Hohle Fels, Germany
H
ohle Fels is a large cave located just east of the town of Schelklingen in the Ach valley, Swabian Jura (Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany). It has become known for its figurative art, musical instruments, and rich lithic and organic industries. In 2017, it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura”.
The first known excavations in the cave date to the 1870s. Excavations using high resolution documentation were initiated in 1977 by Joachim Hahn and have continued to the present day under the direction of Hans-Peter Uerpmann and Nicholas J. Conard (University of Tübingen). This fieldwork focuses on the undisturbed Palaeolithic layers discovered in the tunnel leading into the cave hall and has revealed a Palaeolithic sequence where the Middle Palaeolithic layers are separated from the Upper Palaeolithic ones by archaeologically sterile deposits. The Upper Palaeolithic strata include Aurignacian, Gravettian and Magdalenian occupations. Unique inter-site lithic refits connect the Gravettian layer at Hohle Fels to contemporary occupations in the nearby caves.
Members of TraceoLab have worked on lithic material from Hohle Fels since 2014, carrying out use-wear and residue analyses on artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic, Gravettian, and Magdalenian layers. The results of this research have shed light on Middle Palaeolithic hunting weaponry and Upper Palaeolithic domestic technologies.
Further reading
- Barbieri A., Bachofer F., Schmaltz E.M., Leven C., Conard N.J. & Miller C.E., 2021 – Interpreting gaps: a geoarchaeological point of view on the Gravettian record of Ach and Lone valleys (Swabian Jura, SW Germany). Journal of Archaeological Science 127: 105335
- Conard N.J., 2009 – A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian of Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany. Nature 459: 248-252
- Conard N.J., Malina M., Münzel S.C., 2009 – New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany. Nature 460: 737-740
- Goldberg P., Schiegl S., Meligne K., Dayton C. & Conard N.J., 2003 – Micromorphology and site formation at Hohle Fels Cave, Swabian Jura, Germany. Eiszeitalter un Gegenwart 53: 1-25
- Moreau L., 2009 – Geißenklösterle. Das Gravettien der Schwäbischen Alb im Europäischen Kontext. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag
- Rots V., Coppe J., Conard N.J., 2021 – A leaf point documents hunting with spears in the Middle Paleolithic at Hohle Fels, Germany. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 30: 67-94
- Scheer A., 1990 – Von der Schichtinterpretation bis zum Besiedlungsmuster–Zusammensetzungen als absoluter Nachweis. In: Cziesla E., Eickhoff S., Arts N. & Winter D. (eds.), The big puzzle: international symposium of refitting stone artefacts. Volume 1. Bonn: 623-650
- Taipale N., 2020 – Hafting as a flexible strategy: variability in stone tool use and hafting at three European Upper Palaeolithic sites. PhD thesis, University of Liège, 575 p.
- Taipale N., Rots V. & Conard N.J., 2020 – Cold-climate toolkits: firemaking, lithic recycling and assemblage formation in the Magdalenian of Hohle Fels Cave. In: Gibaja J., Marreiros J., Mazzucco N. & Clemente I. (eds.). Hunter-gatherers’ tool-kit: a functional perspective. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 154-176
- Taller A., 2014 – Das Magdalénien des Hohle Fels. Chronologische Stellung, Lithische Technologie und Funktion der Rückenmesser. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag
- Taller A., Bolus M. & Conard N.J., 2014 – The Magdalenian of Hohle Fels Cave and the resettlement of the Swabian Jura after the LGM. In: Otte M. & Le Brun Ricalens F. (eds.), Modes de contacts et de déplacements au Paléolithique eurasiatique, actes du colloque international de la Commission 8 (Paléolithique supérieur) de l’UISPP (University of Liège, 28-31 May 2012). Liège: University of Liège (ERAUL, 140), Luxembourg (ArchéoLogiques, 5): 383-399
- Taller A., Kieselbach P. & Conard N.J., 2019 – Reconstructing technology, mobility and land use via intra- and inter-site refits from the Gravettian of the Swabian Jura. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11: 4423-4435
