De Holsteen
De Holsteen refers to eight large Miocene sandstone blocks with irregular natural holes and artificial grooves in the surface in the east of Zonhoven near Hasselt in Flanders in Belgium . A stone is the only (preserved) prehistoric polished stone in Flanders. The site was protected as a landscape heritage in 1967.
The northernmost stone was used in the Neolithic to sharpen and polish tools. This created grooves and a polished surface on the stone. After the Neolithic , the stones were completely buried in sand and only discovered in 1862. In 1922 Joseph Hamal-Nandrin (1869–1958) explored the area and discovered the polishing stone. He counted a total of 51 grooves and a polishing surface on the stone. In 1987 the site was re-examined and processed and unprocessed flint were found alongside various prehistoric objects .
The stones were created naturally. Lake Diestiaanzee reached central Limburg until about 16 million years ago . The stones were created in two phases through the deposition of quartz-rich sea sand. In Phase 1, which was formed during the Burdigaliaan Formation of Bolderberg, the sea sand was deposited and covered in layers. In phase 2, which took place about 10,000 years ago, a thin, hard crust covered the sandstone. The holes in the stones are remains of animal tunnels or roots. They were later worn away by erosion .
literature
- D. Huyghe, Y. David: De Holsteen te Zonhoven: geo-archeologie van een prehistorisch landschap , In: Archeologie in Vlaanderen, jaargang I, pp. 31-54, Brussel, 1990
- Joseph Hamal-Nandrin, Jean Servais: Le polissoir neolithique de Zonhoven . In: L'Homme préhistorique, n ° 11, pp. 225–230, Luik, 1926
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 59 ′ 45.1 ″ N , 5 ° 25 ′ 1.2 ″ E