Csákvári Cave

The Csákvári Cave is one of the caves in Hungary famous for its prehistoric animal remains. It is one of the two caves in the Vértes Mountains that are specially protected, the other being the Vértessomlói Cave. It is the third longest cave in the mountain range, but for a time it was also the longest cave in the range.

Description

At the edge of the Vértes Mountains DK, in the outskirts of Csákvár, on the DNy side of the settlement, the cave entrance is located in the K rock wall of Nagy-hegy (Guba-hegy) 204 m high, at an altitude of 190 m above sea level. The dolomitic cliffs that suggest the mountain’s cave are already visible from a distance on the artificial road leading towards Csákberény, but the cave entrance is barely noticeable because of the dense vegetation. The cave can be reached via the tourist trail marked with a green stripe starting from Csákvár, which then branches into a green cave (Ω) marked tourist path. On tourist maps the location of the cave is indicated with a cave symbol and its name.

The cave, which can be visited without a permit, has a length of 87.5 m, a vertical extent of 10.5 m, a depth of 1.5 m, a height of 9 m, a horizontal extent of 36 m and a volume of 182 m³. The cave, formed in the upper Triassic main dolomite, developed along almost perpendicular, cross‑directional fissures due to corrosion. Three of the fissures open to the surface and form an almost right‑angled space in front of the cave. In the foreground, as a continuation of the fissures, there is a pit about 3.5 m deep and 5 × 2 m in size. This was probably dug during excavation, because older descriptions state that the cave opened from a horizontal area.

Of the three entrances, the middle one, shaped like an inverted V and about 6–7 m high, leads to the main fissure, which is currently somewhat difficult to reach because of a depression located in the forecourt. This is a comfortably walkable passage running to the north, about 30 m long, intersected by fossil and active stalactite flows. At the end of the passage a 6 m high dome rises. Inside, the several‑metre‑long, thickly spreading root system penetrates the fissure through cracks in the ceiling and then runs down along the walls. On the right side of the pit lying in the forecourt a darker, much narrower fissure, 1–1.5 m wide, also leads into the passage system. This passage is open throughout, its ceiling consisting of overlapping, broken large stone blocks. A very narrow, about 0.5 m wide transverse crack connects it with the main fissure. Despite its narrow cross‑section, this part is relatively comfortably walkable even in street clothing, because its walls are dry and clean, and its height never forces the visitor to crouch.

The cave wall is very damp in many places because of seeping water. Consequently (especially near the entrance) much moss and other vegetation has taken hold. The third fissure opening on the left side is short and narrow, narrowing after a few metres. To the left of this fissure, at about 2 m height, there is a Roman‑era Latin inscription. Its full text is difficult to read, both because of natural decay and because of recent graffiti. The mountain’s third longest cave follows the Vértessomlói Cave and the Gánti Cave.

In 1939 the cave was first called Csákvári-barlang in the literature. The cave appears in the literature as Báracháza (Kadić 1926), Báracháza-barlang (Földváry 1935), Báracháza barlang (Polgárdy 1939), Báraczháza (Láng 1926), Barcaháza (Szeghalmy 1937), Bárcaháza-barlang (Szeghalmy 1937), Csákvár Cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989), Csákvárer Höhlung (Horváth 1966), Csákvári Báracháza-barlang (Kocsis 1975), Csákvári barlang (Polgárdy 1939), Csákvári-Eszterházy-barlang (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Csákvári-sziklaüreg (Hír, Borzsák 2003), Csákvári sziklaüreg (Kadić 1926), Esterházi-barlang (Kadić 1936), Esterházy-barlang – this name was given because of the name of Móric Esterházy – (Kaán 1931), Esterházy barlang (Polgárdy 1939) and Eszterházy-barlang (Marosi 1937).

Paleontological finds

180 different animal species were found here. Among the finds were remains of animals that lived in the Jurassic and the Lower Pliocene. Many animals that lived 10–12 million years ago were found, including a three-toed horse (Hipparion primigenium), an ancient giraffe, a mastodon (Gomphotherium longirostre), a saber-toothed tiger (Machairodus cf. Aphanistus) and the Csákvár hyena (Allohyaena kadici). These finds are unique in Europe.

The Csákvár assemblage is rather assigned to the so‑called early Hipparion faunas. At that time the animals lived in a wooded, savanna‑like environment. The interest of the finds is increased by the circumstance that this animal community was collected in a cave, where the hyenas inhabiting the cave probably dragged in the carcasses of animals that fell nearby.

Archaeological finds

During the excavations tools and jewelry of people who lived in the Würm glaciation were also uncovered. Of interest is a finger bone of a human who lived 50–30 thousand years ago, but the flaked scrapers and tools made from animal bones are also remarkable. In the Roman period a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Diana was created in the cave, as the inscription found there testifies: “Dedicated to Diana, Marcus Aurelius Constantinus gladly fulfilled the oath of the veteran of the Praetorians. A. Constantinus erected it at his own expense”.