Büdös-pest

Büdös-pest is primarily an archaeologically significant cave, which since 1982 has been one of the caves in Hungary under heightened protection. It is located in Bükki National Park, in the area of Miskolc. The cave, placed under archaeological protection in 1951, is freely visitable and does not even require a lamp for viewing.

Description

It opens on the Little Fennsík of the Bükk-Fennsík, on the side of the Spring Valley, 42 metres above the valley floor, on the northern side of the Szeleta ridge, northeast of the Szeleta cave, at an altitude of 307 metres above sea level. It can be approached from the Majális park bus terminus in Miskolc, following the red cross tourist sign departing from the Ampullagyár, heading eastward in the Spring Valley. After about one kilometre, leaving the large entrance of the Goat-hole to the right, a southern side valley joins in, on which the red square tourist sign leads upward. About 100 metres from the valley floor, a red cave sign on a tree can be seen, leading via a narrow, steep path to the western side of the side valley. Where the steep path reaches the rock wall, the cave sign to the right leads further to Büdös-pest.

Its entrance is 6.5 × 5 metres and arched. The cave formed in Triassic limestone. The 37‑metre‑long, three‑to‑five‑metre‑wide, on average three metres high inactive spring cave gradually rises toward its interior and ends in a 6 × 4‑metre‑diameter, seven‑metre‑high dome opening to the surface, created during the exploration. Approaching the latter is life‑threatening due to collapse risk. It is a popular hiking spot.

In addition to the archaeological finds, bones of a cave bear, cave wolf, badger, cave lion, mountain hare, giant deer, cave hyena, elk, reindeer, stone‑goat, ancient cattle, bison, woolly rhinoceros, wild boar and mammoth have also been brought to the surface from the sediment.

The Büdös-pest occurs in its literature also under the names Büdöspest (Kadić 1931), Büdöspest-cave (Gábori 1977), Büdös-pest-cave (Ringer 2002), Büdös-Pest-cave (Neidenbach, Pusztay 2005), Büdöspest cave (Polgárdy 1941), Büdöspest Cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989), Büdöspesti cave (Kadić 1907), Büdöspesticave (Kadić 1907) and Büdöspestoldali cave.

Research history

In the 1907 volume of the Geological Gazette, in a study written by Ottó Kadić, it is mentioned that Ottó Kadić explored the limestone area belonging to the system of the Szinva valley and here, in the Forrás valley, visited the Büdöspesti cave. Of the 17 examined caves, 6 were caves such as the Büdöspesti cave, which he found most suitable for conducting paleoanthropological and archaeological research. After successful excavations carried out in the Szeleta cave and with knowledge of the presence of early humans in the Bükk Mountains, in 1913 Ottó Kadić deepened another research pit, then already to the bottom of the cave. The result was not disappointing, therefore systematic excavation was started in 1916. The re‑evaluation of the finds was carried out by Zsolt Mester.

Seven Pleistocene and two Holocene layers have been identified in its filling. Accordingly, the first group of layers dates from the last interglacial period, that is, from about 130–100 thousand years ago. In the Pleistocene layers, in the third and fifth layers counted from the bottom, the Bábony, the typical Moustéri and the Charentian cultures, that is, Paleolithic cultures, could be identified. According to Árpád Ringer, the Taubachi culture is also present in the third layer. The two upper Holocene layers are the 8th and 9th layers. The lower brown humus of the 8th layer provided a rich Neolithic artifact assemblage. The finely worked, partly internally patterned, pots decorated with red paint in the scratches belonged to the Bük culture. From this layer a nearly complete skeleton of a woman who died at the age of 45–55 was recovered during the 1913 excavation, buried near the entrance, lying on her back with arms spread. Slightly deeper a male, a child and an infant skeleton were found. In the uppermost layer, apart from a few Stone Age pots, the later Bronze Age Kyjatice culture legacy was present in larger quantity.

According to Véghelyi Lajos's study published in the 1922–1925 volume of Barlangkutatás, the water‑logged sediment always makes cave‑filling investigation difficult because it renders the age‑determining value of the layers' fossil content uncertain, but at this cave this need not be considered, since the external catchment area is small. In the 1931 volume of Turisták Lapja, in the study titled "A lillafüredi barlangok idegenforgalmi jelentőségéről," it is mentioned that the caves of the Bükk Mountains became famous mainly from a scientific point of view. However, there are also caves in the Bükk Mountains that are important from tourism and economic perspectives. These are: the Szeleta Cave, the Herman Ottó Cave, the Kecske‑lyuk, the Büdöspest, the Anna Cave and the Saint Stephen Cave.

In the book published in 1932, Az Aggteleki cseppkőbarlang és környéke, in the section on the caves of the Bükk Mountains, it is stated that the Büdöspest is located near the Szeleta Cave. In the material of the Büdös‑pest excavation a nearly complete Neolithic female skeleton is very notable. The description was written based on four publications. In the book published in 1932, Természetvédelem és a természeti emlékek, the sections dealing with Büdös‑pest from the 1931 edition of the book are repeated. According to the paper by Kadić Ottokár published in the 1939 issue of Barlangvilág, regular excavations carried out in the Szeleta Cave, Balla Cave, Herman Ottó Cave, Kecske‑lyuk, Három‑kúti Cave, Istállós‑kői Cave, Büdös‑pest and Puskaporosi‑kőfülke in the Bükk Mountains yielded so much prehistoric and early archaeological material that it would fill a museum hall.