Stránská skála is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

and a national nature monument in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It refers to a Mid-Pleistocene- Cromerian interglacial most important paleontological site in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

Location

Stránská skála is situated in the northern part of the

Brno-Slatina Slatina is a city district of Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic. It is located in the eastern part of the city and is somewhat separated from other parts. Slatina became a part of Brno in 1919 and as of 2021, it has 11,104 inhabi ...

district, in the eastern part of

. From the geomorphological point of view, Stránská skála belongs to the

Dyje–Svratka Valley The Dyje–Svratka Valley () is a valley and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the South Moravian Region. Its name is derived from the rivers Thaya (Dyje) and Svratka. Geomorphology The Dyje–Svratka Valley ...

within the

Outer Subcarpathia Outer Subcarpathia (; ; ; ) denotes the depression area at the outer (western, northern and eastern) base of the Carpathian arc, including foothills of the Outer Western Carpathians and Outer Eastern Carpathians. It stretches from northeaste ...

Description

Stránská skála is dating to approximately 600,000 BP, as supported by paleomagnetic dating. It is a long and wide hill, built from

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, especially

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

- Oxfordian, built from light brown Caleidocrinus (

Crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

) mostly and Brachiopoddes and

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and more other types of

s rich of fossil fauna as well. Its northwestern slope is composed from karstified limestone

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

s in which numerous fossiliferous

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

s and caves were found. Approximately 48 meter (157 ft) of this slope are covered by complex talus fan.

Paleontology

At this place extensive excavations were made by

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Rudolf Musil and his colleagues in 1956–1968 which yielded rich paleothological material, including Homotherium moravicumM. Anton et al.: Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of ''Homotherium latidens'' (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology. Quaternary Science Reviews 24 (2004). teeth and approximately 1600 bones and bone fragments of birds from 23 families, 51 genera and 68 species. Earlier (1943) were Ursus deningeri discovered, an later rich spectrum of coastal animal fossils such as

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antoni ...

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

s and

fishes A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed ...

. The other terrestrial fossil animals are represented mostly of

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s. The site is unique in that it has been a particularly abundant source of prehistoric artifacts (especially

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

s) dating from the

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...

period, ower Bohunician to Neolitics and Eneolitics, which spanned roughly 27,000 to 20,000 B.C. In addition to the abundance of various

stone tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

were discovered also fireplaces (the older one 250.000 BP).

Gallery

References

* Valoch, Karel (1989). ''The Early Upper Palaeolithic in the Eastern Part of Central Europe'', ''Anthropologie XXVII, 2–3'', 89–91. * Valoch, Karel (2000). More on the Question of Neanderthal Acculturation in Central Europe, in:''Current Anthropology 41:4, 625–626''. Chicago * Mlíkovský, Jiří, (2002): Early Pleistocene birds of Stránská skála, Czech Republic: 2. Absolon's cave. ''Sylvia'' 38: s. 19–27

External links

National Nature Monuments in CR: ''Stránská skála''
(English)
''Stránská skála Hill''
PDF 16 Seiten, English.
City trafic connection – Tram time table line N°10 TO
(on line, Czech)
City trafic connection – Tram time table line N°10 OF
(on line, Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stranska skala Pleistocene paleontological sites of Europe Natural monuments in the Czech Republic Brno Prehistoric sites in the Czech Republic Neanderthal sites