Wildkirchli () are three interlinked caves situated in the

Alpstein The Alpstein are a subgroup of the Appenzell Alps in Switzerland. The Alpstein massif is in Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. Despite it being rather low when compared to other Alpine peaks – the highest mountain ...

massif in the

Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadens; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Interno) is one of the 26 cantons ...

canton of Switzerland, north-east of Mount Säntis

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The caves are located at a height of . They are notable for the traces of

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

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

habitation, dating to c. 40,000 BP, and

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 ...

bones dating to 90,000–40,000 BP. A museum at the site houses a full bear skeleton that was found in one of the caves.

Geography

There are three caves, the Altarhöhle (''altar cave''), the Untere Höhle (''lower cave''), and the Obere Höhle (''upper cave''), located on the

Ebenalp The Ebenalp (1,640 m) is the northernmost summit of the Appenzell Alps. The mountain is a popular hiking destination and has been accessible by cable car from Wasserauen since 1955. Ebenalp attracts up to 200,000 visitors each year. From the ...

, which is the northernmost summit of the

Appenzell Alps The Appenzell Alps (german: Appenzeller Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland on the northern edge of the Alps. They extend into the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and St. Gallen and are bordered by the Glarus Alps ...

. They sit at a height of , and are reached by cable car from

Wasserauen Wasserauen is a place in the district of Schwende in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. The settlement consists of a few farms, the terminus stations of the railway line Gossau – Appenzell – Wasserauen of the Appenzeller B ...

to the top of Edenalp, followed by a 15-minute hike down the mountain.

History of the caves

The earliest-known documentation of the cave was a visit by a cave explorers' club, the Höhlenklub of Appenzell, in 1863. In 1658, Paulus Ulmann (1613–1680), a priest in Appenzell, founded a chapel in the lower cave and established a hermitage in the upper cave. A series of hermits inhabited the site, and provided food and lodging to pilgrims who visited the chapel. The last hermit died in 1851, and the hermitage was eventually transformed into an inn. A small museum which is a recreation of the hermits' house was built on the site of the old inn. The cave chapel and pilgrimage were the subject of one chapter of Joseph Victor von Scheffel's Ekkehard: A Tale of the Tenth Century, Volume II.

Archaeological finds in the caves

Many bones have been found in the caves; the hermits sold them to pilgrims. In 1903–1908, Emil Bächler discovered flint tools in the Altarhöhle. Their identification as

Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the l ...

was the first demonstration of Neanderthal man in the Appenzell Alps. Later excavations revealed three

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostra ...

layers in the Altarhöhle. The lowest layer (90,000–40,000 BP) contained primarily cave bear bones. The upper layer contained the flint tools and was dated to the final phase of the Mousterian (about 40 000 BC). The layer also contained bones from animals such as

chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the R ...

ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa ...

es and wolves, suggesting that the caves served as summer hunting sites.

21st century

Today the caves have become a tourist destination. On the same path as the caves is the Berggasthaus Aescher, a 170-year-old guesthouse built into the cliff. The guesthouse was included as one of the four most interesting restaurants by the ''Huffington Post'' and it was featured on the cover of ''National Geographic's'' "Places of a Lifetime" publication (2015).

References

Literature

* *E. Schmid, "Zum Besuch der Wildkirchli-Höhlen", in ''Mitteilungsblatt der Schweizerischen Geschichte für Ur''- und Frühgeschichte 8, 1977, 2-12.

External links

*http://www.ebenalp.ch/tl_files/ebenalp/files/downloads/Ebenalp_Sommer-Flyer_web_eng.pdf
360-degree spherical panorama of Wildkirchli
* {{Authority control 1658 archaeological discoveries Caves of Switzerland Landforms of Appenzell Innerrhoden Tourist attractions in Appenzell Innerrhoden History of the Alps Archaeological sites in Switzerland Neanderthal sites Mousterian