Open AccessThe Istállóskő Cave Excavation in 2020 and Its Research Objectives
Author(s) -
György Lengyel,
Zsolt Mester,
Kristóf Szegedi,
Jarosław Wilczyński
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hungarian archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2416-0296
DOI - 10.36338/ha.2021.4.5
Subject(s) - cave , excavation , archaeology , tourism , prehistory , geography
Istállós-kői-barlang (Istállóskő Cave) is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the Bükk Mountains of Northeast Hungary. This cave is the most visited archaeological site for tourists in Hungary, due to its location in the valley of Szalajka Stream, a high-tourism area of the Bükk Nature Reserve. The site can be visited freely but is protected by nature conservation laws. The importance of Istállóskő Cave is based on the fact that it is one of the oldest shelters used by the first anatomically modern humans in Europe. Field research that obtained a variety of samples for interdisciplinary studies was carried out decades ago, but the methods for investigating Palaeolithic sites have become more refined since that time. This inspired us to conduct a renewed excavation at the site to understand the ecological aspects of the first anatomically modern humans in Central Europe better.