Bacho Kiro cave
{{Short description|Archaeological site in Bulgaria}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Bacho Kiro cave
| native_name = пещера Бачо Киро
| alternate_name =
| image = File:Bacho Kiro Cave.jpg
| alt = Interior of the cave
| caption = Interior of the cave
| image_size = 240
| map_type = Europe#Bulgaria
| map_alt = Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria
| map_caption = location in Bulgaria
| map_size = 240
| relief = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|42|56|48|N|25|25|49|E|display=inline,title}}
| location = canyons of the Andaka and Dryanovo River, near Dryanovo town
| region = Bulgaria
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The Bacho Kiro cave ({{Langx|bg|пещера „Бачо Киро“}}) is situated {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} west of the town Dryanovo, Bulgaria, only {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=on}} away from the Dryanovo Monastery. It is embedded in the canyons of the Andaka and Dryanovo River. It was opened in 1890 and the first recreational visitors entered the cave in 1938, two years before it was renamed in honor of Bulgarian National Revival leader, teacher and revolutionary Bacho Kiro. The cave is a four-storey labyrinth of galleries and corridors with a total length of {{convert|3600|m|ft|abbr=on}}, {{convert|700|m|ft|abbr=on}} of which are maintained for public access and equipped with electrical lights since 1964. An underground river has over time carved out the many galleries that contain countless stalactone, stalactite, and stalagmite speleothem formations of great beauty. Galleries and caverns of a {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}} long section have been musingly named as a popular description of this fairy-tale underground world. The formations succession: Bacho Kiro’s Throne, The Dwarfs, The Sleeping Princess, The Throne Hall, The Reception Hall, The Haidouti Meeting-Ground, The Fountain and the Sacrificial Altar.{{cite web |url=http://www.picturesofbulgaria.com/article/bacho_kiro_cave.html |title=Bacho Kiro Cave Bulgaria - Travel Guide, Tours, Hotels and Photos |publisher=Picturesofbulgaria.com |access-date= 24 January 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gmtours.com/blog/spelunking-bulgaria-the-great-caves/ |title=Spelunking Bulgaria: The Great Caves - GMTours |date=29 November 2015 |publisher=Gmtours.com |access-date= 24 January 2017}}
Human remains
The site has yielded the oldest human remains ever to be found in Bulgaria. At one of the earliest known Aurignacian burials (layer 11), two pierced animal teeth were found and ordered into the distinct Bachokiran artifact assemblage. Radiocarbon dated to over 43,000 years ago, they currently represent the oldest known ornaments in Europe.{{cite book|title=European Prehistory: A Survey|last=Milisauskas|first=Sarunas|publisher=Springer|year=1974|isbn=978-1-4419-6633-9|access-date=8 June 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcGSn0eVs2oC&q=bulgaria&pg=PA234|quote=One of the earliest dates for an Aurignacian assemblage is greater than 43,000 BP from Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria ...}} With an approximate age of 46,000 years,{{cite journal |last1=Fewlass |first1=Helen |last2=Talamo |first2=Sahra |last3=Wacker |first3=Lukas |last4=Kromer |first4=Bernd |last5=Tuna |first5=Thibaut |last6=Fagault |first6=Yoann |last7=Bard |first7=Edouard |last8=McPherron |first8=Shannon P. |last9=Aldeias |first9=Vera |last10=Maria |first10=Raquel |last11=Martisius |first11=Naomi L. |last12=Paskulin |first12=Lindsay |last13=Rezek |first13=Zeljko |last14=Sinet-Mathiot |first14=Virginie |last15=Sirakova |first15=Svoboda |last16=Smith |first16=Geoffrey M. |last17=Spasov |first17=Rosen |last18=Welker |first18=Frido |last19=Sirakov |first19=Nikolay |last20=Tsanova |first20=Tsenka |last21=Hublin |first21=Jean-Jacques |title=A 14C chronology for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition at Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |date=11 May 2020 |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=794–801 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1136-3 |pmid = 32393865 |hdl=11585/770560 |s2cid=218593433 |hdl-access=free }} human fossils consist of a pair of fragmented mandibles including at least one molar. Whether these early humans were in fact Homo sapiens or Neanderthals was disputed{{cite book|title=After Eden: The evolution of human domination |last=Sale |first=Kirkpatrick |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2006 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780822339380/page/48 48] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780822339380 |url-access=registration |access-date=11 November 2011|isbn=0822339382 }}{{cite journal |last1=Kuhn |first1=Steven L. |last2=Stiner |first2=Mary C. |last3=Reese |first3=David S. |last4=Güleç |first4=Erksin |title=Ornaments of the earliest Upper Paleolithic: New insights from the Levant |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=19 June 2001 |volume=98 |issue=13 |pages=7641–7646 |doi=10.1073/pnas.121590798 |pmid=11390976 |pmc=34721 |bibcode=2001PNAS...98.7641K |doi-access=free }} until morphological analysis of a tooth and mitochondrial DNA of bone fragments established that remains were those of Homo sapiens. In samples F6-620 and AA7-738 identified mitochondrial haplogroup M, in samples WW7-240 and CC7-335 determined the mitochondrial haplogroup N, in sample CC7-2289 identified mitochondrial haplogroup R, in sample of BK-1653 identified mitochondrial haplogroup U8.{{cite journal |last1=Hublin |first1=Jean-Jacques |last2=Sirakov |first2=Nikolay |last3=Aldeias |first3=Vera |last4=Bailey |first4=Shara |last5=Bard |first5=Edouard |last6=Delvigne |first6=Vincent |last7=Endarova |first7=Elena |last8=Fagault |first8=Yoann |last9=Fewlass |first9=Helen |last10=Hajdinjak |first10=Mateja |last11=Kromer |first11=Bernd |last12=Krumov |first12=Ivaylo |last13=Marreiros |first13=João |last14=Martisius |first14=Naomi L. |last15=Paskulin |first15=Lindsey |last16=Sinet-Mathiot |first16=Virginie |last17=Meyer |first17=Matthias |last18=Pääbo |first18=Svante |last19=Popov |first19=Vasil |last20=Rezek |first20=Zeljko |last21=Sirakova |first21=Svoboda |last22=Skinner |first22=Matthew M. |last23=Smith |first23=Geoff M. |last24=Spasov |first24=Rosen |last25=Talamo |first25=Sahra |last26=Tuna |first26=Thibaut |last27=Wacker |first27=Lukas |last28=Welker |first28=Frido |last29=Wilcke |first29=Arndt |last30=Zahariev |first30=Nikolay |last31=McPherron |first31=Shannon P. |last32=Tsanova |first32=Tsenka |title=Initial Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria |journal=Nature |date=21 May 2020 |volume=581 |issue=7808 |pages=299–302 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2259-z |pmid=32433609 |bibcode=2020Natur.581..299H |s2cid=218592678 |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/81524/1/Hublin%20et%20al%20_authors%20accepted.pdf }}{{cite web |url=https://www.spektrum.de/news/homo-sapiens-kam-frueher-nach-europa-als-bisher-angenommen/1733998 |title= Und Homo sapiens war noch früher da | publisher= Spektrum | date=11 May 2020| author=Roland Knauer
| access-date= 14 May 2020 }}
Three Initial Upper Paleolithic individuals (c. 44,000 to 40,000 years ago) from Bacho Kiro cave were each found to have relatively high levels of Neanderthal ancestry, with their genomes suggesting a recent Neanderthal ancestor in all three individuals perhaps six or seven generations back.
In the single dispersal Out of Africa theory, it is believed that populations related to the Initial Upper Palaeolithic population of Bacho Kiro cave contributed ancestry to later Asian populations, because of genetic similarity and to some early West Europeans such as the c. 35,000 year old individual from the Goyet Caves, Belgium, known as 'GoyetQ116-1'. Populations related to these earlier individuals did not contribute detectable ancestry to later European populations.
File:Present-day population affinities of the IUP Bacho Kiro Cave individuals.jpg individuals from Bacho Kiro were closer to the Tianyuan man, and to modern-day Asians and Native Americans, than to Europeans or Africans.{{cite journal |last1=Hajdinjak |first1=Mateja |last2=Mafessoni |first2=Fabrizio |title=Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry |journal=Nature |date=April 2021 |volume=592 |issue=7853 |pages=253–257 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3 |pmid=33828320 |pmc=8026394 |language=en |issn=1476-4687|quote="When comparing the Bacho Kiro Cave individuals to present-day populations, we found that the IUP individuals share more alleles (that is, more genetic variants) with present-day populations from East Asia, Central Asia and the Americas than with populations from western Eurasia"|hdl=11585/827583 |hdl-access=free }}]]
{{Phylogenetic tree for ancient Eurasians}}
However, in the multiple dispersal Out of Africa theory, East Asians are found to have a more distant split time from East African populations (73-88kya) compared to modern Europeans (57-76 kya){{cite journal |last1=López |first1=Saioa |last2=Van Dorp |first2=Lucy |last3=Hellenthal |first3=Garrett |title=Human Dispersal Out of Africa: A Lasting Debate |journal=Evolutionary Bioinformatics |date=January 2015 |volume=11s2 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=57–68 |doi=10.4137/EBO.S33489 |pmid=27127403 |pmc=4844272 }} which could mean that the Bacho Kiro remains could be from a migration of anatomically modern humans from Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Melinda A. |title=A genetic history of migration, diversification, and admixture in Asia |journal=Human Population Genetics and Genomics |date=6 January 2022 |pages=1–32 |doi=10.47248/hpgg2202010001 |doi-access=free }}[https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/teeth-ancient-humans-1.3270855 Evidence of earliest modern humans outside Africa found in China] CBC
In 2022, a study determined that the IUP-affiliated Bacho Kiro remains were part of an Initial Upper Paleolithic wave (>45kya) "ascribed to a population movement with uniform genetic features and material culture" (Ancient East Eurasians), and sharing deep ancestry with other ancient specimens such as the Ust'-Ishim man and the Tianyuan man, as well as ancestors of modern-day Papuans (Australasians). The Bacho Kiro population was also closely related to the Peștera cu Oase specimens, which both were associated with the IUP material culture in Europe, and got absorbed by the later Upper Paleolithic migration wave associated with West Eurasians (represented by the GoyetQ116-1 and Kostenki-14 remains). The IUP-affilated populations however contributed some ancestry to later Upper Paleolithic Europeans associated with the Aurignacian culture and less to the Gravettian culture.{{Cite journal |last=Massilani |first=Diyendo |last2=Skov |first2=Laurits |last3=Hajdinjak |first3=Mateja |last4=Gunchinsuren |first4=Byambaa |last5=Tseveendorj |first5=Damdinsuren |last6=Yi |first6=Seonbok |last7=Lee |first7=Jungeun |last8=Nagel |first8=Sarah |last9=Nickel |first9=Birgit |last10=Devièse |first10=Thibaut |last11=Higham |first11=Tom |last12=Meyer |first12=Matthias |last13=Kelso |first13=Janet |last14=Peter |first14=Benjamin M. |last15=Pääbo |first15=Svante |date=30 October 2020 |title=Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc1166 |journal=Science |volume=370 |issue=6516 |pages=579–583 |doi=10.1126/science.abc1166}}{{Cite journal |last=Vallini |first=Leonardo |last2=Zampieri |first2=Carlo |last3=Shoaee |first3=Mohamed Javad |last4=Bortolini |first4=Eugenio |last5=Marciani |first5=Giulia |last6=Aneli |first6=Serena |last7=Pievani |first7=Telmo |last8=Benazzi |first8=Stefano |last9=Barausse |first9=Alberto |last10=Mezzavilla |first10=Massimo |last11=Petraglia |first11=Michael D. |last12=Pagani |first12=Luca |date=25 March 2024 |title=The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46161-7 |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1882 |doi=10.1038/s41467-024-46161-7 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=10963722 |pmid=38528002}}
Following that, later individuals from the Bacho Kiro cave, such as the c. 35,000 year old 'BK1653' were more closely related to modern European populations than to East Asians.{{cite journal |last1=Hajdinjak |first1=Mateja |last2=Mafessoni |first2=Fabrizio |last3=Skov |first3=Laurits |last4=Vernot |first4=Benjamin |last5=Hübner |first5=Alexander |last6=Fu |first6=Qiaomei |last7=Essel |first7=Elena |last8=Nagel |first8=Sarah |last9=Nickel |first9=Birgit |last10=Richter |first10=Julia |last11=Moldovan |first11=Oana Teodora |last12=Constantin |first12=Silviu |last13=Endarova |first13=Elena |last14=Zahariev |first14=Nikolay |last15=Spasov |first15=Rosen |last16=Welker |first16=Frido |last17=Smith |first17=Geoff M. |last18=Sinet-Mathiot |first18=Virginie |last19=Paskulin |first19=Lindsey |last20=Fewlass |first20=Helen |last21=Talamo |first21=Sahra |last22=Rezek |first22=Zeljko |last23=Sirakova |first23=Svoboda |last24=Sirakov |first24=Nikolay |last25=McPherron |first25=Shannon P. |last26=Tsanova |first26=Tsenka |last27=Hublin |first27=Jean-Jacques |last28=Peter |first28=Benjamin M. |last29=Meyer |first29=Matthias |last30=Skoglund |first30=Pontus |last31=Kelso |first31=Janet |last32=Pääbo |first32=Svante |title=Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry |journal=Nature |date=8 April 2021 |volume=592 |issue=7853 |pages=253–257 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3 |pmid=33828320 |pmc=8026394 |bibcode=2021Natur.592..253H }}{{cite journal |last1=Vallini |first1=Leonardo |last2=Marciani |first2=Giulia |last3=Aneli |first3=Serena |last4=Bortolini |first4=Eugenio |last5=Benazzi |first5=Stefano |last6=Pievani |first6=Telmo |last7=Pagani |first7=Luca |title=Genetics and Material Culture Support Repeated Expansions into Paleolithic Eurasia from a Population Hub Out of Africa |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |date=10 April 2022 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=evac045 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evac045 |pmc=9021735 |pmid=35445261 }}
See also
{{Commons category|Bacho Kiro cave}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Caves in Bulgaria}}
{{Navbox prehistoric caves}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacho Kiro Cave}}
Category:Tourist attractions in Gabrovo Province
Category:Landforms of Gabrovo Province
Category:History of Gabrovo Province
Category:Prehistoric sites in Bulgaria