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History and architecture
The course of the river
Grandvoir, the castle and ironworks
Hamipré, the church and the convent
The village of Lahérie
Longlier
The village of Massul
The Nolinfaing wash house
Le Sart
Engraved and scuplted shale: funerary monuments
Warmifontaine and the slate quarry
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Le Sart.
A hamlet with some thirty inhabitants, Le Sart takes its name from the type of land clearing which led to the hamlet being formed (assarting). This technique consists of burning the vegetation so as to clear an area; the ashes obtained then fertilize the area.
A short distance away, where the road which links the village to the Hamipré-Rossignol highway meets the track which runs from the Ospeau woods to Assenois, there is a chapel. A Neolithic polishing tool was also found here.
The tool is a large block of quartzite and weighs roughly three thousand kilos. On its upper surface, as with all fixed Neolithic polishing tools, it has more or less parallel 'U' shaped grooves which became carved into the rock as a result of sharpening tools and weapons.
Archaeologists have dated some of these megaliths, notably the 'fairy stones' of Virton-Saint Mard, to the end of the Neolithic (2,000-1,900 BC).
Le Sart is also renowned for its Celtic tombs. Although the first tomb excavated in 1971 proved to be a classical burial, the other six .tombs excavated in 1985 are among the most extraordinary burial sites in Ardennes. In addition to six classic tombs dating from the 5th century BC, there are ten or so other tombs which are more recent in date. This is the first time in Ardennes that such a large number of tombs recent in date have been discovered, that tombs have been dated to 200 BC and that the bodies of two children have been found buried in the same tomb. These more recent tombs are characterised by new types of objects, either in large numbers (fibula, pottery, knives) or in lesser quantities (javelin, bronze necklace).
The remains of a two-wheeled cart were also found. This is also the first time in Ardennes that glass beads, lignite bracelets and vases made on a potter's wheel have been found. Whereas Celtic tombs are always situated at high points, the Le Sart tombs (1958) were found at an exceptionally low altitude.
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