Divje Babe () is a

Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

cave and archaeological park overlooking the

Idrijca The Juridical is a river flowing through the Idrija Hills and Cerkno Hills. It is long. It rises near Vojsko, flows towards northeast and after passing through Idrija turns to the northwest. After passing through Spodnja Idrija and Cerkno it jo ...

River in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is noted for its

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 ...

remains, including the worked bone of cave bear known as the

Divje Babe Flute The Divje Babe flute is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was unearthed in 1995 during systematic archaeological excavations led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at ...

, which has been interpreted as 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 th ...

musical instrument.

Name

The name ''Divje Babe'' (literally, 'wild women') refers to witches, which were often believed to live in caves. The name therefore means 'Witch Cave'.

Location

Divje Babe is located at above the valley of the Idrijca River. The Idrijca cuts through the

Idrija Hills Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; german: (Ober)idria, it, Idria) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. It is located in the traditional region of Inner Carniola and is in the Gorizia Statisti ...

and

Cerkno Hills The Cerkno Hills ( sl, Cerkljansko hribovje or ) is a transitional region between the Alpine and the Dinaric landscape, centered on Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. Several passes in this area connect the Poljane Valley and the Selca Valley with ...

, and opens to the

Soča The Soča ( in Slovene) or Isonzo ( in Italian; other names fur, Lusinç, german: Sontig, la, Aesontius or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in ...

River.

Paleontology

The cave site (Divje Babe I) was excavated from 1978 to 1986 by Mitja Brodar, and again from 1989 to 1995 by Ivan Turk and Janez Dirjec. The excavations dug through of infilling consisting of 26 main sediment layers. Among the artifacts uncovered were

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 ...

finds, including a bone point (in layer 2 or 3) dated to around 35,000 years ago. Around eight layers from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

have been excavated containing around 20 hearths, 600

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s, and several bone artifacts. Numerous skeletal remains of the

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 ' ...

have also been found. The

was found in layer 8, dated to the middle Paleolithic of 50,000 to 35,000 years ago. It was in close vicinity to a hearth, indicating the presence of prehistoric people, probably Neanderthals. The flute is a fragment of a thigh bone from a young cave bear with four recessed holes. The interpretation of the artifact as a flute is controversial and has been subject of fierce debate; some research instead suggests that the holes are of animal origin,

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

teeth marks.

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Slovenia Stone Age sites in Slovenia Show caves in Slovenia Caves of the Slovene Littoral