Felső-forrási Cave

The Upper-Source Cave is located in Miskolc within the Bükki National Park. It is one of Hungary's specially protected caves. Archaeological finds have emerged from the cave. It also appears in tourist guidebooks.

Description

It opens on the Little Fennsík of the Bükk Highlands, in the Source Valley. About 26 metres above the Upper Source, it is located at the base of a rock wall. On the same level as the Bronzika Cave, its large entrance is about six metres wide and about four metres high. The cave is a dying spring cave. Inside it widens up to 15 metres. Its map is misleading, because the entrance is depicted as wider than the interior. The branching cave is heavily filled with debris and opens to the surface at eight places besides its entrance. Of these eight shafts, three have a large diameter, while five have a narrow cross‑section.

It formed in Triassic limestone. Its formation was probably also influenced by the Kaszás‑kúti stream, whose water entered the ground through the Upper-Source Cave shafts before the formation of the Lilla Cave and emerged again in the Source Valley. Its vertical extent and height are 15 metres, its horizontal extent is 34 metres. In the hall‑like passage the cave development is clearly observable, but especially the cave’s decay. It is freely accessible to visitors.

During the excavation, besides many fragments of Neolithic pottery classified as belonging to the Bükk culture, a cave bear finger bone was also found. A grey, well‑crafted, chalcedony prehistoric scraper was also discovered during the excavation.

In 1976 the cave was first called Felső-forrási-barlang in the literature. The cave appears in the literature under the names Felsőforrási I. (Kuchta 1958), Felső-forrási I.sz. barlang (Mészáros 1975), Felsőforrási-barlang (Jakucs, Kessler 1962), Felső-forrási barlang (Örvös 1962), Felső-forrási “kürtős” barlang (Várszegi 1979), Felső-forrási-rombarlang (Lénárt 1979), Felső-forrástöbri-barlang (Bajomi 1977), Forrás-völgyi-barlang (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Forrásvölgyi-barlang (Kadić 1930), Forrásvölgyi barlang (Kadić 1913) and Forrásvölgyi sziklaüreg (Kadić 1915).

Research history

In 1912 Kadić Ottokár conducted a prehistoric trial excavation in the cave, whose existence was reported to him by Kühne Adolf, who also showed the cave to Kadić Ottokár, but the paleontological research was unsuccessful due to the large amount of debris. However, some archaeological finds emerged. At that time he surveyed the large cavity. He considered it probable that Pleistocene layers were also present in its fill. In the book published in 1925 by Illyés Bertalan it is written that in the Forrás valley there is a small rock shelter where a small group can find refuge in case of rain.

According to a study written by Lajos Véghelyi and published in the 1922–1925 volume of Barlangkutatás, the infiltrated sediment always makes cave filling investigation difficult because it makes the age-determining value of the layers' fossil content uncertain, but this does not have to be taken into account for this cave, since the external catchment area is small. In the summer of 1931 excavation was again carried out in the cave by Ottokár Kadić and during this many new Stone Age pottery fragments were found, and on the last day of the excavation a well‑crafted Paleolithic scraper made of gray chalcedony and a bear finger‑print from the cave were uncovered. The excavation was not easy because of the large stone blocks, which could be removed from the cave entrance only after they were blasted apart.

The study published in 1937, *A Bükk-hegység barlangjai*, written by László Schőnviszky, states that it is 25 metres long and 15 metres wide, and has five chambers. In 1939 József Kerekes examined the cave from a karst‑morphological perspective. The 1942 volume of *Országjárás* mentioned that one of the notable caves of the Bükk is the Hámori Forrás‑völgy cave. In 1951 it was placed under archaeological protection together with the smaller cavities found nearby. According to the 1962 book *A barlangok világa*, a collapse a few metres beyond its entrance hinders further progress. In 1975 the Herman Ottó Karst and Cave Research Group increased its length by 12 metres by removing the rock debris found inside.

In the manuscript titled *Hungary's Cave Registry* completed in 1976, it is written that the Forrás Valley Cave, also known as Upper-Source Cave, is located in the Bükk Mountains, at Hámor near Miskolc. It is on the rocky hillside above the Upper Source, at 405 m a.s.l. and about 42 m relative height from its entrance. It is the largest cave on the hillside above the source. A flat chamber at the base of a rock wall. The cave is 25 m long and 4–5 m deep. It consists of a single dying chamber, whose end has collapsed to the surface. It has tourist utilization. Neolithic pottery was found during its filling. It is dangerous to descend. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on two literary works.

In 1976 members of the MKBT North Hungarian Territorial Organization carried out climatological investigations in it, which covered measurements of the cave air temperature, humidity, air movement and the ambient air temperature. In the *Hungarian Speleology Bibliography* published in 1976, compiled by Bertalan Károly and Schőnviszky László, the cave in the Bükk Mountains is listed under the name Upper-Source Cave with the variant name Forrás Valley Cave. The cave name index lists 13 literary works that deal with the cave.