Famous Planet Earth Caves

The northern German Hermann’s Cave below the 1.141 a.s.l meters high Brocken peak in the centre of the Harz Mountains (Saxony-Anhalt) was discovered by chance during road construction work at the village Rübeland in the year 1866. It was explored and a first map was presented with first cave descriptions 1889 by the geologists Prof. Dr. J.H. Kloos and Prof. Dr. M. Müller from the Brunswick University. In 1890 the cave became one of the historically opened European show caves and is one of the largest tourist caves in Germany counting about 75.000 visitors per year. Palaeontological and archaeological pioneering research was made by the biologist Prof. Dr. W. Blasius from the Brunswick Natural History Museum, who was active from 1892 to 1901 with opening a small museum in front of the cave. The Hermann’s Cave bear den belongs to one of the three bone-rich important and most northern European cave bear den sites being situated opposite the Baumann’s Cave and not far from the Unicorn Cave in the Harz Mountain. In contrast to the other two mentioned caves, which were used by cave bears and carnivores such as Neanderthals in the Middle Pleistocene, the Hermann’s Cave was accessible for cave bears, carnivores and even humans due to the starting pre-LGM glaciations of the Brocken peak and cave entrance collapse processes only in the Late Pleistocene. At this time, Ice Age steppe lions and Late Palaeolithic Cromagnon humans hunted different cave bear species deep in the cave.

The Hermann’s Cave was formed into Late Devonian reef limestones of the geological Elbingeröder Complex starting during the Early Pleistocene in the central part of the Harz Mountain Range. Older river terrace sand/gravel deposits within the Hermann’s Cave were deposited in the 16-20 meters higher elevated Saalian formed middle ponor level. Those are overlain by autochthonous younger early-middle Late Pleistocene (MIS5d-3) cave clays which contain the cave bear and other fauna such as archaeological remains. The sediments are dated indirectly by the “cave bear clock” (cave bear species, tooth and skull morphotypes) and by the absolute dated covering speleothem layer that cemented the uppermost cave bear skeletons and bones. This youngest speleothem phase produced candle stalagmites all over the cave system and levels before the LGM (MIS 2), and especially at the final Late Pleistocene (Bölling/Alleröd/Dryas; MIS 2/1 boundary) cold humid phases. In the warmer humid interstadial times of the early Late Pleistocene (MIS 5a and c), the today larger speleothems started to built up, which means that those are not older as 104.000 years.

New field work and studies on 4.910 “cave bear” bones from one of the largest European cave bear dens, the Hermann’s Cave of Rübeland in the Harz Mountains of Saxony-Anhalt in northern Germany, allow the reconstruction of the cave use in different cave areas being limited on the two upper ponor levels by three different cave bear species/subspecies of the Late Pleistocene time, when those areas were already dry. Cave bear polish along many parts on the limestone walls are documented mainly in the Bear Hall area. Partly articulated skeleton remains there and all over the Saalian created ponor level, such as autochthonous bonebeds, indicate nonfluvial transport of bones, because the active Weichselian cave ponor river stream drained at that time already 8-10 meters below. A neonate or Stillborn such as a sibling cave bear skeleton from the Hermann’s Cave Bear and Saal halls and single bones and deciduous teeth are quite abundant in the sediments. The sections and bonebeds are partly dated absolutely with some C14 data of cave bear teeth ranging between 30.761- 43.100 BP. The youngest Uranium dated 24.260 BP old speleothems of the beginning of the climatic change to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) cover the bonebed in the Bear Hall, which fits to the time of their extinction in Europe around 24.000 BP. Further dating is possible relative-chronologically using cave bear premolar P4 tooth morphotypes C-E and herein new classified three skull shape morphology types A-C in combination with the bone preservation and new section studies. The cave bear den time started most probably already in the Eemian Interglacial MIS 5e, but it was in use mainly in the early-middle Weichselian or Wuermian Glacial (MIS 3-5d). The longbone proportions support the separation between three different sized species” 1. The smallest cave bear Ursus spelaeus eremus (skull shape B, P4 morphotype C), 2. The medium-sized Ursus spelaeus spelaeus (skull shape C, P4 morphotype D), and 3. The largest cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus (skull shape D, P4 morphotype E) of the MIS 3 time. Most probably, U. s. spelaeus evolved during the Late Pleistocene into t U. s. ingressus, whereas the smallest U. s. eremus lived with both sympatric all the time in middle high elevated non-alpine European boreal forest mountain regions. Compared to northern American bears, the small cave bears U. s. eremus lived possibly similar as extant black bears, the U. s. spelaeus forms more similar but much more herbivorous as extant grizzly brown bears. U. s. ingressus was full herbivore specialized with its multiple-coned and enlarged tooth cusps. Palaeopathologies on teeth, jaws and postcranial bones are found on all cave bear types and at different age classes. Some bone injuries resulted into trauma bite damage which were caused by other bears or large predators (mainly their canines) from inter- or intraspecies fights. The mortality of cave bears, especially siblings and cubs, is strongly influenced by top predators, Ice Age steppe lions Panthera leo spelaea, Ice Age spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta spelaea and Ice Age wolves Canis lupus spelaeus. Hyenas and wolves and in much lesser amount to prove lions are the main bite mark and bone damage producers of many cave bear bones. About 80% of the bear siblings and cub bones (3 months to one year in individual ages) have chewed longbone joints or expose bite damage, but are much lesser cracked due to the still soft compacta. Bones of subadults to elderly are only up to 20% large carnivore damaged. Cave bear cubs and siblings were either killed or at least only scavenged by all three top predators, whereas the cub hunting specialization by steppe lions is well known due to nitrogen isotope signs. Chewed/damaged bones in similar bite damage stages classified into three stages including pseudobone flutes with hyena bite impact holes in cave bear cub femorae are found not only in the Hermann's Cave and are known from many other cave bear dens all over Europe. Cave bears of the middle high elevated mountain Boreal forests regions like in the Harz Mountain were the main prey of lions, hyenas and wolves during the Late Pleistocene, as result of the absence of the mammoth steppe big game. Mammoth, rhinoceros, bison or mainly reindeer herds such as Cromagnon human Aurignacien hunters were migrating seasonally from the Harz Mountain Fore Lowlands of northern Germany upstream along the river valleys, such as the Bode Valley, reaching thereby the Hermann's Cave for cave bear hunting deeper in the cave, which is supported in the Bear Hall and Saal Hall.

In the large northern German Hermann’s Cave, one skull and 127 bones of four lion skeletons have been excavated since 1968 which are presented in an osteologi monograph. Three of them are incomplete and were found scattered in a smaller area (3 m2) in autochthonous Late Pleistocene MIS 3-5d layers at a distance of 90 far from the former entrance. It is expected that further bones completing those in future digs. Those three originally articulated Panthera leo spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) (popular name = Ice Age steppe lion) few scattered skeleton remains of early adult to grown up individuals were found nearby the end of the 90 meters deep into the middle ponor level reaching horizontal cave bear den cave. Those lions represent an elderly-pathological (dental pathology – all broken and polished canine teeth, broken rib with callus), adult male and two adult female lions. A new and updated bone metric statistics (crania and longbones) including material from the Upper Rhine Graben (southern Germany) demonstrates a size increase of the lions according to the Bergmann’s Rule. The Eemian lions are small, increase in size with the temperature drop and have finally largest forms (reching even nearly similar in size to the older P. l. fossilis Reichenau, 1906) in the cold MIS 3 period, before the Last Glacial maximum, when they got extinct. Three variants are distinguished with the small Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) P. l. s. brachygnathus Dietrich, 1968, (holotype mandible from Dechen Cave and paratype skeleton of neumark Nord Lake 1, Germany) the most common Weichselian/Wuermian (MIS 4-5d) P. l. s. intermedia nov. var. (holotype skull and all herein described material from the Hermann’s Cave) and the largest form P. l. s. var. maximus (holotype skeleton from Huttenheim, Germany). Originally articulated skeletons of one to four adult lion individuals where found further from entrances in easy accessible larger cave bear dens are found in at 14 European cave bear den sites most convincing for the Urşilor Cave (Ro), the Sloup Cave (CZ), the Bilstein Cave (D), and herein added, in the Hermann’s Cave (D). Those sites prove cave bear predation by the last lions of Europe in boreal forest mountain regions, most probably accured mainly in winter times during cave bear hibernation and in spring, for cub killing even most far into the cave system. At several lion remains from cave sites large canine (unclear origin from cave bears, lions or hyenas) bite damages on skulls or fewer longbone joints such as postcranial trauma pathologies indicate “battles” with “large prey/antagonists” most probably in the caves. Natural death by trapping of those nocturnal climber felids can be excluded in nearly all cases, because most of them are horizontal (ponor-level) caves. In rare cases, trapping of lions in complex and large and vertical connected cave systems cannibalism might have happened under stress situation found with a possible example of one scavenged subadult lion in the Romanian Urşilor Cave. Lions must have died mainly during interspecies battles with smaller Ursus spelaeus eremus (= small cave bear) or large body sized Ursus spelaeus ingressus (= large cave bear). Lions are represented in the cave bear den caves only by 1-3% of the bone NISP. If only one weak lion/lioness was killed per 25.000 years in a larger cave bear den, this would explain the low amount of lion skeletons (bones) due to rare lost battles, whereas signs of deathly injuries on bones of lions are absent, if only soft tissues were damaged causing mortality. Those lions were not consumed by the herbivorous cave bears, explaining why their articulated skeletons between cave bear nests and “carcass bonebeds”.

Few Late Pleistocene Ice Age spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823) bones (18% of NISP) of possibly a single subadult individual from the Hermann’s Cave, Harz Mountain Range, Northern Germany indicates a very sporadic short term use possibly as a natal/birth den. Few (2% of NISP) mammoth Mammuthus primigenius and woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis (7% of NISP) guilt seem to have been imported and chew damaged by hyenas. The large amount (43% of NISP) of Ice Age wolf Canis lupus spelaeus (Goldfuss, 1823) remains suggest the identification of a wolf den (natal den) in the anterior cave area, in which individual population had at least one elderly male, one female and one subadult (based on the femorae and cranial remains). The guilt of wolf activities is the holarctic reindeer Rangifer tarandus (23% of NISP), but also alpine chamios Rupicapra rupicapra (5% of NISP). The same former entrance area was used possibly as very short-time hyen natal den. Other Late Pleistocene Ice Age spotted hyena and wolf dens are located within a 50 km radius mainly north of the Harz Mountain Range. All those dens are situated along rivers (several in gypsum karst doline areas or on river terraces). Those valleys/terraces must have been used by reindeers and other megafauna for seasonal summer migrations along the streams into the Harz Mountains. As known for several other European caves, both large predators and scavengers are responsible for most of the cave bear carcass dismembering and bone damages. This is found especially true for most of the cave bear cub bones, whereas only hyenas left typical non-cracked and by the premolar crushing teeth oval-hole punctured cave bear cub femorae (= pseudobone flutes), which seem to have dwelt regularly the Hermann’s Cave for cave bear carcass feeding.

Four main ponor levels were formed from the Bode River valley terrace sided within 39 meters elevation distances, each about 10 meters deeper by the subsurface drainage. This correlates to Bode River valley glaciers and melting waters during the Elsterian, Saalian and Weichselian glacials, and finally to the modern Holocene groundwater level. The active underground river transports Mt. Brocken peak granite and Bode upstream Palaeozoic rock type gravels into the lowermost ponor level. In the Early-Middle Late Pleistocene (MIS 5-3) there was a change between few colder and warmer short-time periods (MIS 5a-d). In the colder periods, the Mt. Brocken peak must have started to built up an Ice cap in elevations of 1.200 meters. This is low, compared to other European regions, but the Harz was at that time already close to the south moving Scandinavian Inland Glacier. The boreal forest conditions were perfect for cave bears, but also Neanderthal human groups. About 77.0000 years ago, the MIS 4 cold period must have increased the glacial conditions, which found a peak in the Last Glacial Maximum (= LGM) 19.000 years ago. At that time of the LGM, the Scandinavian Inland Ice shield reached even Hamburg and Berlin regions, which cold winds formed in northern Germany and the Harz foreland lowlands a periglacial tundra landscape with frost polygons. Already around 26.000 years ago, the conditions were even too cold for the mammoth steppe magafauna and cave bears, which disappeared together with humans in complete northern Europe. The Bode Valley Glacier finally resulted in the Hermann’s Cave entrance and deeper ceiling collapses, which frost breccias closed the former entrance completely. Three caves/cavities at Rübeland in the Bode Valley, Harz Mountains (northern Germany) contain bone assemblages that resulted from carnivore mammal wolverine Gulos gulo, polar fox Vulpes alopex and mustelid activities such as large carnivore eagle owl Bubo bubo subsp. bird den. All remains refer to an arctic tundra/taiga fauna that is mixed with an alpine rocky and cave-rich area which supports the LGM glaciation theory of the Brocken Peak around 19.000 BP (= Last Glacial Maximum). The valley glaciers and Mt. Brocken Ice filed (and Scandinavian shield) disappeared at the end of the MIS2 between 16-12.000 years ago.

The oldest record of Late Palaeolithic latest Aurignacien cave bear hunting and butchering is presented for the Hermann’s Cave, a large Late Pleistocene cave bear den in the Harz Mountain (northern Germany), the most northern cave bear hunting (non-camp) site of Europe. Cromagnon man only occasionally hunted the largest cave bear species Ursus spelaeus ingressus, possibly also the small cave bear Ursus spelaeus eremus, with propulsion weapons in the larger cave systems. A 29.2010 ± 201 BP (latest Aurignacien/earliest Gravettien transition) old bone point (Aurignacien Mladeč type) and by use broken flint projectile were found both 90 meters deep in the upper cave bear bone/skeleton layers. Additionally, flint tools were discovered 40 meters deep, closer to the former entrance: two blades (one broken, both with lateral use) and a broken blade scraper, such as a flake scraper. The used damaged flint artifacts represent a butchering tool kit that was used for dismembering a cave bear carcass at the kill site. Two cave bear bones with deeper V-profile shaped cut marks were found, which correlate to damage use from one or two blades. Sickle-like parallel cuts are found on a femur shaft of an adult bear (U. s. ingressus). Straight cuts are on a scapula of an older neonate cave bear. Whereas in lowlands and river valleys of middle high mountain slopes in summer to the mountains migrating reindeer (and also horses) were the main big game target, in winter times in boreal forest mountain regions cave bears were hunted by Late Pleistocene humans, in competition with steppe lions, leopards, Ice Age spotted hyenas and wolves.