#late neolithic

[kvetch19]

[thelonelybarrow]

sundown at solstice (2223BCE)

merry midwinter folks!!

[homregeszet]

Kedvenc tárgy

2️⃣2️⃣🎀🎄

Jó-jó lehet nem szép dolog kivételezni, de szerintem minden régésznek megvan a maga kis kedvence, egy tárgytípus, vagy konkrét tárgy, ami valami oknál fogva különösen közel áll hozzá. Persze előfordul, hogy több kedvenc is van, hiszen sok szép dolgot ásunk ki a föld mélyéről és a raktáraink is tele vannak mutatós darabokkal.

Az enyémek az edények. Lenyűgözőek az őskori, kézzel készített, szépen, sok esetben művészien megformált és kidolgozott bükki bomba formájú edények, a rézkori csőtalpas vagy éppen a bronzkori svédsisak alakú tálak.

Egyik kedvencem azonban mégis ez a késő neolitikus textildíszítésű pohárka (Sárazsadány, Kr. e. 5000-4500/4400) a maga egyszerű kidolgozásával, de annál érdekesebb mintakincsével.

Hajdu Melinda

[a-modernmajorgeneral]

A dolmen (/ˈdɒlmɛn/) or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000–3000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance.[1] In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".

Dolmen of the Pierre Levée, La Chapelle-Vendômoise

This limestone dolmen is located just south of La Chapelle-Vendômoise in the Loir-et-Cher department in central France. It is a classic Angevin dolmen, which face east and have a lowered anteroom (portico) leading to a larger room. It is thought to date as far back as the Neolithic period and is still in nearly complete condition.

[lionofchaeronea]

Stone block from the prehistoric temple at Buġibba, Malta, bearing a carved image of fish. The temple was excavated by the Maltese archaeologist Themistocles Zammit in the early 1920s and dates to the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory (ca. 3100-2500 BCE), the last phase prior to the Bronze Age. This block, along with an altar from the temple, is now located in the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta.

[beetlebite]

you guys ever think abouut how many people have died over time

[skirwitte]

Im going to MALTAAAAAAA!!!! So excited 😁😁😁😁😁 booked everything last night. need a holiday so gd bad

[archaeologyinbulgaria]

Special Jubilee Exhibition Extended Due to Huge Interest in Startling Finds from 20 Years of Digs at Provadiya-Solnitsata Prehistoric Settlement – Europe’s Oldest Town

A poster for The Lords of Salt exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the archaeological excavations of the Provadiya-Solnitsata Settlement Mound in Northeast Bulgaria. Poster by the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The special jubilee exhibition entitled “The Lords of Salt,” which was opened in June 2024 in Sofia, has just been extended…

[phoenix-joy]

Author: Sonja Anderson Publication: Smithsonian Magazine Timestamp: April 30, 2024 Word Count: 515 Estimated Reading Time: 1.5 to 2.5 minutes

[Note: I left the physical description out, so click through to the article if you want to read that information]

Extracts (Word Count: 289, Estimated Reading Time: 1 to 2 minutes)

A structure [with a unique shape has been discovered] in France …

[The] French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) unearthed the monument while excavating a prehistoric site in… Marliens. …

“This type of monument seems unprecedented,” notes INRAP… “As of now, it has been impossible to make a comparison.”

Researchers [used] a “plethora of artifacts” found at the site [to estimate its date]. These include a bundle of seven stone arrowheads, a couple of protective armbands worn by archers, a flint lighter and a copper-alloy dagger.

[T]hese items may date back to the time of the Bell Beaker culture, which originated in the Iberian Peninsula and spread across Europe some 4,500 years ago. …

[E]vidence of human occupation from later periods, including several wells thought to date to the Early Bronze Age, [has also been discovered at the site]. …

[T]he Middle-Late Bronze Age … is [also] represented on site by a necropolis consisting of five circular enclosures. None of the [bones of those buried at the site have survived except those that had been cremated]. But five [copper alloy] pins … and a[n amber] necklace … found nearby suggest … date[s] … between 1500 and 1300 B.C.E.

[A] second necropolis [at the site contains] six urns holding cremated remains, [and] a cache of bracelets and rings. Researchers believe this burial ground dates to the First Iron Age …

…

[S]cholars are … studying the remains to learn … about the funerary practices of the[ir] society ….

The … monument remains this site’s oldest and most unique feature. Researchers have … made no determinations about the structure’s purpose or exact date of creation.

““…radiocarbon analyses are underway to clarify the chronology of this monument.” [the statement says]

[blueiscoool]

2,000 Bronze Statue Fragments Found in Turkey Ancient Scrap Yard

Archaeologists in Izmir, Turkey have made an extraordinary discovery in the ancient city of Metropolis: Approximately 2,000 bronze statue fragments have been found in a section believed to have served as an “ancient scrap yard”.

The excavations are being carried out within the scope of the ‘Heritage to the Future Project’ of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, under the direction of Prof. Serdar Aybek, Professor of Archaeology at Dokuz Eylül University, and in cooperation with the Sabancı Foundation.

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of many civilizations, from the earliest settlements in the Late Neolithic Age to the Classical Age, from the Hellenistic Age to the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods, in the ancient city of Metropolis, also called the “City of Mother Goddess,” where excavations have been going on since 1990.

In the ancient city, where many monumental structures were unearthed, these fragments, uncovered in an area believed to have served as an “ancient scrap yard,” offer a unique glimpse into the cultural and religious shifts of the region during the Late Antiquity period.

Professor Serdar Aybek stated that the bronze statue fragments were found in a corner of a space referred to as an “ancient scrap yard,” where they had been broken apart for melting and stored in bulk.

Aybek explained that the findings include statue pieces from the Hellenistic period and figures from the Roman era, describing them as “extraordinary discoveries, even for our field of work. We have uncovered approximately 2,000 bronze statue fragments,” he said.

He highlighted the significance of the bronze statues being broken into pieces, noting, “The collection and recycling of statues in the Late Antiquity provide concrete evidence in Metropolis. Among the findings are parts such as heads, eyes, fingers, and sandals.”

Drawing attention to the dismantling of these statues, Aybek said, “In the Late Antiquity, as mythological beliefs were abandoned in favor of monotheistic religions and Christianity became dominant in the region, bronze statues from mythological and earlier eras were dismantled. Although we do not yet have archaeological evidence to confirm this claim, we can suggest that a significant portion of them was repurposed for minting coins. During that period, rather than producing new materials, bronze groups, mainly consisting of outdated or damaged statues, were broken apart by the ancient scrap yard worker and prepared for melting.”

The fragments might be from the statues built to honor the benefactors listed in the “Metropolitan Apollonios” inscription, according to Aybek, who also underlined the historical significance of bronze statues in antiquity.

What makes this discovery even more remarkable is the evidence of recycling practices that date back over a millennium.

In addition to the fragmented statues, archaeologists discovered square and rectangular bronze plates that were probably used for statue casting and repair. This implies that, at its height, Metropolis might have served as a center for the creation or repair of bronze statues.

By Leman Altuntaş.

[river-taxbird]

Disability in the Ice Age

People usually talk about the dawn of civilization in occuring around the Neolithic, like 12000 years to 6000 years before present, but people have been experimenting with different ways of organising society well back into the late pleistocene, or ice age (30,000 to 12,000 years BP). In ice age Europe and Russia, people would build villages out of mammoth bone and skin, which they would inhabit for a season then break up into hunter gather bands for another season.

A particularly interesting part of ice age culture is their burials. They normally didn't bury their dead, but they did sometimes. The burials are marked as being very rich, with lots of grave goods, including weapons, tools, or intricately carved beads on their clothes. (Pictured: A burial called the Gravetian Prince). Interestingly, most of the burials from this time period have disabilities evident in their skeletons. This has led to the theory that in ice age culture, disabled people may have held a shamanic or ritual significance (as they do in some contemporary hunter gather societies). Non physically disabled ice age burials could have had some disability that is not evident in the skeleton, such as autism or epilepsy. This really goes against the stereotype that disabled people in prehistory would not have been cared for and died young.

Sources: The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow. Gobekli Tepe Ancient History Documentry, by History Time.

[victusinveritas]

In 2014, a shocking discovery emerged from south Lolland, Denmark, related to the Femern-project (where they are currently building a tunnel between Denmark and Germany): a 3,800-year-old flint dagger, dating back to around 1800–1600 BC, with its bark handle preserved on one side. This Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age weapon was preserved thanks to the unique conditions of the site—waterlogged, acidic, and low in oxygen—which slow down decay and create an anaerobic environment.

Such a find is incredibly rare, as organic materials like bark usually do not survive. The dagger highlights both the skill of ancient craftsmen and the extraordinary preservation conditions, offering rare insights into Neolithic and Bronze Age weaponry and craftsmanship. This find was made by the Museum Lolland-Falster.

📸: Lolland-Falster Museum

[hrrtshape]

i heard it was ask ema hogwarts questions hour!! i found ur answers to my last ask about this so interesting, especially when you talked about the goblin wars and witch princesses. did you learn anything about how magic was found? or yk like the beginning of witchcraft. cavemen but wizards? do you have to handle anything disgusting for potions? like an animals eyeball or teeth?

what’s the relationship gossip? are sirius and remus together? is james dramatically on his knees for lily? is regulus moody and alone or has he realised he’s cable of love… and with who?

i’m super interested in what the creative subjects are like if there is any. what’s the difference between muggle art and witchy art? is there music or creative writing classes?

is it strange not having a phone? no tumblr for 5 months 💔💔💔

are you on the quidditch team? and is there any other sports you can do?

other than hogsmede, have you ventured out of the castle? to diagon alley or the leaky cauldron? do you have school trips?

have you met moaning myrtle? and since u know where the chamber of secrets is, do you plan on keeping that a secret or going to explore it?

ok some last questions. what’s the fashion like? what’s your fave wizard candy? are there witch/wizard celebrities? are you a animagus? whats it like turning into an animal? i’d freak the fuck out. i’m going to be in ravenclaw, have you been to their common room and what’s it like? okay that’s all thank u soooooo much ur the coolest ever

oh my god, you’re actually my favorite person for asking all of this !?!?!?

ancient wizard cavemen lore

YES, actually. i had so many late-night discussions (arguments) with remus about this. magic has always been there, but how it was discovered is a whole other thing. apparently, the earliest wizards didn’t even use wands. they just felt it and willed things to happen. which, honestly, terrifying. imagine some neolithic dude just thinking about fire and accidentally setting his entire cave on fire. but yeah, magic was raw back then. chaotic. unrefined. people had no clue what they were doing.

potions class horrors

potions is literally a nightmare class. why is there always something festering in a jar? why do i have to desecrate a frog just to pass a test? some highlights of things i have had to touch.......

flobberworm mucus (somehow both slimy and sticky??? defies science.)

an entire rat spleen (it plopped onto my desk. i have never known true horror until that moment.)

something’s eyeball. never identified what animal it belonged to. refused to ask.

relationship gossip

sirius and remus? no. sssorrrryyyy. i love wolfstar truthers but those two were too busy being insufferable and not realising they should be together. tragic, honestly.

james? so on his knees for lily. practically living in that position.

regulus. moody, yes. alone? debatable. i have seen some things. and i have some thoughts. but i’ll let the mystery simmer. 🫣

wizard arts & creativity

SO interesting. muggle art is about technique, but wizard art is alive. literally. paintings move, obviously, but also change depending on the mood of the room. i saw a portrait sulk once. music is enchanted, instruments play themselves, but it’s all very classical. like no wizard rock bands, just dramatic orchestral stuff. creative writing exists, but sometimes the words change on their own if they think you could do better. imagine your journal critiquing you. horrifying.

living without a phone

yes. it hurt. five months without tumblr was a near crisis. but i had scripted it wouldn’t bother me, so it was fine. (except for the fact that my brain still thought in twitter slang. painful. imagine if i had said that we should celebrate my 19th birthday in poland. like. that is what was going on in my mind)

quidditch & sports

seeker for gryffindor, obviously. and listen, me and coryo on the pitch,,,,(NOT LIKE THAT. DON’T EVEN START.) warfare. i have never hated someone more in my life than when we were mid-air chasing the snitch. other sports were wizard duelling was kind of a thing, though very much not encouraged as an official extracurricular.

leaving the castle

yeah!! hogsmeade is the obvious one, but we also had school trips to diagon alley, and there were some special trips for certain subjects. like visiting the ministry for political studies (yes. i had to script that in). also, technically not allowed, but i may have wandered past the usual boundaries of the castle a few times. (listen. curiosity is a disease.)

moaning myrtle & chamber of secrets

met myrtle. love her, but also, girl, please get a hobby besides haunting bathrooms. and yes, i know where the chamber is. and no, i am absolutely not going in there. why would i do that. i value my life.

wizard fashion

robes are standard, obviously, but people get creative. lots of vintage, lots of flowy silhouettes, lots of layers. wizard fashion is like if academia and cottagecore had a chaotic crazy baby. my favourite thing was these enchanted scarves that would shift colours depending on mood. so dramatic. never wore them tho. 70s fashion was crazy.

wizard candy

chocolate frogs (obviously !!!!)

fizzing whizzbees (they make you float. it’s terrifying if you’re unprepared.)

sugar quills (technically candy, but also great for just chewing on absentmindedly.)

wizard celebrities

yes!!! there are famous quidditch players, obviously, but also famous duelists and curse-breakers. and yes we did discuss whether musicians such as david bowie could be a wizard !!!! we didn't find out though : (

animagus life

yes!!! i was a fox. yes, it’s predictable. shut up. transforming is insane. it’s like your body folds in on itself and suddenly you’re seeing the world from a whole different perspective. super cool but also incredibly disorienting.

ravenclaw common room

been there!!! it’s in a tower, and you have to answer a riddle to get in, which is hilarious because sometimes even the ravenclaws get stuck outside debating answers. it’s very airy, very full of books, and the vibe is so pretentious in the best way.

okay. that was a LOT but your questions were elite. 10/10. feel free to send more. 💌💌💌💌💌💌💌💌💌💌💌💌

[whencyclopedia]

The White Horse of Uffington

The cutting of huge figures or geoglyphs into the turf of English hillsides has been going on for more than 3000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk downlands of the southern part of the country. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Though the majority of these glyphs date within the last three hundred years or so there are one or two that are much older.

The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious, the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been redated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age date. More controversial are the Cerne Abbot Giant in Dorset and the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. What was the purpose of these giant figures, who carved them, and how have the oldest examples survived for perhaps thousands of years?

The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying turf to reveal the gleaming white chalk below.

The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying turf to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the glyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of men and women. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to the scourers not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus changing the shape of the original glyph.

The fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

The White Horse of Uffington

The oldest and most famous hill figure in England is the 110 m long and 40 m high Uffington White Horse, located 2.5 km south of the village of Uffington on the Berkshire Downs, Oxfordshire. This unique stylized representation of a horse consists of a long sleek back, thin disjointed legs, a streaming tail, and bird-like beaked head. The elegant creature almost melts into a landscape rich in prehistoric sites. The Horse is situated on a steep escarpment, close to the Late Bronze Age (c. 7th century BCE) hillfort of Uffington Castle and below a long distance Neolithic Track called the Ridgeway.

[image:357]

The Uffington Horse is also surrounded by Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds. It is only 1.6 km from the Neolithic Chambered long barrow of Wayland's Smithy and not far from the Bronze Age cemetery of Lambourn Seven Barrows. The carving has been placed in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to see from close quarters, and like many geoglyphs it is best appreciated from the air. Nevertheless, there are certain areas of the Vale of the White Horse, the valley containing and named after the enigmatic creature, from which an adequate impression may be gained. Indeed on a clear day the carving can be seen from up to 30km away.

The earliest documentary reference to a Horse at Uffington is from the 1070's CE when 'White Horse Hill' is mentioned in Charters from the nearby Abbey of Abingdon, and the first reference to the Horse itself is soon after, in 1190 CE. However, the carving is believed to date back much further than that. Due to the similarity of the Uffington White Horse to the stylized depictions of horses on 1st century BCE Celtic coins, it had been thought that the creature must also date to that period.

Scientific Dating of the Horse

However, in 1995 CE Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil sediments from two of the lower layers of the Horses body, and from another cut near the base. The result was a date for the Horse's construction somewhere between 1400 and 600 BCE, in other words it had a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age origin. The latter end of this date range would tie the carving of the Horse in with occupation of the adjacent Uffington hillfort, and may perhaps represent a tribal emblem or symbol marking the land of the inhabitants of the hillfort. Alternatively, the carving may have been created for ritual / religious purposes.

Cult & Mythology

Some researchers see the Horse as representing the Celtic horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, and also had associations with fertility. However, the cult Epona was imported from Gaul (France) probably in the first century CE, which is when we find the first depictions of the horse goddess. This date is at least six centuries after the Uffington horse was carved. Nevertheless, the horse was of great ritual and economic importance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by its depictions on jewellery, coins and other metal objects. Perhaps the carving represents a native British horse-goddess, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as a beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.

Some researchers see the Horse as representing the Celtic horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, & also had associations with fertility.

Others, however, see the White Horse as connected with the worship of Belinos or Belinus, 'the shining one', a Celtic sun god often associated with horses. Bronze and Iron Age sun chariots, mythological representations of the sun in a chariot, were shown as being pulled by horses, as can be seen from the 14th century BCE example from Trundholm in Denmark. If, as is now believed, the Celts were settled in Britain at the latest by the end of the Bronze Age, then the White Horse could still be interpreted as a Celtic horse-goddess symbol.

An Ancient Dragon?

There are some who believe that the great carving does not represent a horse at all but a dragon. A legend connected with Dragon Hill, a low natural flat-topped mound situated in the valley below the White Horse, suggests that the Horse depicts the mythical dragon slain by St. George on that hill. The blood of the dying dragon was supposed to have been spilled on Dragon Hill, leaving a bare white chalk scar where to this day no grass will grow. Perhaps the St. George connection with the White Horse is a confused memory of some strange prehistoric ritual performed on Dragon Hill by its creators, perhaps as long as three thousand years ago.

Up until the late 19th century CE the White Horse was scoured every year, as part of a two day Midsummer country fair, which also included traditional games and merrymaking. Nowadays the accompanying festival has gone and the task of maintaining the Horse is undertaken by English Heritage, the organisation responsible for the site, the last scouring taking place on June 24, 2000 CE.

Why were Hill Figures Created?

The reasons for the creation of these hill figures are probably as varied as the figures represented. New archaeological and geological evidence is increasingly indicating a medieval date for the giant naked human figures, which some historians have argued were products of an age of civil war and extreme political turmoil in England, when satire was sometimes the only weapon. Compared to the huge stone permanence of structures like the Avebury Monuments and Stonehenge, hill figures are much more transitory, ten or twenty years without scouring and the carving could be lost forever.

The fact that the figures could disappear so easily, along with their associated rituals and meaning, indicates that they were never intended to be anything more than temporary gestures, which have only survived either by accident, or in the case of the White Horse of Uffington, by the continued existence of extraordinary tenacious local tradition. But this does not lessen their importance. These giant carvings are a fascinating glimpse into the lives and minds of their creators and how they viewed the landscape in which they lived.

In June 2010 CE vandals sprayed part of the White Horse with purple paint. A banner that read 'fathers 4 justice stop the secret family courts' was recovered from the site by police, although the Fathers 4 Justice organization denied any connection with the senseless act. Fortunately, the monument was restored by National Trust workers soon afterwards, and at least one has the satisfaction of knowing that the White Horse will still be galloping across the Berkshire Downs long after those responsible for the vandalism are laid under the sod.

Continue reading...

[archaeologyinbulgaria]

Special Jubilee Exhibition Presents Startling Finds from 20 Years of Digs at Provadiya-Solnitsata Prehistoric Settlement – Europe’s Oldest Town

A poster for The Lords of Salt exhibition dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the archaeological excavations of the Provadiya-Solnitsata Settlement Mound in Northeast Bulgaria. Poster by the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences A special jubilee exhibition entitled “The Lords of Salt” has been opened in Sofia to showcase the most startling finds from…

[vestaignis]

Пещера Деветашка считается одной из самых крупных в Болгарии и всей Европе. Она расположена на реке Осым, между селами Деветаки и Дойренци (Ловечская область). Пещера обнаружена лишь в 1921 году, а с 1996 года является охраняемым памятником природы. Ее протяженность составляет около 1,5 км, а входом служит гигантский проем 55 м в ширину и 35 м в высоту.

Пещера Деветашка поражает воображение туристов. Ее потолки высотой от 60 до 100 метров имеют многочисленные провалы, которые местные жители называют окнами. Они создают естественное освещение, но практически не нагревают пещеру. Поэтому здесь прохладно даже в знойные летние дни. Внутри протекает река, есть подземные озера, водопады, сталагмиты и сталактиты. В залах обитают летучие мыши, поэтому они закрыты с 1 ноября по 1 апреля, чтобы не мешать размножению животных.

В пещере обнаружены следы обитания древнего человека. Согласно археологическим исследованиям пещера служила убежищем людям с поздней палеолитической эпохи. Археологические раскопки обнаружили остатки из культурного слоя почти всех доисторических периодов. Рельефный слой толщиной от 0,3 до 5,5 м содержит остатки поселений разных эпох: палеолита(кремневые орудия мустьерских форм, позднепалеолитические изделия из кремня и костей); неолита (очаги с каменной основой, узкие каменные топоры, кремневые заточки и скребки, костяные лощила, шила и долота, керамику с резьбленными надписями); энеолита ( разрушенные жилища, печи, зернотерки,орудия из камня и костей, посуда с резной, рельефной и другой орнаментацией, антропоморфные фигуры); бронзового века (боевые топоры из бронзы, темнолощённые керамические изделия); железного века (бронзовые ножи, железное оружие).

Вторая мировая война оставила и здесь свой след. Во времена социализма пещера использовалась в качестве склада боеприпасов на случай военных действий, а также служила хранилищем нефтепродуктов. В пещере до сих пор остались следы в виде кругов с тех времен.

Немаловажной частью этого чудного места является разнообразие представителей фауны. В пещере обитают более сотни различных видов живности, некоторые из которых даже занесены в Красную книгу! В их числе 12 видов охраняемых земноводных (эскулап, полоз, тритон, древесные лягушки, черепахи Германа), около 80-ти видов птиц, 34 вида млекопитающих и 15 видов летучих мышей.

Devetashka Cave is considered one of the largest in Bulgaria and throughout Europe. It is located on the Osam River, between the villages of Devetaki and Doirentsi (Lovech region). The cave was discovered only in 1921, and since 1996 it has been a protected natural monument. Its length is about 1.5 km, and the entrance is a gigantic opening 55 m wide and 35 m high.

Devetashka Cave amazes tourists. Its ceilings range from 60 to 100 meters high and have numerous gaps, which locals call windows. They create natural light, but practically do not heat the cave. Therefore, it is cool here even on hot summer days. A river flows inside, there are underground lakes, waterfalls, stalagmites and stalactites. The halls are inhabited by bats, so they are closed from November 1 to April 1, so as not to interfere with the breeding of animals.

Traces of ancient human habitation were found in the cave. According to archaeological research, the cave has served as a shelter for people since the late Paleolithic era. Archaeological excavations have discovered remains from the cultural layer of almost all prehistoric periods. The relief layer, 0.3 to 5.5 m thick, contains the remains of settlements from different eras: Paleolithic (flint tools of Mousterian forms, Late Paleolithic objects made of flint and bones); Neolithic (hearths with a stone base, narrow stone axes, flint sharpenings and scrapers, bone polishes, awls and chisels, ceramics with carved inscriptions); Eneolithic (destroyed dwellings, ovens, grain grinders, tools made of stone and bones, dishes with carved, relief and other ornamentation, anthropomorphic figures); Bronze Age (battle axes made of bronze, dark-polished ceramics); Iron Age (bronze knives, iron weapons).

The Second World War left its mark here too. During socialism, the cave was used as an ammunition depot in case of hostilities, and also served as a storage facility for petroleum products. There are still traces in the cave in the form of circles from those times.

An important part of this wonderful place is the diversity of fauna. The cave is home to more than a hundred different species of living creatures, some of which are even listed in the Red Book! These include 12 species of protected amphibians (aesculapius, snake, newt, tree frogs, Hermann's tortoises), about 80 species of birds, 34 species of mammals and 15 species of bats.

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