Saturday, February 27, 2010

Belgium Map with a stamp from Spiennes

Today is a little different - Someone sent me this great postcard of Belgium, but the stamp is from a very interesting place! So I'm writing about the stamp today. Thank you very much for reading my blog.

Map of Belgium

postmarked in 2010 with a Belgium Spiennes stamp


Belgique - Belgie (Belgium) stamp from 2009
Spiennes

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Spiennes is a village in the municipality of Mons, Belgium.
It is well known for its neolithic flint mines, which are on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The entry on the list describes them as "the largest and earliest concentration of ancient mines in Europe" and cites the level of human technological development they demonstrate as justification for their inclusion.

Neolithic mines of Spiennes
The mines cover some 100 hectares of downland near Mons in Belgium and are interesting for showing the transition between opencast and underground mining for the flint nodules. The nodules were extracted using deer antler picks. The stones were then rough shaped into axes, and finally polished to achieve the final state.

The axes were used initially for forest clearance during the early Neolithic period, and for shaping wood for structural applications, such as timber for huts and canoes.

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If anyone is from the area of Spiennes, I would LOVE a postcard from there!

2 comments:

Kiron Manuel said...

Hi Brenda, I know a very good person in the general area that you requsted.Let me know details.
Bye

Brenda Perez said...

Hello,

If they could send me a stamped postcard to:

Brenda Perez
PO Box 947756
Maitland, Fl 32794
USA

Thank would be great! Let me know who I should send a postcard back to, and if they want it stamped, or in an envelope :D

Thank you!!!!!