Istállós-kő () is a mountain in Hungary. With a height of above sea level it is the second highest mountain of the Bükk and the sixth highest of Hungary. Before 2014 it was considered to be the highest point of the area, but according to recent surveys Szilvási-kő is meters tall. It is easily accessible from

Szilvásvárad Szilvásvárad is a village in Heves County, Northern Hungary Region, Hungary. Sights to visit * Szalajka-valley * Fátyol-waterfall * Istállós-kő cave * Cserepes-kő-cave * Kalapat viewpoint * Virgin forest * Forest muse ...

on a few hundred meters long tourist path, which leads to a cave in the mountain.

Istállós-kő cave

The cave was first explored by Pál Roskó in 1911. It is a rich archaeological site with 30,000-40,000 year old finds including cave bear and Bison latifrons bones and tusks, stone and bone tools and a Paleolithic hearth now displayed in the Hungarian National Museum. The site was later excavated by Ottokár Kadić in 1929 and

Mária Mottl Mária Mottl (22 December 1906 – 21 September 1980) was a Hungarian speleologist and vertebrate paleontologist. Biography Mária Mottl was born on 22 December 1906 at Budapest. She studied at the universities of Vienna, Berlin and Budap ...

in 1938; its planned and detailed excavation started in 1947 and was led by

László Vértes László () is a Hungarian male given name and surname after the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary (1077–1095). It derives from Ladislav, a variant of Vladislav. Other versions are Lessl or Laszly. The name has a history of being freq ...

. Based on fill stratification and animal remains used as period indicators, the archaeologists explored the cave's history, and determined the age of the three cultural layers and the characteristics of the human population(s) that lived there. The cave gained protected status in 1944 and specially protected status in 1982. The newest excavations started in 2000 and were led by Árpád Ringer. The importance of the cave lies in the findings of 66 different Ice Age species, which makes its fauna the richest among

Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where t ...

faunas in Europe; three new mammal species and twenty new bird species were described based on its microfauna.

References

* Vértes László: ''Az istállóskői barlang aurignaci II. kultúrájának kormeghatározása'', 1959, Akadémiai Nyomda, Budapest * T. Dobosi Viola: ''Bone finds from Istállós-kő Cave'', Praehistoria, 2002. 3. évf. 79–102. oldal * Adams, Brian: ''New radiocarbon dates from Szeleta and Istállós-kő caves'', Hungary, Praehistoria, 2002. 3. évf. 53–55. oldal * Ringer Árpád: ''The new image of Szeleta and Istállós-kő caves in the Bükk Mountains: a revision project between 1999-2002'', Praehistoria, 2002. 3. évf. 47–52. oldal

External links

Az Istállós-kő és környezetének térképe

{{DEFAULTSORT:Istallos-ko Mountains of Hungary Tourist attractions in Hungary Mountains of the Western Carpathians Geography of Heves County Tourist attractions in Heves County