Archaeology in the Silicka ladnica Ice Cave


In the prehistoric times the Silicka ladnica Ice Cave looked like colossal tunnel what led into ground by portal with the width of 40 m and the height more 60 m. An easy access into the cave with an underground brook made the cave attractive for prehistoric man. More part of the settled area was buried under a massive debris cone from the gigantic roof fall about two thousand years ago.

In the Archaeological Dome with dimensions 60 x 35 x 10 m was found a great quantity of the clay potsherds in the course of the archaeological investigation of the cave in the 1931 and the following years. There were determined two main types of the settlement pottery. Pottery from the settlement layer, what is timely older, is counted to the Bukk Culture from the Late Stone Age (Neolithic). The second wealthier settlement came from the Hallstatt Period (2nd millenium B.C.). Youngest settlement layer has an origin in the begin of our chronology and the finds represent the La Tene Culture (the Late Iron Age). The interrupt of the cave settlement helps to determine a time of the entrance fall into this culture epoch. There the human skull and the animal bones were found in the cave.


SLOVAKIA CAVE SERVER prepared by Eduard Kladiva (Old Cave Dog) from Speleoclub CASSOVIA . Please send all comments, notes and corrections on e-mail kladiva@saske.sk.