Grotte Scladina

Situated on a narrow bank between the Meuse and the hills, Sclayn is a small village. It is located in the Andenne municipality, 1 hour and 15 minutes from Brussels or Maastricht (Netherlands). From the village, a narrow green valley descends to the plain. It was here that a cave was discovered by speleologists in 1971. Working on the entrance uncovered carved tools. In 1978, the University of Liège joined the excavations. This was due to the importance of the discoveries made during the first campaigns. Since then, the excavations have continued without interruption up to the present day. They have unearthed 120,000 animal bones and 20,000 artefacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic.

The biggest discovery was made on 16 July 1993. A left half mandible of human origin was found. 16 teeth, the right lower jaw and a piece of jawbone followed. The discovery was a huge success: these were the first Neanderthal remains to be found since the end of the 19th century. Scientific studies of these 19 bones confirmed that they all came from a single individual nicknamed "Sclayn's Child": An 8-year-old child - probably a girl - a Neanderthal who lived 127,000 years ago. Exceptionally, DNA was extracted from a molar, the oldest human DNA ever sequenced.

In total, almost 15 m of sediments have accumulated in the cave. They are divided into 28 main layers. This makes it the most complete sequence in Belgium that is still accessible to researchers. It helps to understand the climate during the Upper Pleistocene. Researchers from all over the world are still in regular demand for samples of these different layers.

The cave was declared an archaeological site on 19 April 1996 due to the discovery of the remains of the Sclayn child and the importance of its stratigraphic layers. On the 8th of October 2016, it was listed as part of the exceptional immovable heritage of Wallonia. This second classification means that since 2019, it has been on the provisional UNESCO World Heritage List of "Neanderthal fossil sites in Wallonia" (together with 3 other Walloon sites). It is the only Belgian cave still being excavated and open to the public. This makes it a unique site in Belgium.