Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura

In 2017, UNESCO added an area of two valleys in the Swabian Jura to the World Heritage List. These are the Lone Valley and the Blau/Schmiech Valley. In particular, six archaeological sites located in caves were included. As these caves are also show caves or well-known hiking destinations, they have already been listed on showcaves.com . This page is simply intended to give you an overview of the UNESCO-listed sites. As an introduction to the subject, we have also listed the two museums in which a large number of the finds can be seen.

Modern humans arrived in Europe 43,000 years ago during the last ice age. One of the areas where he settled was the Swabian Alb in southern Germany. During excavations in the 1860s, objects dating from between 43,000 and 33,000 BP were found in six caves. These include carved animal figures such as cave lions, mammoths, horses and cattle, musical instruments and jewelry. There are three different forms of humanoid figurines, the so-called Venus figurines, women with oversized breasts and buttocks that are interpreted as a symbol of fertility, hybrid creatures such as the lion-man with a human body and lion's head, as well as human carvings that had a special meaning. For example, the posture of a human is interpreted as the constellation Orion and the markings as navigation instructions. In addition to the complexity of the finds, they also represent the oldest figurative works of art in the world.