Krzemionki

Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Archaeological Reserve in Krzemionki
Location	Poland
Criteria	Cultural: (iii), (iv)
Reference	1599
Inscription	2019 (43rd Session)
Area	342.2 ha (846 acres)
Buffer zone	1,828.7 ha (4,519 acres)
Coordinates	50°58′4.7″N 21°30′8.3″E / 50.967972°N 21.502306°E / 50.967972; 21.502306
Location of Krzemionki in Poland

Krzemionki, also Krzemionki Opatowskie ([kʂɛˈmʲjɔnkʲi ɔpaˈtɔfskʲɛ], "Opatów silica-mine"), is a Neolithic and early Bronze Age complex of flint mines for the extraction of Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) banded flints located about eight kilometers north-east of the Polish city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. It is one of the largest known complexes of prehistoric flint mines in Europe together with Grime's Graves in England and Spiennes in Belgium.^[1]

The flint mining in Krzemionki began about 3900 BC and lasted until about 1600 BC. During Neolithic times the mine was used by members of the Funnelbeaker culture who spread the flint mining products (mostly flint axeheads) far up to 300 km. The Globular Amphora Culture also used the pits and even more intensely, enlarging the area of axehead distribution to about 500 km.

The site is a Polish historic monument, as designated October 16, 1994. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland. On 6 July 2019, the Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[2]