Resumption of archaeological excavations on megalithic site in Wéris

Resumption of archaeological excavations on megalithic site in Wéris
The aims of the archaeological dig include enabling a better understanding of the site.

Archaeological digs will resume on the megalithic site of Wéris (in the municipality of Durbuy), listed in 1974 and placed on the List of Exceptional Heritage Sites in Wallonia since 2014. The announcement came on Friday from the Walloon Minister for Heritage, René Collin, (from the Christian democratic French-speaking Humanist Democratic Centre).

With its 17 standing stones and two covered alleyways, the megalithic field in Wéris makes up the entire construction, the oldest of its kind in Belgium. Spread over a length of eight kilometres, these two parallel menhirs have been subject to several excavations since the end of the 19th century.

The fresh dig is to comprise “a global search, on a large scale, which will enable a better understanding of both the general layout of the monuments and their interaction within the countryside.” 

The minister states that the project will also be the opportunity to reposition the two menhirs, discovered in 1984, within their trench, and to look for the foundation trench of the menhir ‘Dantinne’, moved in 1947 along the Erezée road. Lastly he says that it will also enable the production of an archaeological assessment of the site.

The Walloon Heritage Agency will undertake coordination of the project.


The Brussels Times


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