Bronzika Cave

Bronzika Cave is one of Hungary's specially protected caves. It is located in the Bükk National Park. It got its name because of a female skull cap from the Bronze Age found in it. A bear eye tooth was also found in the cave. Many different speleothem formations can be observed in the cave.

Description

On the Small Plateau of the Bükk Plateau, 180 metres above the Upper Spring, a tourist trail opens to the south‑southwest near it. At the same level as the Upper‑Spring cave, its entrance is 80 metres west, in the middle of a rock‑lined shaft, among rocks. The entrance can only be seen from very close up. In the entrance chamber is the pentagonal iron door that closes the further passages. It formed in Upper Triassic limestone. Probably the water of the Upper Spring once reached the surface through the cave, as evidenced by its two sandy siphons. This is contradicted by the relatively great depth of the cave. Currently it resembles more a water‑draining cave. The locations of the erosion‑formed passages were significantly determined by tectonic faults. In the passages there are also traces of dissolution below the karst water level, seeping water and collapses.

The branching cave’s treasure of forms is varied. Erosional, solutional and fissure‑type passages can be observed in it. Two cave levels can be distinguished from each other. Ceiling channels and re‑exposed layer heads are found in it. The hydrologically inactive source cave is very dripstone‑rich, like the nearby Lilla Cave, because its passages are close to the surface. Common in the cave are stalactites, flowstones, dripstone draperies, stalagmite curtains, cave pearls and the re‑dissolution of formations. Straw‑like speleothems, speleothem flags, speleothem columns, speleothem curtains, micro‑tubercles, speleothem pools, limestone tufa formations have also developed.

The cave's East-siphon part approaches the Upper-source cave at about 10 metres (the East-siphon is about 10 metres below). The greatest chance of discovering new passages lies in the explorations carried out in the East-siphon and the West-siphon. From the bed of the old stream of the Grand Canyon a cave bear canine tooth, various unidentified bones and most likely a cave hyena lower jaw were recovered. In addition to the bats that regularly roost here, a small predator (possibly a weasel) also tends to visit. The sealed cave can be visited only with the permission of the Bükk National Park Directorate, for research purposes and with a research team. The cave passage is walkable with basic equipment.

The cave received its name because of a female skull cap from the Bronze Age found in it. In 1979 the cave was first called Bronzika Cave in the literature. The cave also occurs in the literature under the name Bronze-hole (Mészáros 1975).

Research history

Sándor Várszegi, in the 1960s, during the demolition of Bronzika Cave, found a bone in the left branch of the cave, 5–6 m from the entrance (Ferenczy 2008). According to Andor Saád the bone is a female skull cap from the Bronze Age. In the summer of 1973 the Miskolc Miners Cave Research Group, led by József Kositzky, explored the cave to about 15 m in length and about 8 m in depth. According to a manuscript by Péter Sűrű from 2008, the skull cap was then found in a small niche on the east side of the entrance hall. The cave, which came to light in 1977, is not mentioned by name in the book Bükk Travel Guide.

The book *Caves in the Bükk* published in 1979 mentions that there was once a water-spring cave above the Upper-Source Cave, the gently sloping side opening Bronzika Cave. A collapse mark can be seen at the bottom of the 20 m long and 15 m deep cave. The cave received its name because a Bronze Age female skull cap was found there. The map attached to the book, showing the area of the Bükks with the highest density of caves, shows the geographical location of the cave marked with number 7. In 1982 Jószef Kárpát surveyed it and prepared its plan view map and longitudinal section map.

According to the cave register sheet of the cave filled out in 1982, Bronzika Cave is 28 m long, 9.5 m deep, 1.5 m high and 9.5 m wide. In the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the national cave list includes the cave in the Bükks under the name Bronzika Cave. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographical location of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükks, indicating the cave’s location. On December 23 2002 János Kiss and Sándor Várszegi began excavating the cave to discover new passages. On December 28 2002 they discovered the Hope Chamber and the Love Chamber. On January 5 2003 further passages were found. On January 18–19 2003 they entered the 50‑year anniversary chamber. János Kiss prepared a draft plan map of the cave on February 23 2003. At the end of March 2003 the cave was sealed with a metal plate door.

From September 1, 2005, according to the decree of the Minister of Environment and Water Management 22/2005. (VIII. 31.) KvVM, the Bronzika Cave located in the Bükk Mountains within the operating area of the Bükki National Park Directorate may be visited with the permission of the supervisory authority. From September 1, 2005, according to the decree of the Minister of Environment and Water Management 23/2005. (VIII. 31.) KvVM, the Bronzika Cave in the Bükk Mountains is a highly protected cave. The 2006 MKBT Information Bulletin reported that the Bronzika Cave located in the Bükk Mountains became a highly protected cave. Members of the Marcel Loubens Cave Research Association led by Péter Sűrű surveyed the cave in 2006 and 2007 on behalf of the Bükki National Park Directorate. From March 8, 2007, according to the decree of the Minister of Environment and Water Management 3/2007. (I. 22.) KvVM, the Bronzika Cave located in the Bükk Mountains within the operating area of the Bükki National Park Directorate may be viewed with the permission of the Directorate.