Heritage site Ename shows off oldest skull in Flanders

In 2003, during the construction of a weir on the bank of the Scheldt River, the oldest nearly complete skull in Flanders, which was 4,400 years old, and a skull fragment, which was at least 6,000 years old, came to light amid some rare prehistoric finds in Ename, East Flanders.   

And it was an amateur archaeologist who made the startling find. They were identified as human and animal skeletal parts and utensils from the New Stone Age and Early Bronze Age (5,300-2,000 BC). Specialists applied the latest research techniques, including DNA and isotopic analysis, C14 dating and CT scans. They identified 14 remains of at least 9 different people, including men, women and children. Among them is the 4,400-year-old skull of a man who was 35 when he died.   

The chalky Scheldt banks probably contributed to the preservation of these items as the dry, acidic subsoil in Flanders is not usually as favourable. There is, therefore, every chance that remnants of prehistory will turn up in other Flemish river valleys and we will get to know our ancestors even better.   

These New Stone Age farmers seemed to be healthy and lived on a varied diet that included ground grain in porridge, cakes or bread, fish, meat from their pets, and wild food sources. And they had never heard of stress. But you cannot, of course, deduce that from isotopic analysis and dental research!   

You can learn all about it at the permanent expo at the provincial Heritage Site Ename www.erfgoedsiteEname.be.