Spy Cave

Spy Cave (French: Grotte de Spy) is located in Wallonia near Spy in the municipality of Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Namur Province [1]. The cave consists of numerous small chambers and corridors [1]. In 1886 Neanderthal fossils of excellent quality were discovered [1]. The excavation was conducted by Liège-based archaeologist Marcel de Puydt and geologist Max Lohest [1]. In 2018, researchers succeeded in extracting DNA from Spy94a, an upper right molar that has been directly dated to around 39,150-37,880 BP [1]. Almost 12,000 faunal remains of the Pleistocene were discovered, including mammoth, horse, cave hyena, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, and cave bear bones [1]. Evidence of occupation by Upper Paleolithic anatomically modern humans has also been found at Spy [1].