Opening hours:

Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Extra open on Monday April 1st, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m

+

Menu

The Anderen celt

Between 125,000 and 35,000 years ago, Neanderthals lived in the area we now call Drenthe. Although it resembled an arctic desert most of the time, sometimes the weather was a little warmer, allowing animals to scrounge an existence. Then the Neanderthals could hunt woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, reindeer and horses. They did not live in settlements but followed their prey. When they had killed an animal, they used small flat or triangular ‘celts’ to butcher it. Of necessity, they had to make these from small pieces of flint since large pieces could not be found in Drenthe. This celt was discovered when the wooded bank of a small alluvial stream near the village of Anderen was cleared. Because it has been buried for a long time, it acquired a beautiful brown patina.