BýÄà skála Cave
49.307516.694722222222Koordinaten: 49 ° 18 ' 27 " N, 16 ° 41' 41" E
The Bull Rock Cave ( German: Bull Rock ) located in the Czech Republic in the center of the nature reserve Moravian Karst. Along with the neighboring cave Rudické propadání it is the second longest cave system in the Czech Republic. The Bull Rock Cave has been used in prehistoric times by people. Internationally known evidence comes mainly from the Hallstatt period.
Description
The cave is about 20 km north of Brno between Adamov and Křtiny, near the small settlement of Josefov. Above the cave entrance stands a large limestone rocks; the caverns were formed by the action of water in limestones of the Devonian. The entrance leads into a hall, the deeper passages, fireplaces and other cave rooms are accessible from the off. The total length of the known transitions is about 13 km away. Parts of the system are flooded temporarily or permanently be under water.
The cave itself and its wider context is available as a National Nature Reserve Bull Rock under protection. In 2004, proclaimed protected area is 190.8 hectares in size and includes the deeply cut valley of the brook Křtinský creek. In addition to Bull Rock itself here will also find additional karst elements, such as the cave Jáchymka which is known from the fossil record, or the caves Barová, Kostelík and Tři Kotle. The caves serve as winter quarters for bats. Most commonly, the greater mouse-eared happens next here lives the lesser horseshoe bat and Geoffroy's bat. The area is intersected by the road from Adamov after Křtiny and accessible by two trails. The area is composed of pine and oak forests.
History
The spacious cave was used since the Paleolithic people, with only the entrance hall and an approximately 300 m long corridor were accessible in the past. 1663 was by the description Vigsel MA, Premonstratensian from Brno, in literature. In the 18th century workers promoted the nearby ironworks the local gravel deposits; while they found human bones and repeated pieces of coal. The archaeological research began in the mid -19th century. Since 1867, the physician and archaeologist Heinrich Wankel led excavations in the cave. He discovered first in the rear gear the remains of a camp of reindeer hunters from the Magdalenian. Two years later, two students found the bronze statuette of a bull, which has become the symbol of the cave. 1872 Wankel managed the spectacular discovery of the so-called " Hallstatt burial ". In the floor of the entrance hall, he found more than 40 skeletons and objects from the Hallstatt period, such as ceramics, jewelry, weapons and tools. Among the finds included a range that is interpreted as a blacksmith shop, and two large fire places that suggest its use as a place of worship. The remains were embedded in up to half a meter thick layer of charcoal. Some of the skeletons were incomplete, missing the head or limbs. Wankel interpreted the Fund as a ritual burial. However, there are other interpretations, such as an accident or an enemy attack on a group of miners. The finds are now housed in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
The original shape of the entrance hall was permanently changed in the Second World War, when the German occupiers erected there a weapons factory. The soil was filled with concrete and closed, both inputs. Knowledge of the rear gears of the cave system extended speleological investigations in the 20th century. 1920, the siphon at the end of the famous Ganges was exhausted and a new cave room was discovered. It was the bed of the creek Jedovnický, which occurs near the cave entrance to the surface. Until 1992, every meter of the underground stream course and thus the connection of the caves Bull Rock and Rudické was investigated systematically propadání. The Bull Rock Cave is not publicly available. Guided tours take place three times a year.