1 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ice Age Cave Entrance that Nobody has Entered for 16,000 Years found in Germany

Researchers report they have discovered the official entrance to an Ice Age cave near Engen, Germany, that nobody has entered for 16,000 years.

Although the cave was already known since the 1970s to archaeologists, until now, they had not discovered the original entrance. At that time, a hole was accidentally blasted into the cave ceiling during the construction of a sewage pipe, but the cave was not explored further.

New excavations began in 2021 and during six weeks of work archaeologists gathered more data but the original cave entrance remained undiscovered.

The cave is much larger than previously thought, the researchers discovered during geophysical measurements of the underground in April of this year, which were done in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg. It is thought to be several meters high and twenty meters deep. The research team managed to locate the entrance to the cave, which was previously underground.

Dr. Yvonne Tafelmaier of the University of Tübingen describes the find as a sensation. According to Tafelmaier, it is a unique situation. To find a site that researchers have hardly explored is a rare experience.

Photo: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Regional Council of Stuttgart/Photo: Simon Werner

“The new find belongs to a whole series of caves in the so-called Ice Age Park near Engen. There is also the Gnirs Cave and the well-known Petersfels, also a late Ice Age site and a popular hiking destination today. The Petersfels are about 13,000 to 15,000 years old. Astonishing finds from the last Ice Age were already being made when it was discovered. The archaeologists are now hoping for the same from the new large cave,” Tagesschau reports.

“We already know that settlement remains from the late Ice Age are there, and we hope to find even more, such as stone tools, perhaps jewelry and art remains,” Tafelmaier says.

The entrance to the cave is still closed by a thick layer of earth. The earth that closes the cave entrance is currently being examined. In the coming year, the researchers want to penetrate into the interior of the cave.

To avoid destruction of any kind by unauthorized persons, a decision has been made to keep the entrance closed until the next year, when experts will study the cave’s interior.

Related Articles

Environmentalists react to the rehabilitation works in the Assos ancient port

2 October 2021

2 October 2021

Among the continuing landscaping and restoration works at the historic city of Assos in the northern province of Canakkale, a...

Archaeologists discovered the secret ingredient that made Mayan plaster durable

20 April 2023

20 April 2023

Ancient Mayan masons had their own secrets for making lime plasters, mortars, and plasters, which they used to build their...

New Huge Viking-age boat grave discovered by Radar in Norway

12 April 2022

12 April 2022

Archaeologists have located a boat grave from the Viking Age near Øyesletta in Norway during a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey....

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...

Antibiotic bacteria that fight E. coli and other dangerous bugs found in the Roman Baths at Bath in England, “Bath’s waters may really be good for you”

9 June 2024

9 June 2024

The popular Roman Baths in the city of Bath in southwest England are home to a diverse range of microorganisms...

Gladiators’ ancient hygiene tools on exhibit in Izmir

22 July 2021

22 July 2021

Turkey’s Izmir Archaeological Museum is hosting a different exhibition this month. A bronze strigil is the museum’s guest this month...

Synchrotron Technique Reveals Mysterious Portrait Underneath Renaissance Painting

16 April 2023

16 April 2023

Conservators and curators from the Art Gallery of New South Wales used the Australian Synchrotron’s advanced imaging technique to learn...

350,000-Year-Old Human Settlement have been Discovered on the Arabian Peninsula

17 May 2021

17 May 2021

One of the world’s oldest Acheulean sites was found in the northern region of Hail in Saudi Arabia. Al Nasim...

Climate and Archaic humans caused the extinction of giant camels that lived in Mongolia 27,000 years ago, a study says

3 April 2022

3 April 2022

Camelus knoblochi, a species of giant two-humped camel, survived in Mongolia alongside modern humans—and perhaps Neanderthals and Denisovans—until about 27,000...

Hannibal’s Italian Ally: 170 Meters of Fortifications and 450 Roman Lead Projectiles Discovered

20 June 2025

20 June 2025

Archaeologists in Ugento, a city in southern Italy that once sided with Hannibal during the Second Punic War, have uncovered...

4000-year-old sword found in Finland

12 October 2021

12 October 2021

A Bronze Age sword dating back as far as 1700 B.C.was discovered broken in items in Finland this previous summer...

An inscription with the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians

8 August 2022

8 August 2022

An inscription bearing the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of...

Excavations at a 4th millennium BC settlement uncover evidence for the emergence and rejection of the earliest state institutions in Iraq

6 December 2024

6 December 2024

New excavations of the 4th-millennium B.C settlement at the archaeological site of Shakhi Kora, located in the Iraqi Kurdistan region...

Archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove of sixth-century coins in ancient Phanagoria in Russia

27 July 2021

27 July 2021

Archaeologists have discovered 80 coins known as Copper staters dating back to the sixth century at Phanagoria on the Black...

Artifacts for sale offered at a Dutch auction house returned to Peru

9 July 2021

9 July 2021

The Dutch government announced in a press release today that the artifacts that were put up for sale at an...