Amatérská Cave (in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

''Amatérská jeskyně'', in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

''Amateurs Cave'', not used) is part of longest

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system in the

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is also famous for archaeological discoveries. Except for the entrance, the cave is not accessible to the public, although occasionally it is opened for visitors. The cave is located in the northern part of the

Moravian Karst The Moravian Karst ( cs, Moravský kras) is a karst landscape and protected landscape area to the north of Brno in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It encompasses a number of notable geological features, including roughly 1100 cav ...

, between the town of Sloup and the village of Ostrov. Amatérská Cave is the longest cave system in the Czech Republic with a length of over 40 km-. The cave system is bound on two main underground streames: Bila voda and Sloupsky potok, (in underground) creating the River Punkva inside Amatérská Cave. The whole system is created by the connection of (semi) separate caves: Nová Rasovna, Pikova Dama, Spiralka, 13C, Amaterska Cave, the Sloupsko-sosuvske Caves, the Punkevni Caves and Macocha Abbys.

Description of underground system

Amatérská Cave is the connection between the water sinks of Sloupský Potok and Bila Voda and the water resurgence of the Punkva River, which is created inside Amatérská Cave by a connection of both main water streams. The cave itself is characterised by extensive tunnel passages with varying amounts of fluvial deposits and

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

s. The passages sometimes change into big domes. Those passages represent a higher cave level of about 20 m above the lower cave level where the rivers are still active. In some parts of the cave (Sloupsky Corridor, Labyrint of Milan Slechta), even more such cave levels can be found. The lowest part of the system is always under water and its exploration can only be done by using cave diving techniques. Amaterska Cave can be divided into 3 main parts: Sloupsky Corridor, Bila voda branch together with Old Amaterska cave and Macossky Corridor. Amatérská Cave can be entered by one natural entrance in Cikansky Sink Hole or through an artificial one under Konsky Spad in Pusty Zleb canyon.

History of discovery and of explorations

The history of explorations of the entire system already began in the early 18th century. Already in 1723 Lazarus Shopper realised the first descend into Macocha Abyss. In 1800 a first map of the Sloupské Caves (the small lateral part of whole system only) was created. Systematic research began in the second half of the 19th century, when Dr.Jindrich Wankel and Martin Kriz published the first

scientific studies The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

of the Northern Part of

. Prof. Karel Absolons was the first to define a theoretical connection between the Sloupsko-sosuvske Caves, Nova Rasovna cave and

Macocha gorge The Macocha Abyss, also known as the Macocha Gorge, is a sinkhole in the Moravian Karst cave system of the Czech Republic. The sinkhole is deep, which makes it the deepest of its kind (light hole type) in Central Europe. It is a popular tourist at ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. He spent his whole life working on the clarification of this

speleological Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ...

problem. He only partly succeeded, but Amaterská Cave as a main key to this problem was explored in 1969 by the Planivy Caving Club. In 18. January 1969 were main part of Amatérská Cave (Stará-The old) discovered. Catastrophic stormwater

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

29. 8. 1970 and the deaths of amateur

speleologist Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...

s Milan Šlechta and Marko Zahradníček after, gave name the cave. Within a short period of time, corridors connecting caves from a water sink in Nova Rasovna up to the resurgence in Punkevni cave were explored. The last unfinished part between Amaterska cave and the Sloupsko-sosuvecke Caves remained unexplored until 2005. The cave contains a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

picture, a geometrical shape resembling a grill with a size of 30x40 cm, painted in charcoal on the cave wall. The carbon was dated with the C14 radio-carbon method to be 5,200 years old. The pattern resembles the decorations on some ceramic vessels from that period.
/sup> Image:Nová Amatérská jeskyně, Moravský kras (11).jpg, Amatérská cave, interior Image:Stará Amatérská jeskyně - stalagnit 2.jpg, Amatérská cave, interior Image:Nová Amatérská jeskyně, Moravský kras (13).jpg, Amatérská cave, interior Image:Nová Amatérská jeskyně, Moravský kras (16).jpg, Amatérská cave, interior Image:Nová Amatérská jeskyně, Moravský kras (12).jpg, Amatérská cave, interior

Citations and notes

References

External links

Moravian Karst Show Caves website

Hydrogeochemistry of Dripwaters of the Amatérská Cave (Moravian Karst), Bachelor theses

Plániny website

Amatérská jeskyně: historie výzkumu – Petra Michalíková

Speleological maping

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byci skala Cave Caves of the Czech Republic Limestone caves Blansko District Geography of the South Moravian Region Archaeological sites in the Czech Republic

Description of underground system

History of discovery and of explorations

See also

Citations and notes

References

External links