Location GPS of Biśnik Cave
50°25'35.7"N 19°39'55.0"
(50.426584, 19.665283)
The text from the video:
Hi :-) We are in Częstochowa Upland in Poland and today we take you to Biśnik Cave. The cave itself is small - its length is about 90 m, but its attractiveness lies in the fact that it has been inhabited for 270 thousand years, according to scientific papers. Thermoluminescence dating was also done here. If it is correct, because there were some controversies with it, then a man has lived in this cave for 500,000 years. This date would be for homo erectus. This cave has its own curiosity. During excavation several years ago researchers found the remains of construction called windscreen, maybe roofed and built by Neanderthal.
We are in front of the Biśnik Cave. The cave is closed because of archaeological excavations inside. The cave itself has three entrances. Two of them are…
But let’s look at the plan. The cafe itself consists at main chamber, side chamber, side shelter and a huge overhang which in the past was a very large chamber. This chamber collapsed in the past geological times. This cave now has two entrances and one side entrance. Now this side entrance leads to a ground beneath the overhang and in the past it leads to huge main chamber.
And now look at the former side entrance from outside the previous cave.
The results of hydrological studies carried out in the Valley beneath the cave suggest the existence of periodic or permanent water reservoirs and karst springs at the foot of the cave in the Pleistocene. The karst springs could also be found higher in the rock, closer to the cave. These suggestions are supported by the fact that the groundwater level in the area of the Biśnik Rock is nowadays only a few meters below the surface, and active springs appear after greater rainfall. The geomorphological research also confirmed the presence of the Pleistocene lake at the foot of the Biśnik Rock in the form of the discovery of fossil lake sands and silt. The morphology and geological structure of the valley beneath the cave clearly shows that in prehistoric times there were rivers here The presence of standing or flowing water in the immediate vicinity of the cave in various phases of the Pleistocene, resulting from the above remarks, undoubtedly determined its high settlement values in the Palaeolithic. Man has been in the cave since the Odra Glaciation (about 270–250 thousand years) with breaks, although there are studies indicating that homo erectus stayed here about 500 thousand years ago. The most favorable conditions for human existence in the Polish Jura were in the Eemian interglacial, 128–115 thousand years BP, and during the last glaciation, 115–35 thousand. years BP (the glaciation itself lasted up to 11.7 thousand). After the settlement of the cave during the Eemian Interglacial, traces of numerous firplaces remained. The fireplaces were accompanied by animal bones and flint implements. The presence of only a few flint tools and not many pieces of animal bones in the main chamber is noteworthy, as opposed to the large number of finds in the area under the overhang, which at that time was a large chamber with an entrance opening towards the valley just like the side shelter, which still looks like this today. It can therefore be concluded that the sites selected for the camps are located close to the entrance openings. The climate was moderate then, and the fireplaces were burned with larch, pine and spruce wood.
About 100,000 years ago, the ceiling and walls on the valley side of the cave collapsed. The reason could be the very high level of water flowing through the valley and the violent intrusion of large amounts of water into the cave, which washed the upper parts of the silt and deposited a layer of alluvial sands. This catastrophe may have been supported by tectonics. When the water level lowered, people began to settle in the cave again. They now had a deeper chamber at their disposal, and a shelter under an overhang, probably directly above the waterline in the valley. From about this time has come an oldest construction in Poland. It was built by Neanderthals. In front of entering the cave, an irregularly semicircular wreath of rubble was discovered under the overhang, surrounding a gray, loess-sand filling with a large number of bone and flint items. Its thickness ranged from 30 to 40 cm, and the preserved height of the stone structure was about 30 cm. There were several circular clusters of rubble in the line of this construction, which originally could have been surrounds for construction sticks. Massive animal bones lay among the stones - the vertebrae and long bones of a bison, giant deer and woolly rhinoceros, which could play a constructional role. Directly under the stones, in line with their course, there was a strip of brown clay sand, probably a trace of the organic elements of the object's wall. An accumulation of burned bones and ash, probably a relic of the fireplace is noteworthy. The Neanderthals burned with animal bones in the fire. This suggests the existence of a tundra-steppe landscape devoid of more trees, which was also confirmed by palaeozoological studies. The aforementioned fireplace was framed on both sides by perpendicular strips of white sand, which may be a trace of an organic casing. A clear break in the SW part of the object and the arrangement of massive bone vertebrae on its both sides indicate the entrance here. The second rareness of the stones can be seen in the cave entrance and is probably a relic of the passage to the inside of the cave chamber. Chemical analysis of samples taken from the inside of the described structure and from its immediate vicinity showed a clearly higher content of phosphorus inside it. These results are a premise for the assumption that we are dealing here with a remnant of a residential structure, which could have been a windbreak without a roof or a kind of shelter directly connected to the entrance to the cave and constituting its extension (vestibule). I think that this construction was roofed, because it makes sense. If it was, then the fire in the entrance played role of air curtain. Such air curtains in colder climates, in winter they are placed in entrances to, for example, supermarkets. During the same phase of settling the site, a 100 cm deep, spacious cavity was dug in the cave chamber. In this way, the chamber was deepened, significantly enlarging the space between the ceiling and the cave floor. It was a very practical procedure, considering that before it, the distance between the floor and the ceiling was about 100 cm, which made it impossible for its inhabitants to move freely.
Before we finally leave the Neanderthal settlement, let's try to define in the field, where the described construction was. With a plan in my hand, I will walk along the line along which the walls of this structure were probably built 90,000 years ago. I start at the entrance to the cave. Now I'm walking towards the valley. And I’m coming to the fire. Behind my back I have a narrow corridor, maybe it was something like a narrow passage similar to the one through which you enter an igloo. Here was the fire. I cross the fire overhead in order to walk up the wall of the construction and along the line of the wall I come to the cave entrance again. And here people lived.
During most of the settlement phases in the Biśnik Cave, the local flint and czert were used to make tools. Among the animal remains in all settlement levels, the bones of the cave bear, which were probably also hunted, dominated. The bones and antlers of such animals as: woolly rhinoceros, giant deer, reindeer, European bison, roe deer and capercaillie were also used here.
Time passed, the next generations inhabited the cave, including the workshop of stone axes in front of the cave in the early Bronze Age. And in the Roman times and even in the Middle Ages, people again inhabited the cave. Then it used to be a shelter for a cattle. And in addition, high above, on the top of the Biśnik Rock is a little construction. Construction in a form of a tower. Probably it was a watchtower in the Middle Ages. The legend talks that it was connected with the dungeons of the "Smoleń" castle through a long corrodor beneath the ground.
That’s all for today. Thanks for watching. GPS coordinates and all useful links are under this video. Don't forget subscribing, not to miss next content and see you soon. Bye!
Bibliography:
K. Kasprowska-Nowak "Ewolucja środowiska Jaskini Biśnik" ("Evolution of the environment of the Biśnik Cave")
K. Cyrek, M. Sudoł "Środkowy paleolit w jaskini Biśnik na tle zmian środowiska przyrodniczego" (Middle Palaeolithic of the Biśnik Cave in the context of natural environment changes")
