Drachenhöhle or Drachenhöhle Mixnitz (literally ''Dragon's Cave of Mixnitz'') is a long cave with a wide and high entrance near Mixnitz, Styria,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, south-east of Bruck an der Mur located at an elevation of above sea level.

Cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

of the species (''

Ursus ingressus ''Ursus ingressus'' (the Gamssulzen Cave bear) is an extinct species of the family Ursidae that lived in Central Europe during the Late Pleistocene. It is named after the Gamssulzen Cave in Austria, where the holotype of this species was found.Ge ...

'') and other bone

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s that people found during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

were deemed to be the bones of dragons, a belief that culminated in the saga of the ''"Dragon slayer of Mixnitz"''. The cave is one of the largest caves in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

where bears occupied an area that stretched over a length of way over , by an average width of up to and a height of . Due to a shortage of fertilizers during and after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the high sediments inside the cave were intensively mined between 1918 and 1923 of which around 2,500 tons of

phosphoric acid Phosphoric acid (orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V) acid) is a colorless, odorless phosphorus-containing solid, and inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is commonly encountered as an 85% aqueous solution, w ...

were extracted. During the fertilizer mining, several geologists and paleontologists were present, who only documented the most valuable discoveries. Nonetheless, a rich cache of cave bear, Eurasian cave lion (''Panthera leo spelaea''), Gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), Alpine ibex (''Capra ibex'') and Alpine marmot (''Marmota marmota'')

s, remains of open hearths and Paleolithic stone tools of the Aurignacian culture dated to 65,000 to 31,000 BCE were unearthed. Dated to between 65,000 and 31,000 BCE, these rank among the oldest traces of human presence in Austria.

Excavations

Records of archaeological work were published in a monograph in 1931, that was re-edited by Othenio Abel and G. Kyrie. Excavations took place at two locations inside the cave. The around 150,000 years old sediment's strata were divided into several layers, that among those named "Prehistoric layer" and "Paleolithic fireplace" also yielded a "

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

layer". To this day the bones of more than 30,000 cave bear fossils were excavated. The site was protected in 1928 and declared a natural monument in 1949.

References

External links

* Günter Auferbauer; Luise Auferbauer (2000). Grazer Hausberge: mit Mur- und Mürztal ; 52 ausgewählte Höhenwanderungen im Grazer Bergland, im West- und Oststeirischen Randgebirge, an der Rax, in den Mürzsteger und Fischbacher Alpen, in der Hochschwabgruppe, in den Eisenerzer Alpen, in den Rottenmanner, Triebener und Seckauer Tauern sowie in den Seetaler Alpen ; ie schönsten Tal- und Höhenwanderungen Bergverlag Rother GmbH. pp. 34–. . * Othenio Abel (1931). Die Drachenhöhle bei Mixnitz: Tafelband. Verlag Österr. Staatsdr. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drachenhohle Archaeological sites in Austria Caves of Austria Landforms of Styria Graz Highlands