci- tion plans or contextual analyses. Whatever entific officialdom took more than a quarter of the case, in varying degrees, they have all a century to admit Schmerling's ideas. This made a significant contribution to knowledge necessitated: 22 Michel ToussatNl St6phane PtRSoN and Herv6 BocHsRENs
L. that prehistoric archaeology was more firmly During most of the 20th century, regional established due to facques Boucher de Per- Neandertal anthropology took place in the thes' stubbom propagandizing; laboratory. The salient facts are the recognition 2. that The Origin of Species(1859) by Charles of the Neandertal character of the Engis child, Darwin had imposed the notion of transform- a century after its discovery 12.491as well as ism; the detailed study of the Fonds de For6t femur 3. that the English geologist Charles Lyelf hav- 12.1061andthe La Naulette remains 12.74;2.991. ing visited the LiEge sites in the company of With the resumption of vast field research C. Malaise, had come around to Schmerling's programmes during the last decades of the ideas. past century, two series of finds have allowed As two of his L9th century biographers judi- Walloon research to renew ties with the long tra- ciously noted, Schmerling "was wrong because dition of such pioneers as Schmerling, Dupont, he was right too early" f2.I6;2.681. or Fraipont and Lohest. The first series comes Discovered in l866by the geologist Edouard from Scladina cave, at Sclayru where some Dupont in a Lesse valley cave, the famous La stratigraphi. units have yielded Neandertal re- Naulette mandible also marks a date in the mains, notably the mandible and the maxillary history of palaeoanthropology. The fossil's an- fragment discovered in many parts, beginning tiquity has been establishedby its stratigraphic on July 16,L993[2.1011. The secondis a premolar context and its associationwith large extinct pre- found in a Mousterian context in Walou cave, historic mammals. Taking place in the maturity at Trooz [2.431. phase of the idea of the existence of a fossil man different from present forms-ten years after the eponymous Neandertal discoveries 3. MOSaN NTA.NPERTAL SITES near Di.isseldorf, which were out of context-, 3.L. The Schmerling cave in Engis according to the illustrious Paul Broca [2.12:595] A famous site in the history of human "[...] the La Naulette discovery represents the palaeontology, the Schmerling cave forms part first fact providing Darwinists an anatomical of a group of openings facing north, in the argument, [...] the first link in the chain which, flank of a cliff of Dinantian limestone, in the according to them, should reach from man to territory of the village of Les Awirs (commune the monkey". of Fl6malle, province of Lidge), some 750 m Twenty years later, a more prepared sci- north of the Meuse valley. A ravine, mostly entific opinion had little trouble accepting the hollowed out by an old quarry, isolates it from "The discovery of Man of Spy" remains, ex- the surrounding countryside and lends it a humed in June and july 1886 from the terrace spectacular aerial aspect. Known originally as of the 'Betche aux Rotches'cave, 20 km west of the 'Trou Caheur', the cave was named the the city of Namur. Due to the multi-disciplinary 'Deuxidme grotte d'Engis' (Second Engis cave) character of research conducted by the geolo- by Schmerling before being renamed the'Grotte gist Max Lohest and the archaeologist Marcel Schmerling'in 1939. De Puydt working in conjunction with the The first excavations were carried out palaeontologist fulien Fraipont, this discovery by Schmerling in the winter of 1829-1830 led to definitively admitting the existence of 12.901. Among the discoveries were two hu- a human taxon anatomically slighltly different man skullcaps. In 1868, Ed. Dupont excavated from modem man. the cave and detailed its stratigraphy 12.461. In 1895, the discovery of a femur by Doctor j. Fraipont [2.51] further explored the site in 'Fonds F. Tihon in the de For6t' caves, in 1885,before being relayed by E.Doudou 12.391 the Vesdre valley, brought to a close regional from 1895 ory and then by J. Hamal-Nandrin Neandertal discoveries in the 19th century. We [2.1101in 1904. Finally, over the course of the "cradle "Chercheurs should recall that at this period the 20th century, the de la Wallonie" of mankind" was sliding progressively towards excavatedthe cave on severaloccasions, notably Asia and then towards Africa following older n L907and 1956 [2.30]. Given the oldness of and older grades of discoveriesin the evolution all this researcfu the stratigraphic information of Homini ds: Homoerectus of Java and China on appears quite summary in comparison with the the one hand, and the Australopithecines from immense interest of the cave filling. This is Africa on the other. why the palaeoenvironmental data, provided Neandertals from Belgium LesNdandertaliens de Belgique
uniquely by the macrofauna, is of little use The fossil. presents a combination of ju- [2.770:115].Fig. 5 tries to synthesizethe inform- venile characteristics, plesiomorphic (primitive) ation provided by the principal excavators. traits and derived (acquired) Neandertal traits. Correlations between the various strati- Among the primitive characteristics figure nota- graphiesare delicate.For example,Dupont does bly the forehead receding towards the back, the not establish a subdivision in his layer 2, in effacement of the frontal bosses, the topography which he nonetheless documents lithic items of the meningeal veins with predominance of the Mousterian and Upper Palaeolithic of the anterior branch, stretching of the rear [2.n0:T12]. Hence his layer 2 at least partly cranium from a lateral view or, further, the corresponds to Destexhe'slayers A and B. The anterior obliquity of the main axis of the external site's Middle Palaeolithic industry is typical auditory meatus. The majority of the derived Mousterian of Levallois facies[2.110 :116]. Neandertal characteristics, defined in the adult, Two skullcaps (Engis 1 and 2) and various are all recognizable in Engis 2 child, for example: cranial fragments, as well as some postcranial 1. the large, rounded orbits; remains were discovered in the cave, most 2. the low position of the maximal width of the of them by Schmerling. Their stratigraphic cranium at the parietals and the transversal "it position is uncertain. Schmerling notes that convexity which, from a posterior view, gives "bomb was a meter and a half down [...] hidden under the cranium its shape"; an osseous breccia 1,...1"that he discovered 3. the convexity of the occipital plane which is, the adult Engis 1 skullcap [2.90:601 whereas furthermore, separated from the rather flat "[...] the juvenile Engis 2 cranium was on the nuchal plane by u supra-iniac fossa; bottom of this cave,near an elephanttooth I...1" 4. in norma lateralis, the juxta-mastoid process [2.90:62]. Dupont situates the human remains descends beyond the mastoid process, poorly in his first ossiferous level, an archaeological distinguishable from the bony mass. catch-all layer, and Destexhein his layer B, right Due to the subject's youth, other traits were in the midst of the Mousterian industry. still in development on Engis 2, 'Engis notably the 1' has often been attributed to the supraorbital torus, which was in the process of Upper Palaeolithic, a period in which it would differentiation. have been buried in a grave drg in the Mousterian level. Yet a recent AMS dating at 3.2. La Naulette Cave 4,590t 80 B.P.(OxA-746) [2.691 supports those who, sincede Mortillet [2.27],place this cranium La Naulette cave is situated on the left in the Neolithic. side of the Lesse, less than 1 km southwest of 'Engis The 2' child (fig. 2) is represented the hamlet of Chaleux (commune of Houyet, by u skullcap, maxilla and malar fragments as province of Namur). This is a vast cave whose well as upper and lower teeth. Death occurred principal entrance opens towards the northwest, between 4 and 5 years of age I2.n:4V4721, or about 25 m above the river, in a Dinantian even between 5 and 6 years of age 12.96:511. limestone massif. A second, smaller entrance These fossils were not attributed to Neandertal opens northeast of the principal entrance, at man until a century after their discovery [2.4n. approximately the same altifude. The cranium is relatively elongated, its vault It was early in the year 7866 that Dupont rather flat, with a receding forehead; there is carried out the first excavations at La Naulette bulging of the rear cranium. On the biometric [2.M1. In March he unearthed a human mand- level, the cranium is large, the maximum width ible and an ulna, associated with extinct animal is found lower, at the parietals. Its frontal remains. The quality of the results and the im- bone is more extended than the parietal, like portance of the stratigraphic sequence led him to other Neandertal children and many adults. complete the research, during the summer of the The interorbital width is well above the present same year, essentially in hopes of finding other mean. The sagittal convexity of the parietal is parts of the human skeleton 12.45:2481;only a weak. The occipital presents strong convexity canine enriched his find. in relation to the stretch of the rear cranium. The It was only since the summer of 7999 that biasteric width is clearly much greater than that new research at La Naulette was carried out by "Direction of present-day children. The foramen magnum the de lArch6ologie du Ministdre de is large. la R6gion wallonne" (Directorate of Archeology 24 Michel ToussalNt StephanePIRSoN and Herv6 BocHenPNs of the Walloon Region Ministry). The principal retromolar space, the backward position of the objectives are to study the site's stratigraphy and mental foramen and the flatness of the anterior palaeoenvironment as well as to date the human face of the symphysis are missing but these are remains [2.L02;2.861. features generally observed only on adults. The stratigraphic sequence of the La Naulette La Naulette anthropic remains are not dated. cave is more than L1 m thick. In his initial Yet some indices allow us to assume that they "classical description, Dupont [2.M] reported four or five are older than the Neandertals". The "stalagmitic sheets" (: stalagmitic floors) and first depend on the presence of five overlying "ossiferous two levels". Over the course of the stalagmitic floors. The second ones are of "ossi- second operation, he identified a third a palaeoanthropological order. As we have ferous level", located under the two preceding seen, the mandible presents archaic-or Ple- "derived" ones, and the stalagmitic floors were increased siomorphic-traits but not veritable to seven in number 12.451. The discrepancy characteristics typical of Neandertals. Moreover, between Dupont's two stratigraphic descriptions the mandible falls within the biometric vari- makes it difficult to compare them. The human ability of Neandertals and their pre-Neandertal "ossiferous remains belong to the second level" ancestors. On the contrary, the ulna and third of the stratigraphy published in 1867, situated metacarpal show modern type morphological between stalagmitic floors 2 and 3. and metric characteristics. No lithic material was associated with the Hence two hypotheses can be advanced. In human remains. Yet for Dupont, some animal the first, Dupont wrongly associated an ancient "traces bones bore of the hand of man" lz.M :52), mandible with modern postcranial remains by "1...1 so that the hypothesis of man's placing mixing the layers. The finesse of his strati- 1...1"the human and animal remains in the layer graphic observations and various other argu- "1....1the seemed to him most satisfying; even the ments would tend to eliminate this possibility. only admissible" 12.45: 2531. However, Dupont's If, on the contrary, all the remains do indeed arguments are not always convincing. come from the same layer, or even from the The only known palaeoenvironmental in- same subject, the explanation might lie in the formation from La Naulette comes from the concerned individual's belonging to a very early "relatively macrofauna. The remains were few Neandertal group. In fact, the characteristics in number but admirably conserved" [2.M: a7]. proper to Neandertals were progressively ac- "in "classic.al" The fauna associated with the anthropological quired mosaic" to end up with remains is the best documented. kinds around the Eemian interglacial. In some The La Naulette mandible involves only of their anatomical details, rather early fossils the left side of the body, the symphyseal may thus be morphologically closer to modern region and the right side of the body extending man than to classical Neandertals. In the context "modern" to the P3 and partially to the P1 (fig. 3). of this hypothesis, the traits of the It is generally-and rightly-attributed to a La Naulette postcranial bones will have to be "plesiomorphy". female subject; doubtlessly a young adult. The interpreted in terms of New symphyseal region is slightly receding and research undertaken at the site will doubtlessly the alveolar part of the fossil's buccal face let us test this interpretation. New dating by presents an alveolar plane, two plesiomorphic gamma spectrometry might also prove useful to characteristics. The chin does not present the test the contemporaneity of the mandible and 4 components characteristic of modern man; it is postcranial bones. reduced to an incipient tuber symphyseos and incurvatio mandibularis anterior. The genial 3.3. Spy Cave region is clearly near the lower edge like many Neandertals; it presents a substantial genio- Spy cave (commune of JemePPe-sur-Sambre, glossal fossa, of plesiomorphic nature, furrowed province of Namur) is situated on the left bank in by two little cupulae, replacing the upper of the Orneau river. Its principal entrance, Pre- genial processes [2.74:241. The mental foramen ceded by a terrace, opens south-southwest, some is double, the principal one right over Pa, which fifteen meters above the stream, in a Dinantian is a modem characteristic. On the other side, limestone massif. The cave is relatively small some of the principal autapomorphies of the and has a principal zone leading onto little Neandertal mandibles such as the existence of a narrow galleries. Neandertals from Belgium LesNinndertaliens de Belgique 25
The first Spy excavations were carried out occupations and 4 from the Upper Palaeo- "Men in 1879by A. Rucquoy 12.8n. M. De Puydt and lithic (fig. 6). The of Spy" were prob- M. Lohest [2.28] began research in August 1885, ably associated with Quina $pe Charentian which, during the second operation, in fune 12.10:157;2.L70:65), which would assign them "crowned and July 7886, were with undreamed to a relatively recent chronological position of success" [2.29:208]: human remains were [2.74:381. The excavators observed the abund- unearthed in their stratigraphic context and ance of knapped flints near the human remains "two in association with remains of extinct animals 12.29:2331; thus, Mousterian points, a and archaeological material. Studying of the glossy sandstone blade and many odd flakes bones, animal as well as human, was entrusted [...]" accompanied the remains [2.54:665]. to I. Fraipont. Other excavations were then Dozens of human remains discovered in undertaken at Spy' the Royal Museums of the Spy terrace were initially related to two Art and History between 1903 and 7909 [2.261; adults, Spy 1 and 2 (fig. 4). In fact, some University of Liege from 7927to 1933 [2.65;2.66); additional remains come from a young child F. Twiesselmann and the Royal Belgian Institute (Spy 3) [2.705:99; 2.707:12] and two, or even of Natural Sciences from 1948 to 1956 [2.34; three, more adults [2.103]. Spy 1 and Spy 2 "S.O.S. Fouilles" from 7979 to 1981 12.37;2.321. are each represented by a skullcap, maxillar We shall concentrate our attention on exca- and mandible elements as well as by a series vations of the terrace, which led to the discovery of postcranial remains, often incomplete, but of Neandertals in 1886 (fiS. 6). Subsequent belonging as much to upper as to lower excavations did not provide supplementary in- members. According to Thoma [2.93;2.94), Spy 1 formation on the context of human fossils. seems to be a woman whose cranial capacity is in the Unfortunately, the excavation methods of order of 1,300 cm3 and ?py Z a rather young De Puydt and Lohest were far from exemplary, man with around 1,500cm' of cranial volume. even for the period, as the team geologist The various Spy remains present numerous was to recognize later 12.76:7461.The timbered plesiomorphic characteristics, as well as derived gallery excavations used from 1885 on [2.76] characteristics, some shared with modern men were certainly responsible for mixing up various (synapomorphic), the others specific to Neander- archaeological occupations brought to light by tals (autapomorphic). All these remains are recent typological studies [2.110;2.33; 2.80], as clearly Neandertal 12.93;2.941and cannot, con- well as, furthermore, the lack of spatial plans for trary to the view defended earlier by Hrdlidka Neandertal remains. [2.n), be considered as representing the phyletic In fact, if today we admit the existence transition between this taxon and modern men. of at least seven Palaeolithic occupations, only Among the plesiomorphic characteristics of "ossiferous three levels" were noted then. The the Spy crania figure, for example, the low "ossiferous notion of an level" is acfually rather and elongated cranial vault of the two skullcaps fluid. Although it seemed synonymous, to and the receding character of the mandibular the excavators, with archaeological occupations, symphysis as well as the planum alveolare of "1...1the they nonetheless wrote that only upper Spy 1. Numerous derived characteristics proper part of this ossiferous level included a thin bed to Neandertals are observable on the two skulls: "bomb of knapped flints [...]" [2.54:6661. for example the shape" from a rear view, To the lack of finesse in observation of sedi- particularly clear on Spy 2, the effacement of the ments is added a certain confusion between the parietal lobes or, further, the retromolar space excavators' various descriptions [2.53 :767-769; (1 cm for Spy 1 and 0.5 cm for Spy 2). 2.54: 663-665; 2.29 :209, 236 & pl. I; 2.52 :36-37); The postcranial bones from Spy, like those for example, the number of layers yielding of other Neandertals, have robust epiphyses knapped flints varies from three to five de- compared to modern man. Among the numer- pending on the article. Furthermore, the pa- ous traits characteristic of Neandertals, we shall laeoenvironment of the Spy deposits is poorly mention for example: understood. The only data available concern the 1. the large sigmoid cavities of the Spy 2 ulnae macrofauna, but the lacunae mentioned above tend to face anteriorly and not upward like limit the interpretation. recent humans; From an archaeological point of view, the 2. seen laterally, the ulna's anterior face forms Spy deposits contain at least 3 Mousterian an angle under the coronoid process; 26 Michel ToussatNl St6phanePtRSoN and Herv6 BocHeRENs
"eurolene"; 3. platolenian index of the ulnae is notably by Tihon [2.1L0:130]. Furthermore, the 4. shaft of the Spy 1 radius strongly curved; hypothesis of intrakarstic reworking due to 5. shaft of the Spy 2 femurs slightly curved water circulation cannot be totally ruled out forward; 12.110:138-139]. Because of mixed layers, the 6. weak femoral pilaster; study of the fauna gathered hardly permits pa- 7. left tibia of Spy 2 short and robust. laeoenvironmental interpretation. The Middle Palaeolithic material seems homogenous. It 3.4. Fonds de For6t Cave is Quina Vp" Charentian [2.110]. The human On the left side of the Magne stream, a bones are probably related to this. The site's tributary of the Vesdre, are found the two Fonds Upper Palaeolithic material corresponds to nu- de For6t caves or Bay Bonnet caves (commune merous occupations: Aurignacian, Cravettian of Trooz, province of Lidge). These cavities and, on the terrace, Arhensbourgian, and maybe "Creswellian" are sifuated in Dinantian limestone, about one [2.110:132; 2.80; 2.34]. hundred meters from the stream, around 20 m The exact location of the molar and femur above it. They have a common artificial terrace. discoveries is unknown. Study of the latter 'first The upstream cave, or cave', is larger. (fig. 8) only dates back to 1961 12.1061. It is a Oriented westward, an elbowed gallery around robust left bone, reduced to the lower four fifths. 30 meters long leads into a vast chamber. This It comes from an adult subject. Its shaft shows was the gallery yielding Neandertal remains. an anteroposterior curvature and is rounded in All the research work at Fonds de For6t is cross section, characteristics found in classical old. Schmerling [2.90] excavated there around Neandertals. The biometric study too shows 1830, probably in the main chamber 12.95:147f. that the femur of Fonds de For6t resembles those In 1895, Dr F. Tihon opened two trenches in of Spy and Neandertal, notably for the trochlear the terrace before becoming interested in the dimensions, the sub-trochanteric diameters and cave interior, where he unearthed a human the mid body dimension. femur and upper left molar 12.95:1651.In1906, Hamal-Nandrin also excavated in the cave 12.64; 3.5. Scladina Cave 2.6n, before the Musie royal d'Histoire naturelle de Bruxelles, under the direction of A. Rutot, Discovered in I97I, Scladina cave, at Sclayn (commune of Anderure, province of Namur), took up the torch in 1907 12.89). The same opens in Dinantian limestone, on the west side year, M. Exsteens [2.48] explored a portion of sediment left by Rutot on the right side of of the Fond des Vaux, a stream tributary of the the gallery, in the middle part of the cave. Meuse. Oriented east-south-east, some twenty ln 1914, Hamal-Nandrin carried out a small meters above the stream, the cave forms part of a excavation on the terrace of the two caves, near karstic complex of at least three caves linked to the principal entrance, with few results. Then, each other by u network of galleries and shafts. between 1931to 1933,he opened a large trench in It begins with a long passage 5 to 6 meters wide high, extending more than the slope leading down to the stream [2.67;2.55; and roughly 6 meters 2.501. Among the other excavations, we mention 30 m. The excavation of this site has been carried "Service Lequeux's works in19L6 on since 79n-78 by the de Prehistoire" [2.75]. 'Arch6ologie Excavations by Tihon, Exsteens and Rutot of the Universi$ of Liege and the provide the principal information on the strati- Andennaise" association. Since L993, it numbers graphy of the cave interior, where the Neander- among the rare sites of the Meuse basin to have tal remains were exhumed. The differences provided Neandertal remains [2.100;2.701]. observed between these various stratigraphies The Scladina stratigraphy (fig. n shows, might be partly explainable by their location from bottom up [2.8], a cryoclastic phase (lay- in apparently different zones of the cave, yet ers 7A and 7B), a runoff phase (layer 6), then there is a certain coherence between the various a second cryoclastic sequence (layer 5) with the descriptions. Many propositions for correlation principal archaeological occupation, a Middle between the different stratigraphies have been Palaeolithic of interglacial age sensu /afo (Saint- proposed. That of Twiesselmann seems to us the Germain 1B), attributable to a Quina type Mous- most relevant. terian 12.781.After a runoff deposit (layer 4B), Upper Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic is a layer of homogenous ochre-coloured silt industries have frequently been mixed together, (layer 4A), corresponding to rapid colluvial Neandertals from Belgium LesNiandertaliens de Belgique 27
sedimentation. The 9 juvenile Neandertal re- of the symphyseal region shows a very slight de- mains discovered in the past few years are pression under the alveolar process suggesting contained in this level, which may well date the presence of an incipient incurvatio mandibu- back to the Saint-Germain LC interglacial 12.91. lae anterior. There are no lateral fubercles, but A stalagmitic floor (CC4) seals the sediments only an incipient tuber symphyseos. The con- of layer 4. The karstic filling then presents dylar process of Neandertal mandibles projects an alternance of deposits, sometimes full of partly outside the branch, materialised by the limestone blocks of all sizes, sometimes more upper edge of the mandibular incisor, whereas silty. Layer 3 has yielded three human teeth this structure is situated almost uniquely on and one first metatarsal; yet, since the limit the mesial side in modem men; at Sclayru the of layers 3 and 4A was not always precisely condylar processshows the Neandertal arrange- identified at the beginning of the excavations, ment. The width of the branch is elevated these remains might well come from layer 4,A. (35 mm) in relation to other Neandertals of [2.8:18]. Layer 1A contains the second level of more or less the same age, notably Teshik-Tash Mousterian habitat, with Charentian affinities l2.l09l or Fate II [2.56]. The mandibular foramen "horizontal-oval" in the large sense 12.791.Finally, a Holocene does not present the form stalagmitic floor (CCl), partly fused to the cave which appears on around half the Neandertals. dome, surmounts all the deposits. The body depth decreases and thickens pro- At one moment it seemed that certain gressively from front to back, a characteristic "moderrr" squares of layer 18 had yielded Neandertal often considered but which has no remains, based on the position of this layer real taxonomic value in the child. Neither side under the level of Mousterian occupation of has a retromolar space but this derived trait, layer 1A. These pieces must be declassified characteristicof the majority of adult Neandertal from the inventory of Scladina Neandertals. fossils, is absent in most children. The mental In f.act, some other bones, exhumed at the foramen is double: the principal one sifuated beginning of the excavations in the same under Pa and the accessoryunder the sepfum sectorand rediscoveredrecently, exhibit modern separating this tooth from M1. anatomic characteristics, notably on the level In conclusiory the mandible does not present "typical" of the condyle of the mandible and on a derived Neandertal characteristics, radius. Moreover, perfurbations observed along such as, notably, the retromolar space and the the wall suggest that these bones come from anterior flatness of the incisive region. Yet superficial deposits in the cave. the lateral development of the condylar pro- A number of contexfual studies were done: cess, the extreme width of the branch and the stratigraphy and sedimentology[2.62; 2.59; 2.41, double mental foramen figure among charac- palynolo gy l2.ll, palaeontology 12.21;2.911 and teristics that the Sclayn mandible shares with geochronology 12.91.Th"y are synthesised in other European Neandertals, which association h9.7. distinguishes it somewhat from modem men. The layer 4A palaeoanthropological fossils Plesiomorphic traits are also well representedon are all from a child's mandible and right maxilla the Sclayn mandible, for example, the absence (fig. 9). Based on age criteria related to cutting of a chin and the presenceof a fovea genioglossa teeth and the formation of molar roots in mod- and a planum alveolare. ern men, the child would be L2 or 13 years old. Yet the persistenceof deciduous molars might suggesta younger age,doubtless not over ten or eleven. The Sclayn maxillary fragment is too 3.5. Walou Cave incomplete to let us determine exactly whether Walou cave (commune of Trooz, province it corresponds to the morphology in flexion or of Lidge) is in a Dinantian limestone massif extension. The mandible's symphyseal region about 30 meters above the Mag.", or, ,h" lef; presents a slightly recessedsagittal profile. The bank of this affluent of the Vesdre. The site upper part of the posterior face has a planum was discovered on various occasionsby amateur alveolare overlying a slight torus transversus spelaeologistsand archaeologists,before becom- superior. The fovea genioglossa is traversed by ing the object of two seriesof multi-disciplinary three vertical crestswith the median descending excavations,from 1985to 199012.381, then from in between the digastric fossae.The anterior face L996 to present lL.arl; 2.431. The excavations Michel ToussntNl StephanePtRSoN and Herv6 BocusRENs
principally involve the terrace extending in front sunny summers, recalling the characteristics of a of the cave. mountainous climate and explaining the simul- Four major sedimentary members were dis- taneous presence of ibex, chamois and marmot. tinguished [z.In. Member A corresponds to These observations do not correspond to a the Holocene and has yielded some remains rigourous glacial period like a full ice age but from Neolithic and Mesolithic industries [2.38]. rather to a phase of climatic improvement of the The first four layers of member B, that is 81 Weichselian interglacial which may correspond to B.4, have yielded Creswello-Tjongerian and to an interstadial stage preceding that of Arcy. Magdalenian material; they corresPond to the The layer C8 microfauna data are comPatible Late Glacial. An important hiatus separates with this interpretation 12.20). them from layer 85, where a Gravettian industry The lithic industry associated with the hu- has been discovered. In member C, layers man tooth corresponds to a Mousterian centred C4A to C10 correspond to a humid and cold on the production of flakes, very much like that part of the Weichselian glaciation. Layer C6C, of layer C8 12.42). Among the tools discovered dating back to around 29,000 8.P., has yielded figure, notably, pseudo-Levallois points, various Aurignacian material. Layer C8, the last to Vper of scrapers, backed knives and rare Mous- lac 8.P., con- be dated, to more than 42,000 terian points. tained Mousterian material 12.421. According The tooth is a lower left premolar, probably to Collcutt 12.17:141,as to layers C1 to C4, a P:. It presents the same state of conservation they rather curiously seem to correspond to and fossilisation as the rest of the palaeontolo- displacement from members A and B. Mem- gical remains gathered in layer C sup. The tooth ber D, where research has just begun, may presents a single root, with a relatively flattened correspond to the Saalian or even predate it profile in the mesial-distal direction. The crown 12.431. The stratigraphic connections between is robust. Its maximal vestibular-lingual and Collcutt's reference sequence and ongoing ex- maximal mesial-distal diameters are close to cavations not yet having been established, a Neandertal means, an interesting observation provisional nomenclafure (C sup., C2, C3 and but not enough to situate the fossil taxonomi- Da to Dc; sensu Draily) has been used for the cally. On the contrary, given the present state probable equivalents of layers C8 to D212.1141. of research, it is the find's archaeological context, Many palaeoenvironmental sfudies have coupled with its stratigraphic position in a been done at Walou. Generally speaking, we complex sedimentary sequence and, accessorily, observe an excellent correlation between sedi- the faunal examination, which advances our re- mentology [z.In, microfauna 12.23; 2.104], ar- flection. The lithic material of layer C sup.-like, chaeology 12.35; 2.40; Z.tll and geochronology for that matter, that of C8-has undergone [2.at 2.5n. Only palynolo gy 12.701Poses some coming from the archaeological problems on the level of members B and C. no pollution layers. Nor is the Regarding the macrofauna, only layers C6C occupations of the upper fauna gathered in this stratum disturbed by [2.92], C sup. to C3 and Da to Dc l2-IL4l stratigraphic have been studied. The sequences of Walou, more recent fossils. Besides, from a the as well those of Scladina and Trou Al'Wesse viewpoint, layer C sup. is situated towards of Member C, under layers of Early (Modave, province of Lidge) 12.831, are keys middle for the palaeoenvironnemental data they have Upper Palaeolithic occupations. If the still yielded. somewhat hypothetical rapprochement between The sitet only hominid fossil, a tooth (fig. t0), C sup. and C8 is confirmed during upcoming lac "over comes from layer C sup.r which might well excavations, the dating to 42,0008.P." be only a lateral variant of Collcutt's layer C8. (Lv-1838) obtained from bony splinters from It was found in 1997 but only identified in layer C8 fauna also applies to the human Pre- molar. Hence, to the extent that no observation L999 [2.43]. The diversity of fauna found in of modern morPhology C sup. suggests 12.43] the existence of a mosaic indicates that a man of biotopes with grassy steppes, steppes with might have appeared so early in north-western some trees and perhaps timbered zones, humid Europe in a Mousterian cultural milieu, it seems prairies, swampy milieux and rupestral milieux. reasonable now to propose, certainly still as The climate must have been of a continental a testable hypothesis, attributing the recently premolar to Neandertal man. $pe with very cold and wet winters and cool, discovered Neandertals from Belgium Les Ndandertaliensde Belgique 29
3.7. Other Neandertals? anthropological sfudy prevents us from making Excavated on numerous occasions since the further interpretations. end of the 19th century, the'Trou de lAbime'(the Abyss Hole) at Couvin (province of Namur), has yielded an original lithic industry correspond- 4. ANervsrs ing to the transition between the Middle and Up- 4.1. The sites "Couvin per Palaeolithic techno-complexes, the Some forty Mousterian sites, fifteen of which facies" [2.80; 2.7721.In 7984, on the occasion of are of primary importance, were found in the a probe carried out on the terrace, the archaeo- caves and rock shelters of the Mosan basin. logical layer yielded the crown of a decidual Six of them, seven or maybe even eight, have lower right second molar. The fossil comes yielded Neandertal remains, so one out of from the transitional zone between layers Ia six or seven. Retaining only the important and II, at around 2 meters below the present archaeological sites, this proportion climbs to a surface. The macrofauna and microfauna from third. the same layer testify to a temperate climate In certain cases, the anthropological fossils which has been related to the Cott6s interstadial, come either from the terraces in front of the around 35,000 years ago [2.18:72; 2.L9:59-60]. caves, or inside the cave, close to the cave On the contrary, the radiometric macrofauna entrance (Spy, Walou, Couvin). In others cases, dating suggests an older age:46,820 x.3,290 B.P. they come from the caves themselves (Engis, (Lv 1559). Fonds de For6t), sometimes in almost total The tooth's occlusal face is subrectangular darkness (La Naulette, Sclayn). and presents five principal cuspids whose order None of the numerous outdoor Mousterian of decreasing size is: entoconid t hypoconid sites of the Meuse and Haine basins as well ) metaconid > protoconid > hypoconulid. The as the plains of the Hesbaye and Flanders vestibular face presents no fuberculum molare. have so far yielded human bones, whereas the The lingual face is smooth and without a fossil fauna is sometimes conserved, among Carabelli fubercule. The presence of a wear facet others at Mesvin IV near Mons [2.I3; 2.L5] or on the distal face implies that the eruption of M1 at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, in Limbourg (WFL was achieved, corresponding to a minimal age Site) 12.111. of 6 to 7 years if the schema of modern man is applicable to Palaeolithic children, whereas the 4.2. Archaeological material associated with maximal age is either 11 or L2 years, a period human remains when the dm2 is replaced by the Pa. The roots' The child from Sclayn comes from a strati- destruction prevents our refining the range. graphic unit (layer 4,A) lacking any lithic vestige. Taxonomic attribution of the Couvin tooth is lac The same goes for La Naulette fossils. Quina delicate. If the dating proves to be correlated typ" Charentian is associated with the Neander- to the fossil, it would clearly be Neandertal tal bones of Spy and Fonds de For6t and possibly inasmuch as no other taxon is known in western 'Engis Walou. The cranium of the 2' child Europe 45,000 to 50,000 years ago. On the was apparently found in a typical Levallois contrary, if the interpretation founded on the mi- Mousterian context, although its uncertain strati- crofauna holds up, the attribution would be less graphic position leaves doubts. A transitional clear, although, further south the ChAtelperro- industry between Middle Palaeolithic and Early nian, another transitional industry between the Upper Palaeolithic accompanies the Couvin Mousterian and the Upper Palaeolithic, has only tooth. yielded Neandertal iemains, at Arcy-sur-Cure and Saint-C6saire. Other poorly known fossils, a femur frag- 4.3. Modes of introduction of bones ment and three metacarpals, were discovered Far too inaccurate methods used in many of 'Rotches in 1889 in the de D'Gennly' cave, the old excavations exclude any well developed at Montignies-le-Tilleul, in the Sambre valley hypothesis on the introduction of many of the t2.31. Their probable association with a Mous- fossil hominid bones into the sediments. This terian industry [2.8U is not uninteresting but is the case at Engis, Fonds de For6t and La the absence of radiocarbon dating and detailed Naulette. 30 Michel ToussatNl StdphanePInsoN and Herv6 BocHeRENS
'Spy From all appearances, the 1,'skeleton was hardly over ten [2.101].The Spy 3 child's was the object of an intentional burial, even age is harder to determine exactly. The Couvin if the excavators deny it [2.53:768; 2.52:37]. deciduous tooth fell out during normal dental "[...] In fact, the skeleton was lyitg on its evolution. side, its hand laid against its lower ju*" The La Naulette mandible seems to be a 12.54:6621,an arrangement resembling what has young woman 12.99; 2.741. The Spy 2 bones since often been observed in Neandertal burials. too, a partial skeletory seem to be a young man Unforfunately, many lacunae remain due to the (cranium with quite open sutures; epiphyseal poor quality of the excavations, especially on lines on the right femur and left tibia). On the position of the lower members, on which the contrary, Spy 1 can be considered an adult hand was laid on the face, or, further, on the female [2.93; 2.941(35 years old, according to possibility of the grave being in a shallow pit Twiesselmann) 12.105;2.104.The Fonds de For6t or in another structure. Information relative femur and the Walou tooth also come from to Spy 2 permits no sure deduction, although adults. the hypothesis of a second burial cannot be excluded. 4.5. Pathology Fragments of the Sclayn child from layer 4,A. The available Mosan Neandertals present were scattered over nearly 5.5 meters, in a hardly any clear pathological stigmas. Yet the layer of rapid colluvial sedimentation At [2.41. left maxilla of the Spy 2 skull shows a little the present stage of research, it would be formation 2.5 by 3.5 mm, visible only by X-ray, premafure to explain their mode of introduction in the left sinus basal wall. It is a minor into the sediments,as for the Walou adult tooth. anomaly resembling a dwarfed and deformed Concerning the Couvin deciduous tooth, it was fourth molar; it could be an odontoma probably lost on the spot due to the natural [2.108]. dental evolution The hypothesis of the introduction of hu- 4.5. Anthropic traces on the bones? man bones into the sediments by carnivores, Scratches found on the Engis 2 skullcap, occasionally forwarded, even recently 12.361,is principally on the frontal bone sagittal zone baselessin the casesseen here. and around the fossil's broken edges, were interpreted as probable indications of scalping 4.4. Anthropology: representativity, age and [2.881. A more thorough re-examination has sex shown that these marks do not testify to the In most Walloon sites, like the whole area behaviour of prehistoric man but are modem of Neandertal distributiory the osseousremains in origin. Th"y were made during one of the discovered represent only reduced parts of the skullcap's restorations, successivecasting of the skeleton: an incomplete skullcap at Engis, a fossil and taking craniogram profiles [2.113]. femur fragment and a tooth from Fonds de A long cutmark can be observed on the For6t, an isolated tooth at Walou, some teeth in internal face of the Sclayn mandible body, Sclayn layer 3. The child from Sclayn layer 4,A. especially by electron microscopic analyses.Yet is hardly better represented: a mandible and a many other marks observed on various Mosan maxillary fragment. Neandertal bones are probably of taphonomic If Dupont's stratigraphic observations are origin. right, the four fragments conserved at La Naulette, coming from the head and upper 4.7. Contribution of isotopic bio-geochemistry member, may have belonged to the same to reconstructing the Mosan Neandertal person. The two principal Spy skeletons are diet the best represented,with elements of cranium, Samplesfor studying the Mosan Neandertal trunk, and upper and lower members. At Spy, diet by isotopic dosage of carbon and nitrogen some supemumerary human bones prove the were extracted from the child of Sclayn layer 4A, existenceof more than two individuals. from the Engis 2 skull and one of the Spy Taken together, the sampling of Mosan scapulas. Collagen extractions were carried out Neandertals is mostly composed of children and through a variant on classicalmethods [2.6]. In young adults. The Engis child died at around order to verify the biochemical purity of these 4-6years of age 12.77;2.961.The one from Sclayn collagens, the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio was Neandertalsfrom Belgium LesNdandertaliens de Belgique 31
calculated. These ratios are all found in the Re-examination of the regional Middle Pa- variability of fresh collagery indicating good laeolithic sites'fauna has led Cordy [2.19:60] to preservation. Many bones of herbivores (horse, hypothetically place the La Naulette mandible in "first fallow deer, rhinoceros, bovine, mammoth), a Mousterian wave" , corresponding to the omnivores (cave bear, brown bear, fox) and Eemien interglacial lato sensu. For their part, the carnivores (lion, hyena, wolf) from SclayO Neandertals from Engis, Spy and Fonds de For6t "second from both layers L'4' and 18, as well as layers may belong to a wave", dating back 3 and 4A, have also been analysed in order to Hengelo-Les Cottes interstadial complex, to have a frame of faunal reference at our between 40,000 and 35,000 B.P. [2.18:72; 2.L9:60; disposal for isotopically calibrating the Mosan 2.22:841. According to Cordy 12.78;2.19; 2.221, basin ecosystem, in glacial, interglacial and there would thus be a period without human interstadial contexts. The results of analyses of occupation of Belgium of around 30,000 years, the Neandertal samples suggest protein sources between 70,000 and 40,000 8.P., for climatic isotopically quite similar to camivores' [2.6; reasons; this absence would be comparable to 2.7f. Isotopic composition of the Spy specimen the abandonment of northem Europe by the approaches that of Marillac (Charente, France) Solutreans and the first Magdalenians, between with, apparently, in both cases, consumption 20,000 and 15,000 B.P. Like Haesaerts [2.60] of proteins from large herbivores. The Engis 2 and Cahen [2.73], we think that this lacuna child also consumed essentially the meat of was shorter: it only affected the last ten mil- herbivores, with perhaps also mother's milk, lennia of the Lower Pleniglacial. In fact, some whereas the child of Sclayn layer 4'A. mainly occupations are attributed to the begiruring of consumed meat of herbivores living in open the Weichselian (Franquenies, Harmignies) and country prairie rather than forest, despite the to the beginning of the Middle Pleniglacial wooded landscape of the period t2.51. (l'Hermitage at Huccorgne). This unoccupied period corresponds to the first major climatic 4.8. DNA degradation of the Upper Pleistocene. A con- tinual permafrost developed in north-western Trial analyses of Mosan Neandertals' DNA Europe at the time, followed by the deposit of have been attempted by M. Krings and S. Pddbo, a first allochtonous loessic cover. These rigour- based on a fragment from the mandible of ous conditions are certainly responsible for the Sclayn layer 4A, one of the Spy scapulas and the migration of human populations southward. Engis 2 skullcap, using the technique which has Another indication related to the chronolo- already proved itself in studying eponymous gical position of the Neandertal fossils involves skeletons 12.72;2.731.No result was obtained at the nafure of the industry associated with some Sclayn, where the DNA is not conserved well of them (Spy and Fonds de For6t): Quina type enough, while the other two samples are still Charentian. In our regions, it seems to date from being studied. around 35,000 to 50,000 B.P. 12.L4:38; 2.13:154; 2.60:35; 2.19:591. Moreover, in the old exca- 4.9. Chronology of Mosan Neandertals vations, the frequent telescoping of Mousterian 4.9.1. Reinterpretation of older excavations and Early Upper Palaeolithic occupations has As we have seery interpretation of old often been cited as an argument favouring a excavations is problematic. Stratigraphies are certain chronological nearness between the later overly brief; there are no plans. The only Neandertals and Early Upper Palaeolithic men palaeoenvironmental data concem the macro- [2.110:163; 2.1L1].So the fossils from Spy, Fonds fauna, although too often (Engis, Spy and Fonds de For6t and Engis could be relatively recent. de For6t) the mixing of layers and the diffi- Finally, the stratigraphic and anthropological culty of correlating stratigraphies of different criteria evoked in $ 3.2 seem to indicate that excavators limit the utilization of lists available. La Naulette remains are very likely the oldest Despite these problems, some information has known in Belgium up to now. nonetheless been obtained on the chronological position of Mosan Neandertal fossils discovered 4.9.2. Modern excavations in the 19th century; this is based on palae- At Couvin, examination of the fauna as- ontological, archaeological, stratigraphic and sociated with the tooth suggested to Cordy anthropological criteria. [2.18] a temperate period marking the end 32 Michel ToussetNl St6phanePInsoN and Herv6 BocHERsNs of the Hengelo-Les Cott6s complex, around 5. PENSPECTIVES 35,000-40,000 B.P. The characteristics of the The future is promising for regional associated industry, attributable to the Middle/ Neandertal palaeoanthropology in the field. Upper Palaeolithic transition period, accord Based on the first results obtained, ongoing 14C with this interpretation, although dating excavations of Scladina and Walou caves should indicates an older period (46,820 + 3,290 B.P.; yield additional fossils. The resumption of Lv 1559). research at La Naulette cave will at least supply Information obtained at the two sites where useful information on the palaeoenvironment Neandertal remains were discovered over the and on dating the bones discovered by Dupont cen- course of the last decade of the 20th in 1856 [2.102;2.86).Knowing that one important tury are more complete. The mandible of Middle Palaeolithic cave site out of three in the the child from Scladina layer 4A has been Meuse basin has yielded remains of Neandertal "directly" dated by gamma spectrometry to man, all hopes for new discoveries are also L27,000 + 46,0001-32,000 B.P. 12.107:7401. The permissible for sites undergoing excavations, stalagmitic floor CC4, which caPS layer 4A, has like Trou Al'Wesse and Goyet. The same goes been the object of thermoluminescence dating for open-air sites to the extent that some of them at 117,200 + 77,200B .P. 12.25: 411and out of some conserve bones more or less correctly. twenty U/Th dates, two thirds of the results Results so far obtained in key sites with de- are between 90,000and 120,000B.P.12.9:52-531. veloped stratigraphies such as Scladina, Walou The date by thermoluminescence of stalagmitic and Trou Al'Wesse 12.85; 2.83; 2.841 should floor CCI , situated under the human bones, further encourage the pursuit of palaeoenvir- is 122,000 r. 17,700 B.P. 12.25:411. Based on onmental studies as well as systematization this, the Scladina child may be situated in the ef stratigraphic and sedimentological studies. Saint-Germain 1C interglacial period, around a This approach will, at last, give reference se- hundred thousand years ago. Palaeoenviron- quences indispensable for developing a canvas mental sfudies confirm, moreover, the temper- of Belgian prehistory in the karstic context and ate character of layer 44, while proposing a hence better knowledge of the contexts in which slightly more recent chronostratigraphic inter- these Neandertals evolved. Such a canvas is pretation [2.2]. uniquely available now for the open-air sites As for the Walou tooth, if the equivalence [2.60;2.61; 2.63]. It this connection, it is worth between layers C sup. and C8 is confirmed (cf. insisting on the necessity of multi-disciplinarity S 3.6), it might also belong to the first part of in this research work, beginning with the field the Middle Pleniglacial or even to the Lower phase. Too many specialists-palaeontologists, Pleniglacial, given the date older than 42,0008.P- sedimentologists, anthropologists...-still end obtained in C8 and the absence of interglacial up intervening a posteriori in Mosan cave ex- "annexed indices for C sup. cavations and thus writing reports", whereas their intervention would have been 4.9.3. Synthesis precious from the first phases of excavation on. By combining the elements mentioned For example, it seems fundamentally important above, the following chronology may be pro- that the stratigraphy of sites be established in posed (fig. 11).La Naulette might be the regional concert with archaeologists and geologists, since site to have yielded the oldest human remains, a good understanding of deposits'succession is during or before the Eemian interglacial lato dependent on the quali$ of observations of all sensu. The child from layer 4A of the Scladina the other disciplines, including prehistory and cave may go back to the 5c marine isotopic palaeoanthropology. stage (Saint-Germain 1C). The other Neandertal In the laboratory, AMS dates directly on remains, Spy, Engis, Fonds de For6t and Walou, Mosan Neandertal bone fragments have been seem to be relatively recent, between 35,000 attempted for the Spy and Engis fossils, with and 50,000 years, so in the first part of the rather unsatisfactory results-because they are Middle Pleniglacial. Finally, if its taxonomical measured as too young, probably due to varnish attribution to Neandertals is confirmed, the applied in the t9th century. New attempts Couvin deciduous tooth would mark one of the should be made using only the inner parts of "non last phases of modern" occupation of the the bones. Continuing the analyses related to Walloon Mosan basin. diet, already undertaken at Sclayn, Engis and on Neandertals from Belgium LesNdandertaliens de Belgique 33 some Spy fragments, is equally fundamental for Acknowledgements better understanding the variability of Neander- The authors wish to thank all those who have tals' dietary behaviour. As to attempts at DNA helped in writing this article and, more particularly, study of the Sclayn child, they have proved SylvianeLambermon! illustrator at the 'Association negative, perhaps becausethe fossils are too old. wallone d'Iitudes m6galithiques" and Marguerite New results are expected on the Engis child's Ulrix-Clossetas well as Iotur Cronin, RebeccaMiller skullcap and on one of the Spy scapulas. ("Servicede Prdhistoire", University of Liege) and Finally, precise description of the docu- PhilippePirson who havefaithfully hanslatedthe text ments gathered in modern excavations at Sclayn, into English. Walou and Couvin need to be completed, too, Th"y also expresstheir deepestgratitude to the notably in the fields of taphonomic analysis, excavators,whose labourshave permitted and often dental micro-wear or, further, their morpho- inspired the presentwork, notably D. Bonjeanand logical and biometric comparison with other M. Otte for the Scladinacave excavatiory Ch. Draily European Neandertal remains. for Walou and P.Cattelain for Couvin. 34 Michel TOUsSaTN! St6phane PIRSON and Herv6 BOCHEnETS
Spy 1886 a"l\ Jlo Engis 1829-1830 D4)nRr\l %'rT;, /\ \dg ,]J
La Naulette 1866 0- 50km
Fig. 1. ' IncontestableNeandertal sites of the Meuse Valley Sitesde Ia ualleede Ia Meusearlant liuri desrestes ndandertaliens incontestables
Fig.2. 'Engis 2' Neandertal skullcap, found by Schmerling in the second cave during the winter of 1829-1830. Calotte crfuienna ncandertalienned'o Errgis2,, trourtie par Schmer- Iing dans Ia seconde grotte art cours de l'hiz'er 1829-1830.
Fig. 3. La Naulette:mandible, ulna and third metacarpal' La Naulette: mandibule,cubitus et troisidmemitaca4tierr. Neandertals from Belgium LesNdandertaliens de Belgique 35
Fig.4. Spy: most representativeNeandertal bones. Spy : ossementsniandertaliens les plus reprlsentatifs.
PRssBNrony ExcevlroRs' STRATIGRApHIC DESCRTpTIoNS POINT OF VIEW ScHuBnLlnc; DUPoNT DnsrrxHr-JANtorrE ARCHAEOLOGY ANTHR. 'Osseous "osseous breccia Silt and breccia" History "osseous Very conrpact breccia" with Upper Paleolithic(flints) and Neolithic EngisI * Neolithic (pottery fiagntents;. .5to 15 crn thick. Fauna : horse.ox. reindeer. Mesolithic'l Generally very dry First "ossiferous level" bat. shrew. earth with. from bottonr Angular or little rounded stonesand to top. bones and yellowish earth. both of thent Late Upper Paleo.'l rounded or angular bound by clacareousinflltrations. stones.2.5 m thick. 2 Pottery fragments and knapped flints. Sxullcnps HUNIANUI,NA Gravettian (ENGISI & 2) Fauna: Ursus spelaeus.Rhinoceros. Sur scrofa. Equus caballus.Cervus tarandus Cervuselaphus. Bos primigenius. Little or not stratified brown "Mammoth Age" clayey layer with rounded stones and large amount of limestone fragments:at placesover lm thick. Typical Mousterian Mousterian of Levallois facies Engis2 Hultnx sKULt. FRA(;NtENT Fauna : nramnroth.rhinoceros. boar. horse. reindeer. deer. badger. polecat.wolf. bear.beaver. etc. 3 Tracesol'a nrore clayey sheet "Second ossiferous level". No knapped Yellow sandy silt (nrax. 20crn). A flint. Fauna : rhino. tooth. gnawed bones "Manrmoth Dupont : bones gnawed bv hyena. (hyena lair). Aee" More or less compact Yellow sandsheets with clay -5 Clayey sand clayey earth pockets (nrax. 30cnr). Bedrock Bedrock E I Bedrock
According to Schmerling,'Engis 1'was found at a depth of 1.5rn [see te.xtl,but ther+C.-lat".15 3.1] suggests a Neolithic grave dug in trlder layers. t'rr'rrsri'datts dcs triltL,auxplus ntrcit,tts. Fig.s. Schmerlingcave (Engis):correlation between the stratigraphicdescriptions of Schmerling12.90:37-321, Dupont 12.46:506-507;2.47 :132) and Destexhe-Jamotte[2.30 : 17517ncompared with the presentday point of view of the archaeological [according to 2.30; 2.110;2.80] and anthropdogical material's position. CrotteSchmerling (Engis) : corrilatiorrentre les descrilttions stratigraphiques de Schmerling[2.90 :31-32], Dupont [2,45:505-507;2.47:132] et Destexhe-lamotte[2.30:115-117] confronties au poittt de uue actuel sur la positiortdu materiel archeologique[selon 2.30; 2.110; 2.80] et anthropologique. 36 Michel ToussalN! StephanePmsoN and Herv6 BocHEnErus
Oln rxcrvl,rtons Pnpsnnr DAYPoINT oF vIEw 886 nxclvlroRs' STRATIGRAPHY Flutru INDUSTRY ARCHAEOLOGY ANTHROPO. Brown clay History sometimesmixed 25cm Neolithic A with very large No mentionned founa Neolithic to 3m ,, limestoneblocks ,, (scree). Mesolithic Very clacareous yellow clay locally a Creswellian/Masdalenian changinginto tufa Mammoth,woolly rhinoceros. (breccia)and 80cm !r El reindeer.deer, cave bear,cave Knapped B E> "' containingangular to lm (h ta hyena.hare. wolf. fox. flints ?J limestoneblocks. Gravettian -a Ossiferouslevel in the uooer oart Aurignacian Almost totally red- .a Mammoth. woolly rhinoceros. colouredarea. iormed l reindeer. deer. megacerin deer. by a tufa (breccia) &1 5to aurochs. bison. horse. cave Knapped C containingnumerous 30cm bear. cave hyena, rcle-deer. flints'l' Foliatepoints industry mammoth ivory 34 cave lion. fox. boar. fragments,charcoal. knappedflints and (\l limestonefrasments. Late Mousterian Yellow clay with limestoneblocks. locallychanging into Knapped
D a tufa similarto B l5cm a flints'r' (breccia).There was ;) Mammoth. woolly rhinoceros. a thin charcoalbed at &1 reindeer. deer, megacerin deer. Charentian the bottom. => aurochs. horse. cave bear, (,td cave hyena. cave lion. wolf. Knapped SPY Humanbones ?r E ? glutton. badger. flints{r' NEAND. Very dark brown (a clay.locally blackish. Knapped F ,| with small limestone flints(s' ? elements. Moust.of Acheuleantradition
Fig. 5. "ossiferous Spy: stratigraphy recorded by geologist Lohest in 1886 [2.5a; 2.29h fauna list for each level" (compiled in 2.14,based upon all the excavations);position of knapped flints according to 1886 excavators;present day point of view concerning archaeology [2.710;2.80; 2.331and anthropology. Spy: stratigraphiereleuie par leg1ologue Lohest en L886[2.54; 2.29]; listefaunique de chaque o nizteaLt ossif?re"(compilation dans 2.14,basie sur l'ensembledes fouilles); positiondes silex taill4sselon lesfouilleurs de L885;point de ztueactuel sur I'archdologie[2.110;2.80; 2.33] et l'anthropologie. (Knappecl flints'position is mentioned in lLn position des silex taillis est mentionnde dans'.7. 12.53:768;2.54:664; 2.29:209-2731;2.12.53:768; 2.54:664;2.29:273-279; 2.52:34; 3. [2.52:34;4. 12.54:6631;5. 12.52:37; 2.53:769; 2.54:6631).
Fig. 7. (right/ri droite) Scladina cave: lithostratigraphy [2.8; 2.59; 2.4; 2.621; archaeological occupations ("archaeo."; I2-8); the rare Upper Palaeolithic artifacts are not mentioned becauseof doubts about their exact position 12.821)and human fossils position ("anthropo."); synthesis of palaeoenvironmental studies (Sed = Sedimentology [2.62]; Pal = Palynology [2.1; 2.2a]; = = = prf = Microfauna 2.n; 2.24h Mf = Macrofauna 12.9'1.;2.241; CD cold dry; CH cold humid; CVH cold very humid; MH = medium humid; RA: rigourous arid; T = temperate; TC = temperate cold; TCH = temperate cold and humid; TD = temperate dry; VC = very cold); dates (for dates and the sigma, see2.9 and 2.25);chronostratigraphical context [2.9.]. GrotteScladina: lithostratigraphie [2.8;2.59;2.4;2.52]; occupationsarchiologiques ("archaeo."; [2.8]; Iesrares arte.facts pat\olithiquessupirieurs ne sontpas mentionnish causedes doutesconcernant leur positionexacte t2.821) et positiortdes (Sed= = fossileshumains (o anthropo.,); synthisedes ttudes palioenztironnementales Stdimentologie[2.62]; Pal Palvnologie[2'1; 2.241;ptf : Microfaune[2.21.; 2.241; Mf = Macrofaune[2.91.; 2.24]; CD = froid sec;CH: froid humide;CVH:.froid tris humide;MH:moVennementhumide;RA:rigoureuxetaride;T=tempiri;TC=tempdrifroid;TCH=tempirifroidethumide; TD: tempiri sec;VC = trisfroid); dates(pour lesdates et l'icart-type,ztoir 2.9 et 2.25);contexte chronostratigraphique [2.91. Neandertals from Belgium LesNiandertaliens de Belgique 37
AncHlno. Pnr,lBonNvIRoNMENT Dlrr CHRONO. LITUoSTRATIGRAPHY ANrHRop. Sed Pal pf Mf BP cal. (ky) STRATI.
Neolithic 0.68 to tLl CI Stalagmiticfloor 'l z burial 7.0-5('uc) IJI U Setof silty beds.locally very disturbed J 36 by burrows and separatedfrom each other bv stalasmiticfloors. Dark brown silt containinglots of 37 Mts2'r ? cryoclastic deposits. 38 Silt lighter in colour than in layer 37. TC Lower crvoclastic deoosit content. No data Stony deposit composed of small limestoneelements in a grey-brown 39 Matrix. Somecoarser elements at the bottom. NAP TC bIJ 90c/c Thin yellow silt layer with some 2 40 limestoneelements and containinstwo CD (] superposedthin lensesof grumous calcite. Mousterian z Stony deposit composed of small + 16to.l5 (u/Th, IA CH Pleniglacial CH TCH = limestoneelenrenls with larse blocks at 'tC andTL) the bottom. (h Yellowish silt with low coarseelemenl U Interstadial Interst. TC U) content. Numerous reworked rounded trl IB Stones.The bottom is reddishleading CD B outsidethe cave to a collapse.receiding Interstadial RA oorch. Stony deposit conrposedof rather fine No dutu
limestoneelenrents in a greyishto Worsening 'l bI) Interst. CD brownish silty matrix. Presenceof sntall clinrate c) quartzpebbles. s at') () Stony depositcomposed of small 3 linrestoneelenrents in a dark brown silty Worsening ]B TC J malrix rich in or,{anicmatter and iron clinrate CA'] CD (Smallsoil on top of layer3). .) Stony depositcomposed of small T limestoneelenrents in an honrogeneous lJorest) St Neandertalian 59 to 106 l yellowish silty matrix. At the bottonrare CH MH TC rt Germ bones ? (u/Th) a f'ew large blocks. more numerous near 2 the cave entrance. Stalagmitic 11oor. 90to 120*(U/Th) CC] Towards the cave entrance.the top of Interglacial I l7 (TL) laverzl is weathered(oedogenesis). 99 to 104(TL) 9 Neandertalian .+A Honrogeneousocherish yellow silt : 127{spectro y) '= bones numerousstalasnrite and platv linrestone l4.l (u/Th) fragments. Few larger blocks. TCH Interglacial TD T o CCI-I (, secondcave room. intermittent In the CCl.l: 6 calcitic l'loorinside the layer.supporting 75 (U/Thtand -+A a t'ewlarge stalagmites (CC l4). l -32.5to I 12.8(TL O
Very pure yellowish silt with thin bedded NAP 2 z -+B RA VC No data black spots.containing rare small 9O(/r linrestoneelements. lrl
arl Densestony depositof small angular Stnns I AP RA limestoneblocks : greyishgrumous loose Mousterian TC l30t 20(TL) 3S matrix. Outsidethe cave.changing into a cn Coarseblock deposit(porch collapse). l'..r.,lIAP TD
Yellowish silt with weak coarsefraction Climatic 6 (limestonerather altered. nrixed with a TD T St Germ optimum t'ewsmall terracepebbles). IA Stony depositcomposed of angular IAP CH limestoneelements with a grey-brown marked 7A rnarked grumoussilty matrix. At the bottom. CVH cooling No duta cooling lareelimestone blocks. Stony deposit composed of pebbles a (especiallyquartz and quartzite)and 7B roundedlimestone elements. Brown yellow clayey silt matrix with many black spots. Bedrock
* 24 oi the dates range between 90 ancl 120 ka, but the extrentes are 21.7 and 157 ka. * 2/j tles tlatesse situent entre 90 et 720 ka, rtlrris/cs extrlnrcs sotrt 27,7et 157 ka. 38 Michel TousserN! StephanePtRSoN and Herv6 BocuEnnrus
I a a I I
Fig.8. Fonds de For6t: the Neandertal femur. Fondsde For4t: le fimur niandertnlien. Fig. 9. Scladina cave:Neandertal child mandible and maxillary from layer 4,{. CrotteScladirm : matdibuleet maxillaired'enfant niandertalien, trouuis dansIe nizteau4A.
Fig. 10. Walou cave:premolar from layer C sup. CrotteWalou : prdmolairedu niueauC supirieur.
CHRONO- ARCHAEOLOGY AGE ltyl MIS PALAEOANTHROPOLOGY STRATIGRAPHY OUTDOOR KARsT BELGTANFoSSILS REFERENCE FOSSILS MODEF N MAN UPPERPALAEOLITHTC Middle z l5-5( ) 1 Couvin Saint C6saire pleniglacial j Mrir egn .i / Eng/ FdF/ Tuu f I { Engis/Fondsde ForGt a V Huc Y SelalA/Sovb/TdD/Wal V Spv / Watou Chapelle-aux-S'' / Ferrassie
(/ ,J IJ.j A ,J1i,V(1: ()I: H('M.IN ()( ('tIP.171( ,N IN BF,I,(;ITIM Amud Lower I B 50-75 + Shanidar/ Kebura pleniglacial F Har / Fr 3.1 St Cernrain Il 75-li5 5a 1 Roc Che z= : I
Fig. 11. Attempt at chronostratigraphical positioning of the Belgian Neandertals ("Belgian fossils"). Comparison with the main Belgian Middle Palaeolithic sites ('Archaeology") and with the main non-Belgian Neandertal fossils ("Reference fossils") [vertical arrows define the supposed chronological interval of the mentioned fossils or sites]. Essai de classification chronostratigraphique des Niandertaliens de Belgique (" Belgian fossils "). Comparaison atrec les (" principaux gisements du Paldolithique moyett belge Archaeology") et les principaux fossilesnlandertaliens non-belges (" Reference fossils ") iles fliches tterticales indiquent l'espacechronologique supposi des fossilesou des sites mentionnds). ArchaeologylArch4ologie12.8; 2.11; 2.13; 2.18; 2.19; 2.60; 2.831;outdooilsites de plein air: Clv = Clypot; Fra = Franquenies; Har=Harmignies;Hel=carriireHelin;Hez=Hezerwater;Huc=Httccorgne;Mais=Maisiere;Mes=Mesvin;Oma=sabliere Kinart (Omal); Pcll = Pa cl'la l'iau; PS = Petit-Spiennes;Rr-m = Remicourt; Ris = Rissori; Roc = Rocotrrt; karst (cavesand rock-sheltersllgrotteset abris naturels'.Che = Trou c{tr Chena; Egh = Engihotrl; Eng = Engis; Erm = Grotte cle l'Ermitage; FclF=Fonc'lscieFor6t;SaIr=AbriSanclrorr; Scla=Sclavn; Spyu=MTA,Spyb=Charentien; Taw=TrouAl'Wesse; = = TdD Trou clu Diable; Wal grotte Walou. Palaeoanthropology - Reference fossilslPal4oanthropologie - fossiles de rdf6rence[2.58]: Font = Fontechevacle;Ehring = Ehrirrgsclorf; Sacc = Saccopastore;Atapuerca SLH = Sima cle los Huest'rs.