Discovering the Swabian Jura - Part 3, Visiting the archaeological excavation site Geissenklösterle
Greetings Steemians!
Welcome back to my tour along the Swabian Jura.
Today we are making a side-trip into the Ach valley to visit the archeological excavation site Geissenklösterle. Without making an overstatement, the Geissenklösterle is counted among the most significant paleolithic archaeological sites in the world.
Fragments representing the oldest examples of figurine art and also the oldest known musical instruments were discovered here. Some of them dating back up to 40,000 years from now.
The Geissenklösterle is located near Blaubeuren on the eastern hillside of the Ach valley and can be approached on an easy hiking path. The limestone rocks that harbour the cave form a half-moon shaped arena that rises around 20 m above the ground (image top right).
Standing there, with the wall of rock covering my back, this place provided an immediate sense of shelter and protection. Whatever had approached from the valley, the paleolithic inhabitants would have spotted it early on, be it a horde of Neanderthals, an angry mammoth or a hungry saber-toothed tiger. More than understandable that our predecessors had chosen this place to settle.
In a little alcove, I could spot some figurine art of younger origin.
The actual excavation site is kept locked to protect it against tomb raiding . Still, I was able to sneak in a bit with my zoom lens.
Is anyone able to explain the purpose of all these laces hanging from the top of the cave's ceiling? I will reward the most convincing explanation with 1 SBD. Please provide a link that supports your explanation. The decision about the winning contribution will solely be based on my subjectiv judgement.
While the excavation site itself may not appear spectacular, here a few links that highlight the artefacts that have been unearthed from there:
Upright cave bear
Mammoth
Flute
These objects have been created by our predecessors between 30'000 and 40'000 years before our time and mark a fundamental leap in our history. Humans had started to create objects that didn't just provide a technical advantage but resulted from an intrinsic impetus to become creative. The beginning of our culture.
Before I end, a little extra challenge. I added one detail to this post that is a complete impossibility. Another SBD for the one who who is able to spot and report it first :).
EDIT: I was just made aware that I was wrong about the wrong fact in my post. I was convinced that the sable-tooth tiger had been extinct long before Homo sapiens had arrived in Europe. And that an encounter would have been an impossibility. Apparently, that is not the case. The age of the youngest specimen of a sable-tooth tiger has been dated being only 28'000 years old! Thanks @alexanderbraun for making me aware of my misapprehension!
Thanks for watching and enjoy your day on Steemit!
Shaka
All photos were recorded by myself with an EOS 7D / Tamron 18-270 mm in April, 2018
Wirklich tolle Arbeit! Hätte zuerst gedacht, dass der Säbelzahntiger die Unmöglichkeit ist, aber offensichtlich passt das zeitlich wohl doch.
Bin auf die Auflösung gespannt ;)
Ups, ich war so sicher, dass die Säbelzahntiger bereits Millionen Jahre vor dem Auftauchen des Homo Sapiens ausgestorben waren, dass ich nicht mal weiter recherchiert hatte. Hätte ich mal tun sollen.
Danke für den Hinweis, werde den Post gleich editieren. Und der SBD geht an Dich !
Grüsse!
Huch, ungewollt des Rätsels Lösung gegeben - das nenne ich mal Intuition. Vielen Dank für den SBD! Schon das zweite Mal innerhalb eines Tages, dass ich was gewinne. Langsam zeichnet sich hier wohl ein Muster ab.
Leider kann ich dir bei den Markierungen nicht weiterhelfen, aber vielleicht finden sich ja ein paar Forscher, die Aufklärung bieten.
Schönen Montag noch!
Es zeigt sich wiedermal, dass der Stand der Wissenschaft voranschreitet und auch das eigene Wissen immer wieder mal aktualisiert werden muss - insbesondere, wenn es aus den eigenen Jugendtagen stammt ;)
Vor diesem Alltagproblem stehe ich leider auch immer öfter. Das fortgeschrittene Alter (und damit häufig einhergehende Vergesslichkeit) ist da glaube ich ein großes Problem.
Statt des SBD würde ich mich übrigens auch über einen schönen Upvote meines aktuellen Posts freuen, dann musst du nicht deine Daten eingeben und groß rumüberlegen :P
Beste Grüße
e//
Ah, kam an! Vielen Dank ;)
Hello my friend @shaka how are you ?, how about your weekend ?. Wow fantastic, I looked forward to this part three of your wonderful tour of that wonderful place called Jura de Suabia. That place must have its old years and I'm surprised that allan discovered the musical instruments there, wow is something I did not know. With respect to the laces that hang from the top of the cave I think they are there because they absorb the moisture and evaporation of the water in since most of the of the year it rains and is with cold winters and mild summers. And with respect to the second challenge, I could not see what you did to the post, I think this is difficult hahaha. Excellent and beautiful photos really, this is a sample of the beautiful things that our nature gives us and gives us to observe, I really liked all the photos, it is seen that they are unique places to visit and of course with a camera in hand to Do capture all those wonders. I was also reading a bit more about this place on the internet and I am surprised that inside the caves a figurine of feminine form has been discovered, carved figurines of animals (including lions from caves, mammoths, horses and cattle), musical instruments and articles of personal adornment. Some of the figurines represent creatures that are half animal, half human. Thank you for sharing this third part with us that like the previous two, it is also perfect and beautiful. See you soon, I hope you have a nice day and an excellent start to the week.
Happy to hear that I could prompt you to even do some research yourself. One of the most famous artefacts found in another, nearby cave was indeed a figurine of a human-lion composite being.
And I am happy to see publications as informative and important as this, as it inspires to continue researching about this wonderful place and in that case your post is also educational. I read many more things about Swabian Jura and it is really a very interesting place with many historical backgrounds, I was very surprised with the other things I read. If so I read something about the statuettes of a human being composed of a lion, it is something very interesting, like hanging things that represented half animal and half human. Thanks for these fantastic photos and for the support @shaka, if you are a bread lover, I would like to invite you to my blog to watch a publication about 2 recipes to make bread at home, it is quick and easy to make, I hope you can observe it and You like the recipes, just like I hope someday you can prepare your own bread at home. I send you a great greeting, supporting 100% from Venezuela.
Also ich vermute, die Stricke dienen der Kartographierung, bzw. um den Lageplatz von Fundstücke genau in dem abgesteckten Raster zuzuordnen.
And the winner is....@homeartpictures :)
Eigentlich wäre ja noch ein link gefragt gewesen, aber Du hast natürlich Recht, es handelt sich ein Messnetz, um die Positionen der Fundstücke präzise dokumentieren zu können.
1 SBD macht sich auf den Weg :)
ohhh das mit dem link hab ich überlesen.... aber vielen Dank!! und ist schon angekommen!!
I was looking for what's impossible
and then I scrolled down and saw the edited part
damn ...
I was just mesmerized with the pics
and the fact that some were taken on top of the mountains
we're too flat here so I love going to DE or BE just to hike or unwind
I love those shots you made btw!
Excellent and informative post. You're no doubt correct, that must have been a fantastic location for those people 40,000 year ago! That boggles the mind.
Wow they found the world oldest flute there!
It is mind-boogling, indeed. Thanks for the link!
And what makes it so fascinating to me is that these people really were like us. With less knowledge yet evolved to the same level as we are. Teleported and raised in our times, they could have become blockchain developers.
No doubt, some of them would probably have been at Steem Fest.
BTW, along similar lines, have you ever come across Gobekli Tepe? That would made for an amazing trip, you might even be able to pay for it with the posts you could write about it. Check this out:
link 2 clip
Okay, I’m going to say that the fact that people go “pot hunting” in the cave is impossible. I don’t think that marijuana grows there 😜😜😜 hahah unless you meant actual pots, but I decided to interpret that word else wise. 😂😂😂😂
Hahah I really like that you have these fun games in your articles! I reread your article a couple of times... and that’s my guess.
Also as for the long strings, I would say it is used to mark places where the found certain items.
Where is the next adventure going to take place? 🙃
😂😂, hahahha, now I understand why someone else brought marijuana into play. hahaha 😂
Ok, I guess it was my bad. I had to look up the english word for "Raubgräber" (someone who plunders an archeological site without permission). And the dictionary I used suggestd pot hunter. Checking it once again I think tomb raider would have been more appropriate...haha, I will correct this
Next stop will be the magical Blautopf - don't miss it :)
Ahahaha! Hilarious! 😂😂😂😂
Okay I’ll keep my eye peeled! 😳 haha see... I won’t blink until your next post, so please don’t take too long 😜
Sehr interessanter Beitrag. Ich wußte gar nicht, wo die ältesten Musikinstrumente gefunden wurden. Dank dir weiß ich es nun. :)
Ich vermute, die Fäden wurden gezogen, um Fundstellen bestimmter Gegenstände zu markieren. Aber ich weiß es nicht und kann es nicht belegen.
Was gar nicht dazu passt, ist die Engelspuppe in den Bildern.
Schönen Tag Dir!
Danke, das freut mich!
Mit den Fäden hast Du Recht, diese sind Teil eines Messnetzes um die Koordinaten der Fundstücke präzise dokumentieren zu können. @homeartpictures hatte die richtige Antwort schon etwas früher gegeben :)
I couldn't find any writing about why do they hang laces at the excavation site, like what your photos suggest. But my best guess is that, it could be meant to "signal" something, that exact position could be a mark for an important artifact underneath.
My second guess, it could be a safety signal, if let say the cave is caving in gradually, it can be observed through the height of the laces from ground. If it touches the ground that means that the cave roof is going down.
Omg, I'm so imaginative :)
I did check photos of actual excavation sites and I never saw anything like that of your photos.
I maybe be wrong or correct on my guess, but I still do enjoy reading your blog and learned something new.
Cheers!
Wieder einmal ein top Artikel von dir😊 Deine Fotos und deine Erklärungen sind 1a👍 Bin schon auf den nächsten Post gespannt😉
Vielen Dank, freut mich sehr dieses Feedback!
Tours like this, is an essential part of human life. You get to learn new things and find yourself even closer to history. I'll do one of such when I have funds. Meanwhile may God bless you for sharing your experience