Potok Cave

Potok Cave (Slovene: Potočka zijalka or Potočka zijavka) is a cave in northern Slovenia, best known as an important high-elevation archaeological and paleontological site, visited approximately 35,000BP (before present) by biologically modern Cro-Magnon people during the Aurignacian (first period of the Upper Paleolithic). The cave is named after the Potok Farm in Podolševa, and the Slovene term zijalka or zijavka refers to a flat-bottomed cave with a gaping mouth on a cliff face. Systematic excavations were carried out by the Slovenian archaeologist Srečko Brodar.

Location

It is located in the eastern Karawanks in northern Slovenia, on the southern slope of Mount Olševa above Solčava, at an elevation of 1,675 m (5,495 ft) in the Triassic limestone. It is 115 m (377 ft) long and varies from 17 m (56 ft) wide at the mouth to 40 m (130 ft) wide in the interior. Its entry opens toward the south.

Role

There are two explanations of its role. According to the original explanation, the cave was a hunting station. According to the newer one, it was a ritual place.