Brillenhöhle

Brillenhöhle is located in the Ach Valley, lying about {{convert|80|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} above the Ach River below.{{cite book |last1=Bolus|first1=Michael|title=Human origin sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia |chapter=History of Research and the Aurignacian of the Sites in the Swabian Jura|publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization | location=Paris | year=2015 | isbn=978-92-3-100109-3 | chapter-url=https://whc.unesco.org/document/137848}} The site derives its name from the two holes in the cave's ceiling, which together resemble a pair of spectacles. The cave is essentially a single room with a diameter of {{convert|17|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}, an average height of {{convert|4.50|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} and a length of {{convert|23|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}. A small side cave of {{convert|2.50|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} width and {{convert|6|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} height, called Vespershöhle runs from the entrance around {{convert|5|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} towards the east. As the site is in an advanced state of decay, it has been designated a cave ruin. However, the openings in the roof allow smoke to escape and sufficient light to enter, while still being small enough to keep the cave mostly dry during periods of rainfall. Recurrent prehistoric human occupation at the site indicates that conditions at the cave were tolerable enough to provide reasonable protection from the elements. In the north-western corner, a chimney-like shape tapers towards a {{convert|17|cm|in|2|abbr=on}} wide gap in the ceiling, a gap which allowed a large quantity of reddish-brown clay to ooze into the cave's interior during the Pleistocene.{{cite web |url=http://www.showcaves.com/german/de/caves/Brillen.html |title=Höhlen in Deutschland: Brillenhöhle |publisher=Showcaves com |access-date= January 8, 2017}}

Explorations by discoverer Robert Rudolf Schmidt and historians Peter Goessler and Albert Kley did not yield notable results. Tübingen historian Gustav Riek eventually took up systematic work in September 1955. Over the course of eleven excavation sessions that lasted until October 1963, he unearthed eleven sediment profiles. Riek recognized and determined a total of 22 distinct layers, of which only 3 were considered post-Pleistocene in origin. The work yielded numerous stone and bone tools, ivory jewelry, human skeletal remains and pottery shards.{{cite web |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/33765/20.pdf?sequence=12 |title=ANALECTA PRAEHISTORICA LEIDENSIA |publisher=University Leiden |access-date= January 8, 2017}}

During the early 1990s, Tübingen archaeologist Anne Scheer succeeded in conclusively demonstrating that the occupations of Brillenhöhle, Hohle Fels and Geissenklösterle during the Gravettian were interrelated and contemporaneous in nature, by refitting stone artifacts found in the three site's Gravettian sediment horizons.{{cite web |url=http://www.geo.uni-tuebingen.de/fileadmin/website/arbeitsbereich/ufg/urgeschichte_quartaeroekologie/publikationen/GFU/2004/floss_kieselbach.pdf |title=The Danube Corridor after 29,000 BP – New results on raw material procurement patterns in the Gravettian of southwestern Germa |publisher=geo.uni-tuebingen.de |access-date=January 8, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112622/http://www.geo.uni-tuebingen.de/fileadmin/website/arbeitsbereich/ufg/urgeschichte_quartaeroekologie/publikationen/GFU/2004/floss_kieselbach.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}

It is assumed that the cave was not frequently inhabited by humans during the Aurignacian since only two broken bone tools were found in layer XIV.Conard, N.J., Bolus, M., 2003. Radiocarbon dating the appearance of modern humans and timing of cultural innovations in Europe: new results and new challenges. J. Hum. Evol. 44, Fig. 7

Gravettian finds originate in layer VII. In addition to 52 tools made of animal bones, reindeer antler and mammoth ivory, more than 1000 stone tools were unearthed, including blades, gouges and scrapers. More than 80 artifacts were identified as jewelry, including numerous ivory beads, beaded bones, perforated animal teeth and notched bone rods.

Most discoveries were made in the Magdalenian strata, coming primarily from layers VI to IV. Stone tools, fireplaces, smashed bones and more than 1100 stone tools were found. Notable artifacts include harpoons of ivory or reindeer antler with barbed hooks on one or both sides. Animal bones include mammoth, wild horse, reindeer and cave bear. Smashed human skull fragments with traces of exposure to fire were repeatedly regarded as evidence of cannibalism, but according to Gustav Riek, the lack of powdered ochre is evidence that excludes head burials. Nevertheless, the theory of cannibalism has not entirely been repudiated. The skeletal remains of the central fireplace in the Magdalenian-layer IV had been arranged in deliberate burial fashion.{{cite web |url=http://www.quartaer.eu/pdfs/2010/2010_moreau.pdf |title=Geißenklösterle The Swabian Gravettian in its European context |publisher=Quartaer eu |access-date= January 8, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wahre-staerke.com/~madelaine/Conard_etal_Chapter11.pdf |title=The Importance of Fish, Fowl and Small Mammals in the Paleolithic Diet of the Swabian Jura, Southwestern Germany |publisher=Wahre-staerke |access-date= January 8, 2017}}

Neolithic and Bronze Age: In the heavily mixed upper layers II and I, Neolithic as well as Early and Late Bronze Age ceramic vascular and wall shards were found.

Some layers were permanently destroyed during the various excavations. Nonetheless, the cave still holds potential value for future archaeologists, since some areas formerly deemed "unproductive" have still remained untouched. In order to preserve these undocumented areas, the cave was protected by an armored, latticed gate, to prevent access but enable inspection.Gustav Riek: Das Paläolithikum der Brillenhöhle bei Blaubeuren (Schwäbische Alb), Teil I. Verlag Müller & Gräff, Stuttgart 1973. {{ISBN|3-87532-055-7}}.

File:Paleolithic ivory 1.jpg|Carved ivory, Aurignacian culture

File:Landesmuseum Württemberg -Brillenhöhle-Harpunenspitzen542.jpg|Harpoons made from reindeer antler, Gravettian culture, c. 16,000-12,000 years ago, Landesmuseum Württemberg

Source: {{cite web |url=http://www.canadianarchaeology.ca/sites/26862 |title=CARD Germany / SUNK-3220 (Brillenhohle) |publisher=Canadianarchaeology ca |access-date= January 8, 2017}}

The remains of at least four distinct individuals, all associated with the Magdalenian, were discovered at Brillenhöhle. In 2016, researchers successfully extracted the DNA from the parietal bone of one of the individuals. The bone fragment was directly dated to around 15,120-14,440 BP. The individual in question was found to belong to mtDNA Haplogroup U8a. The Brillenhöhle individual was found to be genetically closest to other ancient samples from the Magdalenian, showing closest genetic affinity for other samples taken from the Swabian Jura, such as Hohle Fels, while also showing genetic affinity for another Magdalenian sample, taken from the Red Lady of El Mirón, as well as a sample from the Aurignacian, GoyetQ116-1, taken from Goyet Caves.{{cite journal|last1=Posth|first1=Cosimo|last2=Renaud|first2=Gabriel|last3=Mittnik|first3=Alissa|last4=Drucker|first4=Dorothée G.|last5=Rougier|first5=Hélène|last6=Cupillard|first6=Christophe|last7=Valentin|first7=Frédérique|last8=Thevenet|first8=Corinne|last9=Furtwängler|first9=Anja|last10=Wißing|first10=Christoph|last11=Francken|first11=Michael|last12=Malina|first12=Maria|last13=Bolus|first13=Michael|last14=Lari|first14=Martina|last15=Gigli|first15=Elena|last16=Capecchi|first16=Giulia|last17=Crevecoeur|first17=Isabelle|last18=Beauval|first18=Cédric|last19=Flas|first19=Damien|last20=Germonpré|first20=Mietje|last21=van der Plicht|first21=Johannes|last22=Cottiaux|first22=Richard|last23=Gély|first23=Bernard|last24=Ronchitelli|first24=Annamaria|last25=Wehrberger|first25=Kurt|last26=Grigorescu|first26=Dan|last27=Svoboda|first27=Jiří|last28=Semal|first28=Patrick|last29=Caramelli|first29=David|last30=Bocherens|first30=Hervé|last31=Harvati|first31=Katerina|last32=Conard|first32=Nicholas J.|last33=Haak|first33=Wolfgang|last34=Powell|first34=Adam|last35=Krause|first35=Johannes|title=Pleistocene Mitochondrial Genomes Suggest a Single Major Dispersal of Non-Africans and a Late Glacial Population Turnover in Europe|journal=Current Biology|volume=26|issue=6|year=2016|pages=827–833|issn=0960-9822|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.037|pmid=26853362|hdl=2440/114930|hdl-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Fu|first1=Qiaomei|last2=Posth|first2=Cosimo|last3=Hajdinjak|first3=Mateja|last4=Petr|first4=Martin|last5=Mallick|first5=Swapan|last6=Fernandes|first6=Daniel|last7=Furtwängler|first7=Anja|last8=Haak|first8=Wolfgang|last9=Meyer|first9=Matthias|last10=Mittnik|first10=Alissa|last11=Nickel|first11=Birgit|last12=Peltzer|first12=Alexander|last13=Rohland|first13=Nadin|last14=Slon|first14=Viviane|last15=Talamo|first15=Sahra|last16=Lazaridis|first16=Iosif|last17=Lipson|first17=Mark|last18=Mathieson|first18=Iain|last19=Schiffels|first19=Stephan|last20=Skoglund|first20=Pontus|last21=Derevianko|first21=Anatoly P.|last22=Drozdov|first22=Nikolai|last23=Slavinsky|first23=Vyacheslav|last24=Tsybankov|first24=Alexander|last25=Cremonesi|first25=Renata Grifoni|last26=Mallegni|first26=Francesco|last27=Gély|first27=Bernard|last28=Vacca|first28=Eligio|last29=Morales|first29=Manuel R. González|last30=Straus|first30=Lawrence G.|last31=Neugebauer-Maresch|first31=Christine|last32=Teschler-Nicola|first32=Maria|last33=Constantin|first33=Silviu|last34=Moldovan|first34=Oana Teodora|last35=Benazzi|first35=Stefano|last36=Peresani|first36=Marco|last37=Coppola|first37=Donato|last38=Lari|first38=Martina|last39=Ricci|first39=Stefano|last40=Ronchitelli|first40=Annamaria|last41=Valentin|first41=Frédérique|last42=Thevenet|first42=Corinne|last43=Wehrberger|first43=Kurt|last44=Grigorescu|first44=Dan|last45=Rougier|first45=Hélène|last46=Crevecoeur|first46=Isabelle|last47=Flas|first47=Damien|last48=Semal|first48=Patrick|last49=Mannino|first49=Marcello A.|last50=Cupillard|first50=Christophe|last51=Bocherens|first51=Hervé|last52=Conard|first52=Nicholas J.|last53=Harvati|first53=Katerina|last54=Moiseyev|first54=Vyacheslav|last55=Drucker|first55=Dorothée G.|last56=Svoboda|first56=Jiří|last57=Richards|first57=Michael P.|last58=Caramelli|first58=David|last59=Pinhasi|first59=Ron|last60=Kelso|first60=Janet|last61=Patterson|first61=Nick|last62=Krause|first62=Johannes|last63=Pääbo|first63=Svante|last64=Reich|first64=David|title=The genetic history of Ice Age Europe|journal=Nature|volume=534|issue=7606|pages=200–205|year=2016|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/nature17993|pmid=27135931|hdl=10211.3/198594|pmc=4943878}}

• Geissenklösterle
• Sirgenstein Cave

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Nicholas J. Conard, Michael Bolus, Ewa Dutkiewicz, Sibylle Wolf: Eiszeitarchäologie auf der Schwäbischen Alb Kerns Verlag, Tübingen 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-935751-24-7}}, S. 153–156.
• Luc Moreau: Geißenklösterle. Das Gravettien der Schwäbischen Alb im europäischen Kontext. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-935751-11-7}}, Kapitel 3: Das Gravettien der Brillenhöhle S. 135-176.
• Hans Binder, Herbert Jantschke: Höhlenführer Schwäbische Alb. DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2003, {{ISBN|3-87181-485-7}}, S. 143.
• Gustav Riek: Das Paläolithikum der Brillenhöhle bei Blaubeuren (Schwäbische Alb), Teil I. Verlag Müller & Gräff, Stuttgart 1973. {{ISBN|3-87532-055-7}}.
• Gustav Riek: Das Paläolithikum der Brillenhöhle bei Blaubeuren (Schwäbische Alb), Teil II, Die jungpleistozänen Tierknochenfunde aus der Brillenhöhle Verlag Müller & Gräff, Stuttgart 1973. {{ISBN|3-87532-056-5}}.

{{refend}}

• [http://www.denkmalpflege-bw.de/fileadmin/media/publikationen_und_service/01_publikationen/gesamtverzeichnis_3.pdf Entry in the German Encyclopedia]
• [https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/33765/20.pdf?sequence=12 ANALECTA PRAEHISTORICA LEIDENSIA]

{{Navbox prehistoric caves}}

{{Prehistoric technology|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brillenhöhle}}

Category:Prehistoric sites in Germany

Category:Landforms of Baden-Württemberg

Category:Caves of Germany

Category:Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe

Category:Cave bear