Spy Cave

Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Belgium, Belgium

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Spy Cave, also known as Grotte de Spy, is a prehistoric cave located near the village of Spy in Jemeppe‑sur‑Sambre in the Namur Province of Wallonia, Belgium, above the left bank of the Orneau River. It ranks as one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Europe, with evidence of human occupation stretching over roughly 100,000 years and containing multiple layers linked to both Neanderthals and early modern humans. In 1886 the site yielded exceptionally well‑preserved Neanderthal skeletons, named Spy I and Spy II, which played a key role in shifting 19th‑century science toward accepting human evolution and the reality of Neanderthal people. The cave has also produced thousands of Pleistocene animal bones, stone tools, and traces of later Upper Paleolithic visits by modern humans, and today it is recognized as a premier Walloon heritage site that can be visited, often with guided tours arranged by the local association Les Amis de l’Homme de Spy.