What is "krzemionki"

Krzemionki, also Krzemionki Opatowskie, is a Neolithic and early Bronze Age complex of flint mines for the extraction of Upper Jurassic ( Oxfordian) banded flints located about eight kilometers north-east of the Polish city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. It is one of the largest known complex of prehistoric flint mines in Europe together with Grimes Graves in England and Spiennes in Belgium.

The flint mining in Krzemionki began about 3900 BC and lasted until about 1600 BC. During Neolithic times the mine was used by members of the Funnelbeaker culture who spread the flint mining area far up to 300 km. The Globular Amphora Culture also used the pits and even more intensely, enlarging the area of exploration to about 500 km.

The site is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments ( Pomnik historii), as designated October 16, 1994. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.