Istállós-kő () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. With a height of above sea level, it is the second highest mountain of the

Bükk The Bükk Mountains () are a section of the North Hungarian Mountains of the Inner Western Carpathians. Much of the area is included in the Bükk National Park. Geography Although Kékes, the highest point in Hungary, is not here but in t ...

mountains 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 high. It is easily accessible from Szilvásvárad 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 ''Bison latifrons'', also known as the giant bison or long-horned bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene epoch ranging from southern Canada to Mexico. It is noted for its large body size and ...

bones and tusks, stone and bone tools and a Paleolithic hearth now displayed in the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum (, ) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is separate to the collection of int ...

. The site was later excavated by Ottokár Kadić in 1929 and Mária Mottl in 1938; its planned and detailed excavation started in 1947 and was led by László Vértes. 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 An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

species, which makes its fauna the richest among

Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with Cro-Magnon, Early European modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the L ...

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