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Kůlna Cave


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Kůlna Cave

Photo: Doronenko
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license


Kůlna Cave forms a massive tunnel on the eastern slope of the Sloupské Valley. The first archaeological excavation was carried out in 1880 by J. Wankel and a year later M. Kříž began extensive excavations, which lasted until 1886. The discovery layer of the Middle Paleolithic was first identified by his successor Jan Knies. In 1943-45 the Nazis converted the entire cave into an aircraft factory. When K. Valoch prepared the terrain for systematic research here in 1959, he had the concrete floor blasted off the entire cave.

It turned out that the lower Middle Palaeolithic layers are almost untouched by older works, albeit interspersed with natural processes. Under the cave there is a system of deep cross chasms, into which the Sloupský river flowed sometimes.

The researches of the Anthropos Institute in the years 1961-1976 brought not only extensive collections of Middle Palaeolithic tools and at the same time the oldest evidence of the settlement of the Moravian Karst, but also the most numerous remains of Neanderthal man in the Czech Republic. The collaboration of many natural scientists has brought a lot of ecological data.

The oldest settlements fall at the end of the penultimate (Risian) ice age, followed by a culture called Taubachien ( Neanderthal, 130 000 to 80 000 BP) with small-scale tools using mostly pebbles as cores, in the warm interglacial. The remnants of the Neanderthals (skull fragment, upper jaw, and 3 milk teeth) come from layer 7a, which belongs to the Micoquian.
Text above: Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic and Wikipedia

Location: 49° 24′ 30.81″ N, 16° 44′ 19.79″ E

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Kůlna Cave (near Sloup, Blansko DIstrict):
1. Maxila fragment.
2. Right parietal bone.
3. Milk teeth.

Švédův stůl Cave :
4. Lower jaw.

Photo: Zde
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Source: From a Temporary exhibition 'Welcome to the Neandertals' in the Anthropos Pavilon, Brno.




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Kůlna Cave

a, b – locality of the cave
c – entrance into the cave, the so-called southern entrance
d – schematic profile of the Middle & Upper Palaeolithic layers and the cave area with designated sectors.

Digitised and compiled by P. Neruda.

Valoch (1988)
Proximal source and text: Nerudová et al. (2014)




Kůlna Cave is located 45 km from Brno, on the northern margin of the Moravian Karst. It belongs to the nearby Sloup-Sosuvka cave system, in which Sloupský potok Brook that drains the area currently vanishes.Kůlna is a tunnel-shaped cavern with two entrances, a smaller northern and a large SSW-oriented portal entrance. The cavern is 91 m long, the maximum width is 25 m, and the height is 8 m.
Text above: Neruda (2013)

stratigraphy2centralmagdaleniansm
Stratigraphy in the entrance part of the cave, sector C.

6a to 9: Micoquian

10 to 12a: Taubachian

Photo and text: Valoch (1988)
Proximal source: Neruda (2013)




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Stratigraphy in the central part of the cave, sector G1 .

6: Gravettian/Magdalenian

6a to 7e: Micoquian

Photo and text: Valoch (1988)
Proximal source: Neruda (2013)




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Ideal stratigraphic sequence of Kůlna Cave.

Photo: Valoch (1989)
Proximal source: Neruda et al. (2015)




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neandertalremainsbrnoexhibsm
Points and cuspidate (terminating in a point) sidescrapers.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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Points and cuspidate (terminating in a point) sidescrapers.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




dsc00991transversesidescrapersm dsc00992transversesidescrapersm


Large transverse sidescrapers.

( Transverse in this sense means at right angles to the general shape of the tool, where a single retouched edge lies opposite the butt - Don )

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
Additional text: Klein (2009)




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On numerous broken bones we can see grooves caused by stone tools, probably during quartering and carving of the downed animal or scraping of bones.

In other objects where grooves cannot be explained by some practical activity, we can consider motifs resulting from random or symbolic thought processes.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
Additional text: https://www.ginellames.fr/us/tailler_le_silex/bases_de_la_taille/02_matieres.php


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Reindeer antler modified for use, perhaps as a hammer.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




mammothretoucherkulnacave1sm mammothretoucherkulnacave2sm
Retouchers from mammoth tusk.

Left: a thin, convex-concave layer of ivory glued together from four parts. The maximum preserved length and width are 125.3 mm and 44.2 mm, respectively. The thickness of the layer varies from 1.71 to 3.35 mm. Layer 7a1, G2. Micoquian.

Right: a layer of mammoth ivory, with a maximum length of 157 mm and 52.8 mm width. The thickness of the layer varies between 4.1 mm and 4.7 mm. Layer 7a1, sector G3, Micoquian.

Photo: K. Jursa
Source and text: Neruda et al. (2015)




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Handaxe.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Facsimile, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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Discoid and prismatic cores.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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Cores and a handaxe.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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Tools made of rock crystal, or crystalline quartz.

Rock crystal is not a good material for tools, but it is beautiful. It is very difficult to work with, rock crystal produces chips that cannot be controlled easily and often make step fractures. The Neanderthals of l'Abri des Merveilles at Castel-Merle - Vallon des Roches also made tools of rock crystal.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
Additional text: https://www.ginellames.fr/us/tailler_le_silex/bases_de_la_taille/02_matieres.php




dsc00999taubachiensm dsc01000taubachiensm


Taubachien tools (and cores below) are typically small in size and utilise a diverse range of raw materials.

From layer 11 of the Riss-Würm interglacial, 126 000 BP - 100 000 BP.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
Additional text: Wikipedia




dsc01001taubachien dsc01002taubachiensm


Taubachien tools (and cores right hand image) are typically small in size and utilise a diverse range of raw materials.

From layer 11 of the Riss-Würm interglacial, 126 000 BP - 100 000 BP.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
Additional text: Wikipedia




dsc01003pebblesm
Chipped pebble.

( this may have been used as a knapping tool - Don )

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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Fractured, healed, penile bones of cave bears.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




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The oldest traces of settlement in the Moravian Karst are Levallois flakes, a few retouched tools and cores from layer 14, dated to the end of Riss glaciation, about 130 000 BP.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Source and text: Originals, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic




cave

Model of Kůlna Cave in the Moravian Karst. Below, the profile of archaeological layers revealed in the cave in 1961 - 1976.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2018
Model and graphics design: Unknown
Source and text: Diorama, Anthropos Pavilion/Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic





Kůlna Cave
Layer Age
1,2 Neolithic 6 000 BP
3,4 Epi-Magdalenian (Azilian) 11 000 BP
5,6 Magdalenian 12 000 BP - 13 000 BP
6b Gravettian 22 000 BP
6c Micoquian 40 000 BP - 45 000 BP
7a Micoquian 50 000 BP
7b Micoquian 50 000 BP
7c,d, 8a Micoquian 50 000 BP
8b,9a Micoquian 60 000 BP
9b Micoquian 70 000 BP
10, 11a-d Taubachian 100 000 BP
12, 13 Taubachian 110 000 BP
14 Old Middle Palaeolithic 120 000 BP



    Layers and ages at Kůlna Cave.

    Extra data on ages from Neruda, Nerudová (2013)

    ( note that there are minor inconsistencies with layer contents and ages between this table from the Brno Museum and the data from Neruda, Nerudová (2013)  - Don )







Upper Palaeolithic of Kůlna Cave


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Kůlna Cave, Magdalenian, circa 14 000 BP.

( Double bevel spear points such as these had a very long life in the tool kit of hunter gatherers, and are known since at least the Gravettian.

A double bevel attachment takes more time and skill to make than a single bevel, but it is less likely to fail at the moment of impact than the single bevel - Don )

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Museum of Natural History, Vienna




IMG_1616zitnysm


Near Kůlna Cave is Žitný Cave, another Magdalenian site. Shown here are some needles and a carved rod.

Circa 14 000 BP.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Museum of Natural History, Vienna, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien




References

  1. Klein R., 2009: The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins, Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 22 Apr 2009 - Social Science - 1024 pages
  2. Kozlowski S. et al., 2012: New information from Maszycka Cave and the Late Glacial recolonisation of Central Europe, Quaternary International, 272-273 (2012) 288e296
  3. Kozlowski S., Lozek V., Vlcek E., 2013: Hunters between East and West: The Paleolithic of Moravia, Springer Science & Business Media, 29 Jun 2013 - Social Science - 311 pages
  4. Kříž, M., 1909: Die Schwedentischgrotte bei Ochos in Mähren und Rzehaks Bericht über homo primigenius Wilseri. Verhandlungen der k. k., Geologischen Reichsanstalt, Nr. 10, 217–233.
  5. Neruda P., Nerudová Z., 2013: New data from Micoquian layers of the Kůlna Cave (Czech Republic),Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.015
  6. Neruda P., Lázničková-Galetová M., 2015: Retouchers from mammoth tusks in the Middle Palaeolithic. a case study from Kůlna Cave layer 7a1 (Czech Republic),Retouching the Palaeolithic: Becoming Human and the Origins of Bone Tool Technology, The Origins of Bone Tool Technologies, Retouching the Palaeolithic International Workshop was held from 21-23 October 2015 at Hannover.
  7. Nerudová Z., Nývltová Fišáková M., Míková J., 2014: Palaeoenvironmental analyses of animal remains from the Kůlna Cave (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic), Quartär 61 (2014) : 147-157, doi: 10.7485/QU61_08
  8. Oliva M., 2017: Švédův stůl v Moravském krasu Geschichte des Neandertalerkiefers aus der Švédův stůl-höhle (Schwedentischgrotte) im Mährischen Karst, Anthropos, ISSN 0323-0570 Acta Mus. Moraviae, Sci. soc. CII: 1, 3–16, 2017
  9. Svoboda J., Sachse-Kozlowska E., 1995: Magdalenian family from the Maszycka Cave. In: Kozlowski, et al. (Eds.), pp. 115-205.
  10. Valoch K., 1988: Die Erforschung der Kulna-Höhle 1961-1976. In: Anthropos, vol. 24 (N.S. 16). Moravské zemské muzeum, Brno.

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This page last updated: Tuesday, 27th Dec 2022 15:14


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My background

Some people have expressed interest in knowing a little bit about me. For those people, here is a potted biography:

I live in New South Wales, Australia, and I am a retired high school mathematics/science teacher.

The Donsmaps site is totally independent of any other influence. I work on it for my own pleasure, and finance it myself. I started before there was an internet, when I thought I could do a better job of the small map on the end papers of Jean Auel's wonderful book, Valley of the Horses, by adding detail and contour lines, and making a larger version. I have always loved maps since I was a young boy.

I had just bought a black and white 'fat Mac' with a whopping 512 kB of memory (!), and no hard disk. With a program called 'Super Paint' and a lot of double work (hand tracing first the maps of Europe from atlases, then scanning the images on the tracing paper, then merging the scanned images together, then tracing these digital scans on the computer screen), I made my own black and white map.

Then the internet came along, the terms of my internet access gave me space for a small website, and Don's Maps started. I got much better computers and software over the years, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for example, and my maps became colourised and had more detail. I did a lot of maps of the travels of Ayla from Jean Auel's books, and I gradually included other pages with more and more photos available from the web, and scanned from books or from scientific papers, since I was not happy with the quality generally available. I became very interested in the Venus figurines, and set out to make a complete record of the ice age ones. Along the way I got interested in archaeology for its own sake.

In 2008 my wife and I went to Europe, and when we arrived in Frankfurt at sunrise after the 24 hour plane trip from Sydney, while my wife left on her own tour with her sister, they visited relatives in Germany and Austria, I went off by myself on the train to Paris. Later that afternoon I took a train to Brive-la-Gaillarde, found a hotel and caught up on lost sleep. The next morning I hired a car, and over the next four weeks visited and photographed many of the original archaeological sites in the south of France, as well as many archaeological museums. It was a wonderful experience. My wife and I met up again later in the Black Forest, and cycled down the Danube from its source to Budapest, camping most of the way, a wonderful trip, collecting many photos, including a visit to Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic, as well as visiting the Vienna natural history museum. Jean Auel fans will realise the significance of that trip!

Luckily I speak French, the trips to France would have been difficult or impossible otherwise. No one outside large cities speaks English (or they refuse to). I was travelling independently, not as part of a tour group. I never knew where I was going to be the next night, and I camped nearly everywhere, except for large cities. I am a very experienced bushwalker (hiker) and have the required equipment - a one-man ultra lightweight tent, sleeping bag, stove, raincoat, and so on, all of which I make myself for use here when I go bushwalking, especially down the beautiful gorges east of Armidale, though for Europe I use a commercial two person lightweight tent, since weight is not so much of a problem when cycling or using a car, and in any case my wife was with me when cycling, once along the Donau from its source to Budapest in 2008, and again from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and then up the Rhine from Köln to the Black Forest in 2014, both of which were memorable and wonderful trips.

In 2012 we went to Canada for a wedding and to visit old friends, and I took the opportunity to visit the wonderful Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, where I took many photographs of the items on exhibit, particularly of the superb display of artefacts of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest.

In 2014 my wife and I did another European cycling tour, from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, then from Cologne up the Rhine to the Black Forest, camping most of the way in each case, and taking many useful photos in museums along the way, including the museums at Leiden, Netherlands, and Roskilde in Denmark, and the National Museum in Copenhagen. Again, I later hired a car and did more photography and visited many more sites in France.

In 2015 I made a lone visit to all the major museums in western Europe by public transport, mostly by train, and that went very well. I had learned a lot of German while travelling with my wife, who is a fluent speaker of the language, and of all the European countries, Germany is my favourite. I feel comfortable there. I love the people, the food, and the beer. Germans are gemütlich, I have many friends there now.

I repeated the visit to western Europe in 2018, to fill in some gaps of museums I had not visited the first time, because they were either closed for renovation the first time (such as the Musée de l'Homme in Paris) or because I ran out of time, or because I wanted to fill in some gaps from major museums such as the British Museum, the Berlin Museum, München, the Louvre, the Petrie and Natural History Museums in London, the Vienna Natural History Museum, the important museum in Brno, and museums in northern Germany. It takes at least two visits, preferably three, to thoroughly explore the items on display in a major museum.

I spend a lot of time on the site, typically at least a few hours a day, often more. I do a lot of translation of original papers not available in English, a time consuming but I believe a valuable task. People and fate have been very generous to me, and it is good to give back a very small part of what I have been given. With the help of online translation apps and use of online dictionaries there are few languages I cannot translate, though I find Czech a challenge!

I will never be able to put up all the photos I have taken, each photo needs a lot of research, typically, to put it in context on the site. I do not have enough time left, life is short and death is long, but I am going to give it a good shot!

Life has been kind to me, I want for nothing, and am in good health. Not many in the world are as lucky as I am, and I am grateful for my good fortune.

My best wishes to all who read and enjoy the pages of my site.



May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
And may rain on a tin roof lull you to sleep at night.


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Email: don@donsmaps.com



Website last updated Monday 21 October 2024