Fenyves Pothole

Fenyves-pothole is one of the caves located in the Aggtelek National Park. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

On the Upper Mountain plateau, 1,935 meters from the peak of Vecsem-bükk, in a specially protected area, northwest of the hunting lodge on Szabó-pallag, about 80 meters from it, it opens in a pine forest on the northeastern side of the hill. According to old descriptions it was within a wildlife protection fence, but currently there is no need to cross a fence. The cave’s location is marked on some tourist maps with the name of the cave. The entrance of the non‑closed cave is large and naturally open. The middle part of the pothole formed in Triassic Wetterstein limestone. Its horizontal extent is 15 meters. Few stalactites are present and several of them no longer develop. It can be visited only with permission and the use of rope‑technical equipment. For the visit 20 meters of rope, a twisted‑knot loop and a rope protector are required.

In its vicinity pine rose, large valley star, Berke agate grass, hare lettuce, mountain plum, peacock‑tailed salamander seal, sword‑shaped bird’s nest, reddish‑brown lady’s‑tresses, violet lady’s‑tresses, hair‑grass and wolf‑lion live, and bats occur in the cave.

The cave appears in literature under the names Bone‑cave (Vlk 2019), Fenyves pot (Kósa 1968–1971), Fenyves‑field‑pothole (Hazslinszky 1981), Fenyves pothole (Balázs 1957), Jeskyně kostí (Vlk 2019), S‑5 (Kósa 1992), Svetlá (Vlk 2019), Sz/5 (Kósa 1964) and SZ/5 (Kósa 1964). In 1965 the cave was first called Fenyves‑pothole in literature.

Research history

The cave was probably first explored by Imre Gábor Bekey during the 1911 lower‑mountain pothole‑exploration expedition. In 1927 Hubert Kessler and his companions entered the pothole and mapped it. The map and a short cave description written by Eugenio Boegan were published in the 3rd issue of the 1929 journal Le Grotte d'Italia. According to a manuscript compiled by Dénes Balázs in 1957, the pothole consists of a vertical shaft 3–4 m in diameter and 15 m deep and another 15 m shaft with an approximate 45° slope. The latter ends in a chamber filled with sediment. The absolute depth of the cave is 22 m and its length is 35 m. Allegedly, shepherds once lived in the pothole. The pothole began to become clogged, and the woodcutters felled many trees inside, making the cave very difficult to traverse.

In 1963 the members of the Red Meteor Caving Research Group precisely measured the location of the cave entrance relative to the hunting lodge on Szabó Hill. According to the measurement, the cave entrance opens at a bearing of 330° 50' and a distance of 157 m from the hunting lodge. In the Karst and Caving Information Bulletin issues 5–6 of 1964, in a study written by Attila Kósa, it is stated that the Fenyves pothole is 22 m deep. The map sketch published in the study shows the geographical location of the cave. In the Karst and Caving Information Bulletin issues 5–6 of 1965, in a study written by Miklós Rónai, it is said that Hubert Kessler and his colleagues explored and measured the cave in 1934, but according to Dénes Balázs in 1937. In April 1967 Péter Frojimovics, Éva Haász and Attila Kósa surveyed the cave, and then Attila Kósa prepared the cave floor plan map and two longitudinal section maps based on the survey. According to the maps the pothole is 19.6 m deep. In the 1968–1971 volume of Karst and Caving, in an English‑language study written by Attila Kósa, a photograph was published showing the entrance of the pothole.

In 1972 and 1973 the Tektonik Barlangkutató Csoport carried out exploratory work in the cave. László Schőnviszky wrote a study in the 1972 first–second semester issue of Karszt és Barlang based on the report published in the 1914 volume of Turista Közlöny. According to the publication, during the 1911 expedition the members of the expedition also lowered the representative Gedeon Aladár on a rope, with insurance, into the 30 m cave. In 1975 Péter Tihanyi collected young Holocene scattered bone remains from the pothole. In the manuscript written by Károly Bertalan, completed in 1976, it is mentioned that the Fenyves pothole (Sz/5) is located in Bódvaszilás, on the Lower Hill. From the hunting lodge on the Szabó plateau to ENy (330° 50′), 157 m, at an altitude of 505 m a.s.l., the cave is 20 m long and 22 m deep. The part of the manuscript describing the cave was written based on three literary works. In the 1976 MKBT Report published and written by Dénes Jánossy it is mentioned that in 1976 a prehistoric scattered find was recovered from the Fenyves pothole on the Aggtelek karst (Péter Tihanyi).

The 1976 report of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, written by László Kordos, states that in the stone rubble filling the bottom of the Fenyves sinkhole next to the Szabó sinkhole there are many bones, which were first collected by Péter Tihanyi in 1975. According to the report, in 1976 László Kordos collected new samples from the fill, which are locally identical to the previous collections. From the samples collected in 1976 László Kordos identified young Holocene scattered bone remains. The assemblage of the 1976 samples consists of the following species: Rana, toad, snake, common frog, bird, mole, bat, Plecotus, large mole, forest mouse, wood mouse, common field vole, common pine vole, field vole, dog species, weasel species and snails. The site (in the case of an exploratory cave survey) may be of comparable significance to the Great-side sinkhole in terms of archaeology.