Tunel Wielki (literally "Big Tunnel") is a cave in Ojców National Park, Poland. It is an archaeological site, located in the karst area of Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, about 20 km north of Kraków.[1][2][3]

The 1967–1968 excavations identified 15 layers in 4.5-metre-deep (15 ft) sediments in five distinct series coming from early Würm stage and early prehistorical cultures—Lengyel culture, Corded Ware culture, Funnelbeaker culture, Lusatian culture—as well as from the Middle Ages to 19th century.[1][4][5]

In 2016 excavations were repeated to verify and confirm the previous finds and conclusions.[5]

Initially it was concluded that the oldest human presence in the cave dates back about 40,000 years.[3] However more recent inspections of the finds dated the oldest tools to about 450,000–550,000 BP, suggesting Homo heidelbergensis as tool owners, which would indicate the oldest human species found in Poland.[2][6][1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kot, M., Berto, C., Krajcarz, M.T. et al. Frontiers of the Lower Palaeolithic expansion in Europe: Tunel Wielki Cave (Poland). Sci Rep 12, 16355 (2022). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20582-0
  2. 1 2 Michelle Starr, Half-a-Million Year Old Signs of Extinct Human Species Found in Poland Cave, ScienceAlert, October 18, 2022
  3. 1 2 Szymon Zdzieblowski, Flint tools found in cave among the oldest ever discovered in Poland
  4. ↑ T. Madyska. Osady jaskiń i schronisk Doliny Sąspowskiej, w: Jaskinie Doliny Sąspowskiej. Tło przyrodnicze osdnictwa pradziejowego. Prace Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa: 1988, s. 77–173.
  5. 1 2 Michał Wojenka et al., Sprawozdanie z badań wykopaliskowych przeprowadzonych w Jaskini Tunel Wielki w wąwozie Koziarnia w 2016 roku, „Prądnik. Prace i materiały Muzeum im. prof. Władysława Szafera”, 27, 2017, s. 147–168.
  6. ↑ Szymon Zdziebłowski, Zidentyfikowano jedne z najstarszych na terenie Polski narzędzia krzemienne

50°13′20″N 19°47′41″E / 50.22222°N 19.79472°E / 50.22222; 19.79472

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