Feuersteinfelder

The Feuersteinfelder near Sassnitz on the island of Rügen are expansive gravel fields composed of flint — the weathered residue of Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones laid down roughly 65 to 150 million years ago and transported to the coast by glacial movement. Flint was among the most prized raw materials of prehistoric peoples: its conchoidal fracture produces sharp edges ideal for blades, arrowheads, and scrapers, and the abundance of the material in this region made it a hub of Stone Age tool production. Today visitors can walk the shoreline and pick through the characteristically grey-to-black stones, occasionally finding specimens with visible fossil inclusions.