Polissoirs de Souppes-sur-Loing, Neolithic polishing stones in Souppes-sur-Loing, France.
The polissoirs de Souppes-sur-Loing are eight large rock boulders featuring deep grooves and smooth surfaces created by repeated sharpening of stone tools in prehistoric times. These varying-sized stones lie exposed in the landscape, showing marks of intensive work across their surfaces.
These polishing stones were used during the Neolithic period by people who regularly sharpened and maintained their tools at this location. The archaeological importance of the site led to its recognition as a protected historical monument in 1889.
These stones reveal how early inhabitants of the Loing Valley maintained and improved their tools through regular use. Visitors can still see the marks of this everyday work carved into rock by countless hands over millennia.
The site is located at 9002 Le Cocluchon and can be reached via the D607 road. The nearest train station is Souppes-Château-Landon, from which visitors can make their way to the stones on foot or by other means.
The exceptionally hard rock types of these stones have allowed the marks from Neolithic tool-making to survive largely intact to the present day. This makes them an unusual source for understanding how intensively and methodically people shaped their implements back then.
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