Geißenklösterle

The Geißenklösterle is an Abri in the Ach Valley near Blaubeuren and at the same time an important archaeological site of the Upper Paleolithic.

Geology

The Geißenklösterle is part of a fund landscape in today's blue - and Ach Valley, where the Pleistocene on the southern edge of the Swabian Alb has dug a deep valley in the Jura formations. Thus some cavities of the karst system were raised. Many of the resulting caves of Achtals were already used by the Neanderthals Mittelpaläolithikums as a storage place ( next to the Geißenklösterle in the glasses cave and the Great Cave at Blaubeuren ). Others, such as the nearby Hohle Fels, have multiple intensive occupations of by the anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens).

The Geißenklösterle today is about 60 m above the valley floor. The entrance is protected by two projecting cliffs.

Archeology

1963, a first sounding was performed by Gustav Riek. Systematic excavations began in 1973 under Eberhard Wagner ( Landesdenkmalamt Baden -Württemberg), since 1974 then in behalf of the State Monuments Office, headed by Joachim Hahn ( University of Tübingen), who continued after his death (1997) by the Tübingen prehistorians Nicholas Conard and Hans -Peter Uerpmann were. The excavations have been provisionally closed in 2002.

The excavations to 1983 were presented in a monograph, which presented mainly finds of the Aurignacian. A special attention was paid to the genesis layer within the cavity. It was within the Aurignacian Fund six horizons within the Gravettian seven Fund horizons can be distinguished. However, they do not represent phases of use, but formed by natural processes.

The following stratigraphic sequence was found ( in the collection from older to younger ):

• Middle Palaeolithic - AH IV -VI
• Aurignacian - AH II, III AH
• Magdalenian - AH Io
• Mesolithic - AH In

Iron Age, Middle Ages

Middle Palaeolithic

In recent years the excavation of the basal layers of the 2000-2002 Mittelpaläolithikums were examined. It could be distinguished three archaeological horizons (AH IV to VI ), which correspond to the geological layers GH 18-20. Between the lowest Aurignacian horizon and the layers of Mittelpaläolithikums there was a fund largely empty layer (GH 17), which is characterized by mica and coarse clastic limestone debris.

Charcoal point to the use of fire, but lack distinct layers of burnt material.

Aurignacian

Undetectable is a stay of small groups of people during the last Ice Age, approximately 43000-32000 years ago.

The manufacture of stone tools, processing of bone, antler and ivory to use, jewelry or art objects or treatment of animal hides in the cave were detected. Possibly some of the items were not only produced here and used, but also landfilled. Remains of burn marks indicate that the fire stoked with bone have served not only for preparing food, but also for heating, as the light source and as protective and working aids. The raw material supply of chert was probably primarily from the environment; However, banded jasper refers to compounds of the residents in the Bavarian region.

Worldwide importance was the Geißenklösterle by the Aurignacian associated finds of carvings from mammoth ivory, which together with the finds from the nearby Hohle Fels and the bird oven cavity in the Lone Valley of the oldest known figurative art works.

In Geißenklösterle a 12.6 cm long flute (flute 1) was found from the radius of a Singing Swan in 1990. In addition to the well-preserved flute 1 a second, very fragmentary bird bone flute (flute 2) was presented by Hahn and Münzel. Both specimens are from the archaeological horizon II (Upper Aurignacian ) and show carefully -scale scores and low-cut handle holes that allow for an unambiguous interpretation of the findings as flutes. Later, another flute (flute 3) from the Geißenklösterle was identified, prepared, amazingly, two hollowed mammoth ivory chips and then glued together. As the bird bone flutes this flute was recovered from the upper Aurignacian layer complex AH II. Part of the flute 3 had already been published in 1988 by Hahn as decorated with a notched row ivory rod fragment, but could not yet be identified as a flute due to lack of parts. Recent research showed for these flutes an age of about 42000-43000 years, making them thus to the present ( 2012) the oldest known musical instruments.

Another bone flute was found in 2008 in the neighboring Hohle Fels. As briefly mentioned in the article by Conard, Malina and Münzel (2009), there are some more fragments with unique features flute, also from a bird oven cavity.

In addition to the small figurative works of art are available in Aurignacian layers of Geißenklösterle several stones with color orders. Projects in its importance as a small work of art, a tri-color (black, red and yellow) painted limestone pieces from the Aurignacian layer IIb out. The red color jobs consist of hematite, the yellow limonite. Yellow ocher pieces were found in the same layers as the mineral remains, so that the connection is secured to the regular pigment orders.

Gravettian

Several hearths were found: a large in the northern, sheltered area, a small southern, open den area. The use was probably in the spring.