16th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

OF SPELEOLOGY
Proceedings
VOLUME 1

Edited by
Michal Filippi
Pavel Bosák
16th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS
OF SPELEOLOGY
Czech Republic, Brno
July 21 –28, 2013

Proceedings
VOLUME 1

Edited by
Michal Filippi
Pavel Bosák

2013
16th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF SPELEOLOGY
Czech Republic, Brno
July 21 –28, 2013

Proceedings
VOLUME 1

Produced by the Organizing Committee of the 16th International Congress of Speleology.

Published by the Czech Speleological Society and the SPELEO2013 and in the co-operation with the International Union of
Speleology.
Design by M. Filippi and SAVIO, s. r. o.
Layout by SAVIO, s. r. o.
Printed in the Czech Republic by H.R.G. spol. s r. o.

The contributions were not corrected from language point of view. Contributions express author(s) opinion.

Recommended form of citation for this volume:

Filippi M., Bosák P. (Eds), 2013. Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Speleology, July 21–28, Brno. Volume 1,
p. 453. Czech Speleological Society. Praha.

ISBN 978-80-87857-07-6
KATALOGIZACE V KNIZE - NÁRODNÍ KNIHOVNA ČR

© 2013 Czech Speleological Society, Praha, Czech Republic. International Congress of Speleology (16. : Brno, Česko)
16th International Congress of Speleology : Czech Republic,
Individual authors retain their copyrights. All rights reserved. Brno July 21–28,2013 : proceedings. Volume 1 / edited by Michal
Filippi, Pavel Bosák. -- [Prague] : Czech Speleological Society and
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any the SPELEO2013 and in the co-operation with the International
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including Union of Speleology, 2013
photocopying, recording, or any data storage or retrieval ISBN 978-80-87857-07-6 (brož.)
system without the express written permission of the
551.44 * 551.435.8 * 902.035 * 551.44:592/599 * 502.171:574.4/.5
copyright owner. All drawings and maps are used with - speleology
permission of the authors. Unauthorized use is strictly - karstology
prohibited. - speleoarchaeology
- biospeleology
- ecosystem management
- proceedings of conferences
- speleologie
- karsologie
- speleoarcheologie
- biospeleologie
- ochrana ekosystémů
- sborníky konferencí

551 - Geology, meteorology [7]

551 - Geologie. Meteorologie. Klimatologie [7]

Cover photos (some photos were adjusted/cropped)

Top left – José Bidegain, on his way for the recovery Marcel Loubens’ body. Author unknown. For details see the paper by
A.A. Cigna.
Top right – “Walking Mammoth” – a prehistoric drawing from the Kapova Cave, Russia. Photo by O. Minnikov. For details
see the paper by Y. Lyakhnitsky et al.
Bottom left – “Astronaut” David Saint-Jacques (CSA) collecting microbiological samples for the scientific programme of the
ESA CAVES course. Photo by V. Crobu. For details see the paper by Bessone et al.
Bottom right – The long-legged cave centipede Thereuopoda longicornis – a typical species of Lao caves. Photo by H. Steiner.
For details see the paper by H. Steiner.
 2013 ICS Proceedings

Contents
Preface 10

Plenary Lectures 13–25

FROM OLOMOUC 1973 TO BRNO 2013: A REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN PHYSICAL SPELEOLOGY
DURING THE PAST FORTY YEARS Derek C. Ford......................................................................................................................................15
THE MORAVIAN KARST IN THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Martin Oliva....................................................................18
THE CAVES THAT MICROBES BUILT – THE FRONTIER OF CAVE AND KARST SCIENCE
Annette Summers Engel........................................................................................................................................................................................22

Session: History of Speleology and Karst Research 27–120

SPELEOLOGY OF GEORGIA Lasha Asanidze, Kukuri Tsikarishvili, Nana Bolashvili ....................................................................29
THE HISTORY OF SPELEOLOGICAL PROGRESS IN TURKEY
Selçuk Canbek, Meltem Pancarcı, Özlem Uzun ........................................................................................................................................33
A HISTORICAL DATASET: MARCEL LOUBENS AND THE GOUFFRE DE LA PIERRE ST. MARTIN
Arrigo A. Cigna (Ed.)................................................................................................................................................................................................36
THE ALBURNI MASSIF, THE MOST IMPORTANT KARST AREA OF SOUTHERN ITALY:
HISTORY OF CAVE EXPLORATION AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Umberto Del Vecchio, Francesco Lo Mastro, Francesco Maurano, Mario Parise, Antonio Santo ......................................41
A MASTERPIECE OF HISTORIC CAVE SURVEYING: SEVERAL REPRESENTATIONS OF
MIREMONT-ROUFFIGNAC CAVE (DORDOGNE, FRANCE), XVIII-XIXth CENTURIES
Christophe Gauchon, Elisa Boche, Stéphane Jaillet..................................................................................................................................47
SPELEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAN SINCE ISEI 2008 Saeed Hasheminezhad ............................................................51
50 YEARS OF CAVE RESCUE IN HUNGARY Gyula Hegedűs ................................................................................................................54
ATHANASIUS KIRCHER’S CHAPTER XX “ABOUT CAVES, FRACTURES AND THE INNUMERABLE PASSAGES
OF THE EARTH” AND THE GROTTO OF ANTIPAROS FROM “MUNDUS SUBTERRANEUS”,
1678, TRANSLATED FROM LATIN Stephan Kempe, Gottfried Naumann, Boris Dunsch ..........................................................59
NAZI MILITARY USE OF GERMAN CAVES, DR. BENNO WOLF AND THE WORLD CAVE REGISTRY PROJECT
Friedhart Knolle, Stephan Kempe, Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos ..............................................................................................65
STORY OF THE DOLOMITE – D. DE DOLOMIEU OR B. HACQUET? Andrej Kranjc ....................................................................71
“GIVING US AN IDENTITY” – THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORY IN THE HISTORY OF SPELEOLOGY
Johannes Mattes ......................................................................................................................................................................................................75
THE DISCOVERY OF CAVES IN KHAMMOUANE, LAOS (1991–2013)
Claude Mouret, Jean-François Vacquié ..........................................................................................................................................................81
SIGNIFICANT “ERRORS” OF SOME THESSALONICA’S GEOLOGISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS
REGARDING PETRALONA CAVE Nickos A. Poulianos ............................................................................................................................88
THE RIO CAMUY CAVE SYSTEM, PUERTO RICO, AFTER 55 YEARS OF SPELEOLOGY
Ronald T. Richards ..................................................................................................................................................................................................93
CERIGO SPELEOLOGICAL PROJECT IOANNIS PETROCHEILOS AND SPELEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN KYTHERA
ISLAND, GREECE, FROM 1930 TO 1960 Konstantinos Prokopios Trimmis, Georgia Karadimou ........................................99
CONTRIBUTION OF HERMENGILD AND KAREL ŠKORPIL TO THE BULGARIAN SPELEOLOGY
Alexey Zhalov, Magdalena Stamenova ........................................................................................................................................................103
JENOLAN SHOW CAVES; ORIGIN OF CAVE AND FEATURE NAMES
Kath Bellamy, Craig Barnes, Julia James ......................................................................................................................................................107
THE SLOVENE KARST PORTRAITED IN THE “UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY” OF CONRAD MALTE-BRUN
AND ELISÉE RECLUS Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos ........................................................................................................................111
IN MEMORIAM OF ERATO AGGELOPOULOU WOLF: THE FIRST GREEK FEMALE CAVER
Konstantinos Prokopios Trimmis, Pelly Filippatou ..................................................................................................................................117
 2013 ICS Proceedings

OLDEST DOCUMENTED CAVES OF THE WORLD: BIRKLEYN CAVES Ali Yamaç ......................................................................118

Session: Archeology and Paleontology in Caves 121–204

NAHAL ASA’EL CAVE: A UNIQUE 6,000 YEAR OLD WOODEN INSTALLATION AND THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC
PRESENCE IN HARDLY ACCESSIBLE CAVES IN THE JUDEAN DESERT, ISRAEL
Uri Davidovich, Ro’i Porat, Elisabetta Boaretto, Nili Liphschitz, Amihai Mazar, Amos Frumkin ........................................123
SEDIMENTS AND FAUNAL REMAINS OF THE KURTUN-1 CAVE AT BAIKAL LAKE
Andrei Filippov, Fedora Khenzykhenova, Igor Grebnev, Margarita Erbajeva, Nikolai Martynovich ..................................129
BAROVÁ (SOBOLOVA) CAVE, MORAVIAN KARST (CZECH REPUBLIC) UPPER PLEISTOCENE FOSILIFEROUS
IN-CAVE SEDIMENTS INSTRUCTIVE PALEONTOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS
Vlastislav Káňa, Martina Roblíčková ............................................................................................................................................................133
MARESHA – A SUBTERRANEAN CITY FROM THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD IN THE JUDEAN
FOOTHILLS, ISRAEL Amos Kloner ..................................................................................................................................................................139
NEW PROFILE OF CIEMNA CAVE SEDIMENTS (POLISH JURA) – PROBLEM OF CORRELATION
WITH FORMER INVESTIGATIONS Maciej T. Krajcarz, Teresa Madeyska ....................................................................................146
CAVE ARCHAEOLOGY IN HUNGARY – SYNOPSIS AND NEW PERSPECTIVES Orsolya Laczi..............................................150
NEOLITHIC DRAWINGS FROM BESTAŽOVCA CAVE, W SLOVENIA Andrej Mihevc ................................................................156
CAVES IN THE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY AENEOLITHIC PERIODS FROM THE NEAR EAST
TO CENTRAL EUROPE Vladimír Peša............................................................................................................................................................159
THE CULTURE OF ANTHROPOGENIC CAVES WITH STONE DOORS IN ANCIENT ARMENIA
Samvel M. Shahinyan ..........................................................................................................................................................................................164
LEVANTINE CAVE DWELLERS: GEOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF EARLY
HUMANS USE OF CAVES, CASE STUDY FROM WADI AMUD, NORTHERN ISRAEL
Micka Ullman, Erella Hovers, Naama Goren-Inbar, Amos Frumkin ................................................................................................169
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CHATYRDAG PLATEAU (CRIMEAN PENINSULA) ENVIRONMENT DURING
THE LAST 40,000 YEARS BASED ON STABLE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF RED DEER BONE COLLAGEN
Michał Gąsiorowski, Helena Hercman, Bogdan Ridush, Krzysztof Stefaniak ............................................................................175
A GALLERY OF LATE MEDIEVAL AND MODERN PAINTINGS AND INSCRIPTIONS IN NA ŠPIČÁKU CAVE,
SILESIA, CZECH REPUBLIC
Petr Jenč, Vladimír Peša, Ľubomír Turčan, Dominika Machačová, Martin Barus ......................................................................176
RESULTS OF STUDYING THE PALEOLITHIC KAPOVA CAVE (SHULGAN- ASH) IMAGES
Yu. Lyakhnitsky, A. Yushko, O. Minnikov ....................................................................................................................................................182
THE CAVE ŽEDNA PEĆINA (THIRSTY CAVE), SERBIA Mladen Milošević, Robert Mišić, Maja Slijepčević ....................187
ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE CAVESOF THE BOHEMIAN KARST, CZECH REPUBLIC
Vladimír Peša ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................188
FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES FROM NEANDERTHAL SITES OF SLOVAKIA – PRELIMINARY RESULTS
Martin Sabol, Tomáš Čeklovský, Radoslav Beňuš, Marianna Kováčová, Peter Joniak, Júlia Zervanová,
René Putiška ............................................................................................................................................................................................................192
PRE-HISTORIC REMAINS AT THE CÓRREGO DO CAVALO FARM, PIUMHÍ, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL
Mariana Barbosa Timo, Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos, Bruno Durão Rodrigues ..............................................................196
ANATOLIAN CAVES IN STRABO’S GEOGRAPHICA Ali Yamaç ..........................................................................................................202

Session: Protection and Management of Karst, Education 205–311

EXPLORATION, PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF KARST CAVES: GOOD AND BAD PRACTICES
Bartholeyns Jean-Pierre ......................................................................................................................................................................................207
PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH GEOTURISTIC TRAILS AT THE MONUMENTO NATURAL ESTADUAL GRUTA REI
DO MATO, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL Felipe de Ávila Chaves Borges, Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos,
Fernando Alves Guimarães................................................................................................................................................................................209
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOW CAVES: NEW MATERIALS AND METHODS Arrigo A. Cigna ..............................................215
 2013 ICS Proceedings

QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF SHOW CAVES: THE MANAGEMENT EVALUATION INDEX (MEI)

Arrigo A. Cigna, Daniela Pani............................................................................................................................................................................219
“CAVE LIGHTING” PROJECT: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
OF MODERN SUBTERRANEAN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS – A SPELEOLOGIST’S POINT OF VIEW
Alexander Chrapko, Larisa Utrobina ............................................................................................................................................................223
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND RADIATION PROTECTION IN SKOCJAN CAVES, SLOVENIA
Vanja Debevec, Peter Jovanovič......................................................................................................................................................................226
CAVE AND KARST AT THE CINEMA: CULTURAL SPELEOLOGY AND THE GEOGRAPHICITY OF SYMBOLIC
LANDSCAPES Luiz Afonso V. Figueiredo ....................................................................................................................................................229
VENEZUELA’S GUACHARO CAVE: THE GUIDES’ PERSPECTIVE
Govinda Aguirre Galindo, María Alejandra Pérez ....................................................................................................................................235
GROUNDWATER PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT IN A COVERED KARST WATER SYSTEM
Fang Guo, Guanghui Jiang ..................................................................................................................................................................................237
ICAVERNS: PROMOTING CAVE AND KARST UNDERSTANDING AND STEWARDSHIP VIA SMART DEVICE
APPLICATIONS Dianne Joop, Michael Hernandez ..................................................................................................................................241
PETITION FOR PROTECTION OF CAVE CONTENTS Bärbel Vogel, Friedhart Knolle................................................................244
CAVE AND KARST RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE
Johanna Kovařík......................................................................................................................................................................................................246
SOLVING KARST FLOODING IN LAS CRUCES, PETÉN, GUATEMALA Lewis Land, George Veni ........................................252
KARST FROM SÃO DESIDÉRIO REGION (BAHIA – NORTHEASTHERN BRAZIL):
PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT PROPOSITION
Heros Augusto Santos Lobo, Ricardo Galeno Fraga de Araújo Pereira, Lucas Padoan de Sá Godinho ........................256
UNDER YOUR FEET: DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING AVENUES FOR PROMOTING KARST GROUNDWATER
AWARENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED INFORMAL EDUCATION
Leslie A. North, Jonathan Oglesby, Jason S. Polk, Christopher Groves, Tim Slattery ............................................................262
THE STATUS OF CAVE WILDERNESS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Patricia E. Seiser ........................................265
KARST AREAS AND THEIR PROTECTION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Leoš Štefka....................................................................270
THE CAVE ANIMAL OF THE YEAR – AN EASY WAY TO WIDE-SPREAD PUBLIC RESONANCE
Bärbel Vogel, Stefan Zaenker, Helmut Steiner..........................................................................................................................................274
THE BRANDS AND GEOTOURISM SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOW CAVES IN CHINA
Yuan-Hai Zhang, Wen-qiang Shi......................................................................................................................................................................277
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHOM ONG CAVE AS AN ECOTOURISM DESTINATION IN NORTHERN LAOS
Joerg Dreybrodt, Siegfried Moser ..................................................................................................................................................................281
OUTLINE OF ITALIAN REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE DESIGN OR ADJUSTMENT OF TOURIST PATHS
IN ITALIAN SHOW CAVES Alessio Fabbricatore ......................................................................................................................................285
THE RELATIONSHIP OF KARST LANDFORMS AND LAND USE, KSIROMERO REGION, WESTERN GREECE
Miljana Golubović Deligianni, George Veni, Katherina Theodorakopoulou ................................................................................291
APPLIED DRAMA: A NEW TOOL OF TEACHING CAVE PROTECTION
Konstantina Kalogirou, Konstantinos Prokopios Trimmis ..................................................................................................................296
TEN YEARS OF WWW.SPELEOGENESIS.INFO: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES
Alexey Kopchinskiy, Alexander Klimchouk ................................................................................................................................................297
PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF KARST REGIONS IN INDONESIA Yuniat Irawati ......................................................299
THE DISTRIBUTION, PROTECTION AND UTILIZATION OF KARST CAVES IN HAINAN PROVINCE, CHINA
Wenqiang Shi, Yuanhai Zhang ........................................................................................................................................................................303
“proKARSTerra-Edu” – A KARST-EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
Petar Stefanov, Dilyana Stefanova, Dimitrina Mikhova, Leoš Štefka..............................................................................................307

Session: Karst and Caves: Social Aspects and Other Topics 313–380
KARST MORPHOLOGY OF MARTIAN EVAPORITE SURFACES
Davide Baioni, Nadja Zupan Hajna, Maria Sgavetti ................................................................................................................................315
 2013 ICS Proceedings

ESA CAVES: TRAINING ASTRONAUTS FOR SPACE EXPLORATION

Loredana Bessone, Kristina Beblo-Vranesevic, Quirico Antonello Cossu, Jo De Waele, Stefan Leuko,
Paolo Marcia, Petra Rettberg, Laura Sanna, Francesco Sauro, Stefano Taiti ............................................................................321
STUDY OF PULMONARY FUNCTIONS OF TOURIST GUIDES IN THE CAVES
Vanja Debevec, Peter Jovanovič......................................................................................................................................................................328
A VIRTUAL DISTRIBUTED CAVING LIBRARY Graziano Ferrari ..........................................................................................................332
HALOTHERAPY AND HALO HEALTH IMPROVEMENT Pavel Gorbenko, Konstantin Gorbenko ..........................................336
INN VALLEY UNDERGROUNDS: THE FIRST ANTHROPOSPELEOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF SHOW CAVES
Peter Hofmann........................................................................................................................................................................................................339
BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES OF SALT MINES
Constantin Munteanu, Diana Munteanu, Iuri Simionca, Mihai Hoteteu, Delia Cinteza, Horia Lazarescu ....................343
HISTORICAL WATER QUALITY DATA FROM CERNA VALLEY/BAILE HERCULANE – ROMANIA
Gheorghe M. Ponta, Neculai Terteleac ........................................................................................................................................................347
NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE VALUES OF THE YONGCHEON LAVA TUBE CAVE ON JEJU ISLAND,
REPUBLIC OF KOREA Kyung Sik Woo, Ryeon Kim, Jong Deok Lim, Yongmun Jeon ................................................................353
TEMPERATURE AND AIR HUMIDITY IN THE ICE PASSAGE OF THE PIKOVÁ DÁMA CAVE, MORAVIAN KARST
(CZECH REPUBLIC) Václav Ždímal ................................................................................................................................................................355
ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE NICOYA 05 SEPTEMBER 2012 EARTHQUAKE IN “TERCIOPELO” CAVE
AND THE KARST OF “CERRO BARRA HONDA”, NICOYA, COSTA RICA
Gustavo Quesada Carranza, Ferdinando Didonna, Carlos Goicoechea Carranza ....................................................................360
SOME ASPECTS OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BUDDHIST CAVES
Alexandre M A Diniz, Luiz Eduardo Panisset Travassos, Vanessa de Sena Brandão, Felipe Vieira Pena Rios............365
IMPROVEMENT OF CAVING AS A FORM OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Natalija Mihajlović ..........................................................369
CAVES AND PROTECTED AREAS IN SARDINIA (IT): THE EXAMPLE OF THE GROTTA DEL PAPA CAVE SYSTEM
IN THE ISLE OF TAVOLARA Daniela Pani, Selena Montinaro, Egidio Trainito, Giacomo Cao ..............................................370
DOUBLE CAVE MAPS OF TURKEY Ali Yamaç............................................................................................................................................377

Session: Biospeleology, Geomicrobiology and Ecology 381–449

CHASE IN HISTORY AFTER THE ENDEMIC NIPHARGUS (CRUSTACEA: AMPHIPODA) SPECIES OF HUNGARY
Gergely Balázs, Dorottya Angyal ....................................................................................................................................................................383
MINERAL PRECIPITATION IN VITRO USING ISOLATED BACTERIAL STRAINS FROM SYNDAI CAVES,
MEGHALAYA Ramanathan Baskar, Sushmitha Baskar..........................................................................................................................384
TERRESTRIAL MESOFAUNA BIODIVERSITY IN UNIQUE KARST ENVIRONMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Gerhard du Preez, Pieter Theron, Driekie Fourie ....................................................................................................................................386
MICROBIAL PROCESSES IN SULFIDIC HYPOGENE KARST Annette Summers Engel ............................................................391
THE RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN KARST AREA: A CASE STUDY IN FENGSHAN
GEOPARK (CHINA) Jiang Guanghui, Guo Fang ..........................................................................................................................................395
UNRAVELLING UNDERGROUND ICE MICROCOSMS
Alexandra Hillebrand-Voiculescu, Corina Itcus, Andreea Rusu, Elena Popa, Denisa Pascu, Ioan Ardelean,
Aurel Persoiu, Traian Brad, Bogdan Onac, Cristina Purcarea ............................................................................................................401
BAT COMMUNITIES OF CZECH CAVES OVER 45 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS MONITORING
Ivan Horáček, Tomáš Bartonička, Jiří Gaisler, Jan Zukal, ČESON ....................................................................................................402
FOOD CHAIN LENGTH IN GROUNDWATER: PATTERNS IN 15N RANGE
Benjamin T. Hutchins, Benjamin F. Schwartz ............................................................................................................................................403
CAVE-DWELLING FAUNA FROM KARST AREAS OF PORTUGAL
Ana Sofia P.S. Reboleira, F. Gonçalves, P. Oromí ....................................................................................................................................409
BIOSPELEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE LAO P.D.R. Helmut Steiner..............................................................................................413
STUDY OF A BACTERIAL COMMUNITY ON THE SURFACE OF A STALAGMITE IN HESHANG CAVE,
CENTRAL CHINA Hongmei Wang, Qianying Liu, Rui Zhao, Qiang Dong, Xiaoping Wu..........................................................420
 2013 ICS Proceedings

THE CAVE FAUNA OF LUXEMBOURG Dieter Weber..............................................................................................................................421

NEW DATA TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOUR AQUATIC TROGLOBIONT MACROINVERTEBRATE SPECIES
IN THE CAVES OF THE MECSEK MOUNTAINS (SW HUNGARY)
Dorottya Angyal, Gergely Balázs ....................................................................................................................................................................426
MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF MICROORGANISMS DIVERSITY FROM PERRENIAL UNDERGROUND
ICE SEDIMENTS Corina Iţcuş, Alexandra Hillebrand-Voiculescu, Denisa Pascu, Ioan Ardelean,
Aurel Perşoiu, Traian Brad, Cristina Purcărea ..........................................................................................................................................430
BRYOPHYTES AT LAMPS IN SELECTED PUBLIC CAVES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC – PAST AND PRESENT
Svatava Kubešová..................................................................................................................................................................................................431
PATTERNS OF MISSING LEGS IN HADENOECUS SUBTERRANEUS CAVE CRICKETS AND REDUCTION
OF FORAGING SUCCESS Kathleen H. Lavoie, Suganthi Thirunavukarasu, Mohammed Chandoo,
Utsav Pandey, Elizabeth Lavoie, Kurt Helf ..................................................................................................................................................432
CAN COMMENSAL FUNGAL POPULATIONS PROTECT BATS FROM GEOMYCES DESTRUCTANS INFECTION?
Kelsey Njus, Samantha Kaiser, Marcelo Kramer, Hazel A. Barton ..................................................................................................436
MICROFUNGAL COMMUNITY OF MOVILE CAVE, ROMANIA
Alena Nováková, Vít Hubka, Šárka Valinová, Miroslav Kolařík, Alexandra Maria Hillebrand–Voiculescu ....................441
MICROBIAL IRON CYCLING AND BIOSPELEOGENESIS: CAVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARAJÁS FORMATION,
BRAZIL Ceth W. Parker, Augusto S. Auler, John Senko, Ira D. Sasowsky, Luis B. Piló, Melanie Smith,
Michael Johnston, Hazel Barton......................................................................................................................................................................442
PREDATION MEDIATED CARBON TURNOVER IN NUTRIENT-LIMITED CAVE ENVIRONMENTS
Melissa Wilks, Hazel A. Barton ......................................................................................................................................................................447

Partners, Sponsors 450

Authors Index 452

Archeology and Paleontology in Caves – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings

NAHAL ASA’EL CAVE: A UNIQUE 6,000 YEAR OLD WOODEN

INSTALLATION AND THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC PRESENCE IN
HARDLY ACCESSIBLE CAVES IN THE JUDEAN DESERT, ISRAEL

Uri Davidovich1, Ro’i Porat1, Elisabetta Boaretto2, Nili Liphschitz3, Amihai Mazar1, Amos Frumkin4
1
Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel, uri.davidovich@mail.huji.ac.il
2
D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl St., Rehovot 76100, Israel,
elisabetta.boaretto@weizmann.ac.il
3
Institute of Archaeology, The Botanical Laboratories, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel, nilili@post.tau.ac.il
4
Department of Geography, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel, msamos@mscc.huji.ac.il

Human occupation of caves located within high sheer cliffs in the remote arid region of the Judean Desert forms a distinct
regional phenomenon of the Ghassulian cultural sphere during the Late Chalcolithic period of the Southern Levant. Over
the last sixty years scholars have debated the nature of this phenomenon, suggesting that the caves were used either for
habitation, as seasonal herders’ shelters or storage facilities, for mortuary or ritual functions, or as temporary refuge places.
Recently, in order to test the various interpretations, the spatial and material traits of 70 caves with reported Chalcolithic
remains from the Judean Desert were analyzed. One such cave is located in Nahal Asa’el (Asa’el valley), ca. 10 km north
of Masada and 5 km west of the Dead Sea shore. This small cave features one of the most difficult approaches among the
studied caves, demanding a vertical abseiling of ca. 30 m. The cave was first visited in 1960, and a rare wooden
construction, a platform made of unworked logs, was discovered in its innermost passage. The discovery prompted the
late archaeologist P. Bar-Adon to launch an expedition to the cave in 1974. However, neither the initial discovery nor the
results of the 1974 expedition were ever published, and even the exact location of the cave was forgotten over the years.
As part of the renewed research we collected unpublished documents related to this cave, and re-located the cave in the
field. This was followed by systematic survey and mapping of the cave, detailed examination of its environmental
properties, and sampling of the wooden installation for taxonomic identification and radiocarbon dating. The results show
that the platform, which was constructed of local trees, is dated to the early fourth millennium BC, and is thus the earliest
of its kind in the entire Levant. The highly difficult access to the cave, the location of the platform within its deepest
section, its careless construction, and the scarcity of other material remains, all seem to support the notion that the cave,
as other neighboring caves, served as an ephemeral refuge during the Late Chalcolithic period.

1. Introduction
During the Late Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500–3800 BC), a
new culture emerged in the Mediterranean, semi-arid
regions of the Southern Levant (present-day Israel,
Palestine and Jordan). This culture, termed the Ghassulian
culture after the type-site of Teleilat Ghassul (e.g., Mallon
et al. 1934), is characterized by rural communities settled
in various environmental zones while practicing mixed
farming subsistence economies (Levy 1986a; Gilead 1988a;
Rowan and Golden 2009). Debates concerning the level of
social complexity, existence of hierarchical institutions and
degree of economic specialization characterize the scholarly
discourse on the Ghassulian (Levy 1986b, 1995, 2006;
Gilead 1988b, 2002). One of the hallmarks of this cultural
phase, which marks a distinct change from the preceding
periods, is the wide-scale exploitation of the subterranean
sphere. Caves, both natural and artificial, served for various
purposes in and around the settlements, such as habitation,
storage and burial (e.g., Perrot and Ladiray 1980; Perrot
1984; Gilead 1987; Gopher and Tsuk 1996; van den Brink
1998; Scheftelowitz and Oren 2004). These caves were
easily accessible from the sub-aerial sphere, and their forms
were chosen (or fitted) to suite their intended functions.
The Judean Desert, a small local desert in the rain shadow
of the Judean Highlands (Fig. 1), shows a somewhat
different pattern. While no permanent settlements are
known in this region during the Late Chalcolithic period,
numerous natural caves, opened in the cliffs of the Dead
123
Sea Escarpment and the deep canyons draining into the
lake, contain material remains from this period. The first
caves with Ghassulian materials were discovered in 1952
(in Wadi Muraba’at; de-Vaux 1961), and during the last
sixty years ca. 100 caves with similar remains were found
in the entire region (e.g., Aharoni 1961a, b; Avigad 1961,
1962; de Vaux 1962; Yadin 1962, 1963; Allegro 1964; Bar-
Adon 1989). The most renowned is the “Cave of the
Treasure”, located in Nahal Mishmar (Mishmar valley),
where a hoard of more than 400 copper objects was hidden,
wrapped in a reed mat, in a niche inside the cave (Bar-Adon
1961, 1962, 1980).
Over the years, several interpretations for the Late
Chalcolithic presence in the precipitous caves of the Judean
Desert were suggested. Most scholars view the caves as
either herders’ shelters or storage installations in relation to
seasonal movements of semi-nomadic pastoral groups (e.g.,
de Vaux 1970; Mazar 1990; Gates 1992). Another
prominent suggestion is that the caves served as temporary
refuge places for groups of people fleeing from the
sedentary areas in turbulent times (e.g., Avigad 1962; Haas
and Nathan 1973; Ussishkin 1980). Other hypotheses
include permanent habitations (de Vaux 1961), semi-
sedentary traders’ stations (Tadmor 1989), mortuary
preferences (Ilan and Rowan 2007) or a cultic incentive of
an unclear nature (Bar-Adon 1980; Goran 1995). All
explanations remained rather speculative, however, as no
comprehensive examination of the environmental, spatial
Archeology and Paleontology in Caves – oral
and material characteristics of the caves under discussion
was conducted.
Figure 1. Study area of the Judean Desert with place names
mentioned in the text. Small black dots mark caves with Late
Chalcolithic remains. 1) Nahal Asa’el Cave; 2) Cave of the
Treasure; 3) Wadi Muraba’at Caves.
In order to test the aforementioned interpretations, we
recently compiled all available data from 70 caves in the
region (Davidovich 2008), ca. 20 of which were
discovered by us during an intensive cave survey
conducted between 2001 and 2005 (Eshel and Porat 2009).
Our analysis of the spatial and structural properties of the
caves seems to support the refuge model, at least with
regard to the majority of caves (Davidovich forthcoming).
The most fundamental issue is that of accessibility. Most
of the caves are located within high precipitous cliffs, and
demand walking on steep slopes above sheer cliffs, and in
half of the cases also the use of ropes and rope ladders.
No attempts to improve the access ways were noted, and
there are no signs indicating that access was essentially
different during the Late Chalcolithic. Regarding
structure, all caves were used entirely in their natural form,
in many cases involving the use of dark, narrow, low, and
unventilated spaces. Only rare examples of man-made
modifications for prolonged occupation were observed. In
addition, the material remains found in the caves are
essentially different from contemporary settlement sites,
primarily in the low frequency of several mundane artifact
categories, such as small ceramic vessels and various flint
tools. These features stand in striking contrast with the
patterns observed in the subterranean spaces used within
the settled provinces of the Ghassulian culture (above).
They also differ from historic and modern cave use
patterns of both settled agriculturalists and semi-nomadic
pastoralists living in and near the Judean Desert
(Davidovich 2008).
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2013 ICS Proceedings
Here we wish to demonstrate the characteristics of the Late
Chalcolithic presence in the Judean Desert caves using one
case-study, that of Nahal Asa’el Cave (henceforth NAC).
This cave, located only two km northeast of the famous
Cave of the Treasure (Fig. 1), contains a unique wooden
installation, discovered already in 1960 but never studied
in detail, even though the cave was extensively excavated
in 1974. Neither the initial discovery nor the results of the
excavation were ever published, and the very existence of
the cave was forgotten over the years. In what follows, we
discuss the results of our renewed research of the cave,
which included a study of the unpublished materials relating
to the previous explorations of the cave, and recent
fieldwork concentrating on environmental and spatial
aspects, as well as on the wooden installation. At the end of
the paper we consider the contribution of NAC to the
discussion over the role of the Judean Desert caves within
the Ghassulian cultural sphere.
2. Methods
Unpublished documents, including a field notebook of the
1974 expedition to NAC written by Pesach Bar-Adon, the
cave’s excavator, as well as a prosaic summary written by
an expedition member, S. Heiman, an Israeli Defense Force
order, and a few photographs, were located in the house of
P. Bar-Adon’s son, Doron, in 2006, and formed the starting
point for the present research. Following conversations with
D. Bar-Adon, Y. Tsafrir and Y. Govrin, all participants in
past explorations of the cave, the latter was re-located in the
field in spring 2007. Consequently, a systematic survey and
mapping of the cave was undertaken. Mapping was
conducted using basic equipment (Leica Disto D3 laser
inclinometer and Silva Ranger 3 prismatic compass), and
mapping grade was 5B.
The focus of the renewed research was the wooden
installation found in the innermost passage of the cave.
Samples from four different logs were taken for wood
identification. Cross and longitudinal, tangential as well as
radial sections were made by hand with a sharp razor-blade.
The identification of the wood to species level, based on the
three-dimensional structure of the wood, was made
microscopically from these sections. Comparison was made
with reference sections prepared from living identified tree
specimens and with anatomical atlases.
Two of the aforementioned samples were submitted for
Radiocarbon dating. Both samples were pretreated in order
to extract the cellulose and to remove any contamination.
The purity of the extracted cellulose before dating was
checked using Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis. The
cellulose was oxidized to CO2 and then transformed to
graphite for the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
measurement (see detailed procedures in Yizhaq et al.
2005). Calculated 14C ages have been corrected for
fractionation, referring to the standard δ13C value of -25 ‰
(wood). Calibrated ages in calendar years have been
obtained from the calibration curve Intcal04 (Reimer et al.
2004) by means of the 2005 version of OxCal v. 3.10
software (Bronk-Ramsey 1995; 2001).
Archeology and Paleontology in Caves – oral
3. Environment and Cave Structure
Nahal Asa’el (Arabic: Wadi an-Nidah) is a short ephemeral
ravine draining ca. 10 km2 of the central part of the Judean
Desert into the Dead Sea. It flows along its upper course in
a shallow channel, but ca. 1 km west of the Dead Sea
Western Fault Escarpment it enters a deep box-shaped
canyon, entrenched in Late Cretaceous carbonate rocks of
the Judea Group. A major dry waterfall divides the upper
part from the lower, 300–400 m deep canyon, which ends
in the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment. Further east, Nahal
Asa’el flows in the Quaternary fill of the Dead Sea
depression. The latter has developed as a pull-apart basin
within the Dead Sea transform since the late Miocene
(Garfunkel 1997). The major dry waterfall appears to be a
nickpoint associated with the Plio-Pleistocene downcutting
of the lower canyon, responding to the deepening Dead Sea
depression. The waterfall retreats in a rate reflecting the rare
flash-flood events (occurring no more than few times a
year) which perform the major geomorphic work. Annual
precipitation in the Nahal Asa’el catchment is ca. 70 mm.
NAC is located ca. 300 m east of the major waterfall (grid
reference 233200/590110, New Israel Grid), approximately
100 m below the top of the northern bank of the canyon,
within the Turonian limestone of Shivta Formation (Raz
1986; Fig. 2). The approach to the cave involves a walk on
steep slopes of Nezer Formation, leading to the top of the
vertical cliff ca. 30 m above the cave’s opening. From this
point, the only way to get to the cave is by abseiling down
the cliff face, which drops ca. 50 m further down below the
cave towards the canyon bed.
Figure 2. View of NAC in the northern bank of Nahal Asa’el, as
seen from the opposite bank.
NAC, as most other Judean Desert caves (Frumkin 2001;
Lisker et al. 2010), developed as an isolated chamber karst
cave below watertable during the mid to late Cenozoic
(Frumkin and Fischhendler 2005). It was drained empty
when base level and associated watertable dropped during
the development of the Dead Sea morphostructural
depression. Sometime during the Pliocene-Early
Pleistocene, the cave was truncated by the entrenching
canyon. The most dominant process which shaped the
present structure of the cave is roof collapse, possibly of
tectonic origins.
The cave is comprised of outer and inner sections (Fig. 3).
The outer space is a 9 m long, 12 m wide and 7 m high
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2013 ICS Proceedings
chamber, and its floor is entirely strewn with collapsed
boulders. Shallow pockets of sediments are found between
the boulders, containing concentrations of small branches,
probably bird-nesting materials. From the northeastern part
of the chamber one can descend ca. 2 m, through two
narrow shafts-like opening between collapsed blocks, to the
inner, lower part of the cave, which consists of a few
intersecting narrow and low passages, forming a maze-like
structure. This area of the cave is completely dark and
requires crawling. Only little sedimentation is found in the
passages, mostly the result of local erosion together with
minor biogenic contribution (mainly bat guano). Box-work
is abundant on the ceiling of the passages, due to selective
weathering of bedrock between paleokarstic veins of
calcite. The innermost passage is slightly higher compare
with the rest of the system (over 2 m), and has a trapezoidal
cross-section with elevated “shoulders”; it contains almost
no sediment. The total length of the inner section reaches
30 m.
Figure 3. Plan and sections of NAC.
4. Past Explorations
NAC was first discovered in 1960 by a survey team of
“Camp C” headed by P. Bar-Adon, one of four camps that
formed part of the “Judean Desert Operation”, a large-scale
expedition to the caves located between Ein-Gedi and
Masada, on the Israeli side of the Judean Desert (Bar-Adon
1961). One young volunteer (and a future professor of
archaeology), Yoram Tsafrir, managed, with great difficulty,
to abseil down to the cave, where he found peculiar
concentration of wooden logs that were clearly brought by
humans. While the evidence for anthropogenic activity
inside a very hard-to-access cave was intriguing, the
expedition later focused on other caves in the region, mainly
the Cave of the Treasure (Bar-Adon 1980).
It took another 14 years before Bar-Adon decided to go
back to NAC. In August 1974, in the heat of the summer,
he arranged an expedition devoted exclusively to the
exploration of this cave. Administration and manpower
were provided by the Israel Defence Force, under an order
entitled “Bar-Adon Operation”. According to the
unpublished field documentation, the actual excavation in
the cave totaled five days. The work included survey,
mapping, and minor excavations in the inner passages and
Archeology and Paleontology in Caves – oral
around the shafts connecting the inner and outer parts of the
cave. It turned out that the few anthropogenic elements
found in the cave were all observed already during the
preliminary survey, while the excavations yielded nothing
but a small unindicative flint flake. The survey finds
included the wooden platform (to be described in detail
below), few more logs scattered in the southernmost part of
the inner passages (probably the ones seen by Tsafrir in
1960), as well as few pieces of ropes and a small ceramic
bowl collected from the innermost passage, southwest of
the platform. The bowl, which was dated by Bar-Adon
based on typological grounds to the Chalcolithic period,
was in fact the only typo-chronological element found
inside the cave. Both the bowl and the ropes were lost after
the excavations, and their re-assessment is therefore
impossible. Thus, the dating of the anthropogenic activity
in the cave in general, and of the wooden platform in
particular, remained somewhat obscured following Bar-
Adon’s expedition.
5. The Wooden Installation
As already mentioned, the main find from NAC is the
wooden installation, constructed in the northeastern portion
of the innermost passage. This is a kind of platform (which
may also by termed shelf or board) made of unworked
wooden logs, which was built ca. 1.4 m above the passage
floor, and ca. 0.7 m below its ceiling, leaning on the
elevated shoulders of the passage (Fig. 4). Two logs (0.9
and 1.2 m long) were placed across the passage, while the
other logs (1.3–1.6 m long) were laid perpendicularly on
top of the former, spaced 10–20 cm apart, in a disorderly
fashion. The logs are 5–15 cm thick, and their weight is
estimated in 2–5 kg each. Few twigs were placed on top of
the construction, but it is unclear whether it was entirely
covered with twigs in origin. All the wood was preserved
in a dry state, as most organic materials found in the Judean
Desert caves.
Figure 4. The wooden platform of NAC, looking NE. The location
of radiocarbon samples MA1 and MA4 is indicated.
The dendroarchaeological inspections have shown that the
wooden platform was made of local trees, growing in the
Dead Sea basin and the eastern part of the Judean Desert.
Four different logs were sampled, three from the main
construction and the fourth from the twigs resting on top.
The state of preservation of the xylem was excellent in the
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three logs, while the xylem of the small twig was found
deformed. Two samples were identified as made of Acacia
raddiana Savi (Acacia), while a third specimen (the twigs)
was attributed to the same genus, but could not be identified
to the species level. The fourth log was made of Ziziphus
spina-christi (L.) desf. (Christ thorn; Jujube). Both tree
species can still be found today in distances of up to 1 km
from the cave.
Two of the Acacia specimens, a thick log (MA1) and the
small twigs (MA4), were dated by radiocarbon. The stable
isotope ratio δ13C and the radiocarbon results are reported
in Table 1. Both samples gave δ13C values close to -25 ‰,
in accordance with their identification as deriving from a
C3 plant. The calibrated 14C ages show that one sample
(MA1) most probably dates to the 45th–44th centuries BC,
while the second sample is dated to the 40th–39th centuries
BC. Both ages fall within the accepted range for the Late
Chalcolithic period, though the second age may be
considered rather late in the period, on the verge of the
transition to the Early Bronze Age I (Gilead 1994; Bar and
Winter 2010; Davidovich forthcoming).
Table 1. Stable isotope ratio δ13C and radiocarbon results for two
samples from NAC wooden platform.
14
C age Calibrated Calibrated
δ13C
Sample Lab ±1σ age ±1σ age ±2σ
‰
# # (years 68.2% prob. 95.4% prob.
(PDB)
(years BC) (years BC)
BP)
RTT 5590
MA1 -25.2 4490–4350 4560–4320
5894 ± 65
RTT 5110
MA4 -23.45 3970–3800 4050–3760
5895 ± 60
6. Discussion
The wooden platform of NAC constitutes a unique item
from the Late Chalcolithic period in the Southern Levant,
and the earliest well-preserved wooden construction known
from the entire region. The dry conditions prevailing in the
Judean Desert, as well as the hardly-accessible location of
the cave, contributed to the preservation of this rare
element. While other caves in the region yielded occasional
wooden logs, including modified ones (e.g., the Cave of the
Treasure: Bar-Adon 1980; Wadi Muraba’at Cave #2: de-
Vaux 1961), only in one case was a relatively large wooden
log radiometrically dated to the Late Chalcolithic (in Zruia
Cave; Davidovich forthcoming). The only other wooden
platform known from the Judean Desert, found in Nahal
Mishmar Cave #5, ca. 300 m west of the Cave of the
Treasure (Bar-Adon 1980), had never been dated, and there
are circumstantial arguments in favor of a much later date
for this element.
The incentive for the construction of the platform in NAC
and its exact use remain somewhat vague. While carrying
the logs into the cave and inserting them into its innermost
section were very demanding tasks, the actual construction
appears to be rather carelessly built. No effort was invested
in modifying the logs or in constructing a solid installation
(as the logs were not tied together). The platform probably
served to carry something on top which would have been
better off the ground, but there are no indications as to what
Archeology and Paleontology in Caves – oral
this might have been. Options include daily artifacts such
as beddings and utensils, food supplies, or even prestigious
objects, though the flimsy construction may not accord with
the latter option.
The radiocarbon dates place the wooden platform within
the time-frame of the Late Chalcolithic period, and are
paralleled by few dozens of dates from other Judean Desert
caves (Davidovich 2008: 131–135). Although the two dates
obtained from the platform are a few centuries apart, it is
more likely that both belong to a single constructional phase
rather than to two chronologically-separated phases. It
seems that the later of the two dates, in the very early fourth
millennium, would be the better estimation for the time of
construction of the platform (and of the occupation of the
cave in general), as it derives from small twigs. The
existence of an earlier date might be the result of an “old
wood effect” related to the relatively thick log from which
this date derives. Another possibility is that the occupants
of the cave used old dry trunks for the construction of the
platform. It should be noted that the radiocarbon dates
accord well with the Chalcolithic date ascribed by Bar-
Adon to the ceramic bowl based on typological grounds
(above).
The radiometric dating of the platform showed beyond
doubt that NAC is indeed part of the phenomenon of Late
Chalcolithic presence in hardly-accessible caves in the
Judean Desert cliffs. Actually, it is one of the caves with the
most difficult and dangerous approach in the region,
involving both walking over steep terrain and the use of
long ropes to reach the cave’s mouth. Even more astounding
is the fact that such an effort was invested in a cave with
very little space for occupation. In fact, the only potentially
convenient part of the cave is the outer chamber, but the
latter’s floor is piled up with boulders, and no attempts to
evacuate them and to create a more suitable space were
noted. The inner passages are even less suited for a long
stay, as they are dark, dusty, unventilated and tedious to
move through.
It seems that the Late Chalcolithic occupation of NAC was
rather ephemeral, as attested by the meager material
remains found in the cave, even though it was meticulously
surveyed and excavated. The erection of the wooden
platform possibly indicates that some preparations for an
extended stay were made, but the poor execution and the
scarcity of related artifacts suggest that eventually the
occupation was brief. This should come as no surprise,
since the topographic setting and the cave’s structure are
not favorable for prolonged habitation.
Considering the question posed in the beginning of the
article, regarding the nature of the Late Chalcolithic
presence in the Judean Desert caves, it appears that NAC
fits well within the temporary refuge model. The highly
difficult approach to the cave, its inhospitable structure, the
lack of man-made modifications intended to create more
convenient spaces, and the scarcity of material remains, all
seem to support the notion that the cave served as an
ephemeral hideout for a small group of people, occupying
the cave for a short duration. Other interpretations raised in
the past regarding the discussed phenomenon do not seem
valid in the case of NAC; it is highly unlikely that the cave
served as a temporary shelter for shepherds or other passers-
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2013 ICS Proceedings
by, and there are no indications for mortuary or ritual
practices conducted in the cave. Yet, it should be stressed
that the high degree of difficulty in accessing the cave
coupled with the almost complete absence of artifacts
makes NAC a somewhat unusual manifestation of the
refuge phenomenon. In addition, the exact function of the
wooden platform within the refuge model is unclear (could
it be that it once carried important objects for the people
taking refuge in the cave, which were removed when they
decided to leave the cave for good?). It may be
hypothesized that the cave had a specific function within
the system of refuge caves in the Judean Desert, a function
which remains, for the time being, a mystery.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Doron Bar-Adon, the son of NAC’s
explorer Pesach Bar-Adon, who allowed us to use
unpublished documents stored in his private archive, which
formed the basis for the re-evaluation of previous work
conducted in the cave. Thanks are also due to Prof. Yoram
Tsafrir and Dr. Yehuda Govrin for sharing their field
experience in past explorations of the cave. This paper is
dedicated to the late Prof. Hanan Eshel, who supported the
renewed study of NAC from its onset.
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