| Coliboaia Cave | |
|---|---|
| Peștera Coliboaia | |
 Coliboaia Cave,Apuseni Mountains, Romania | |
  location in Romania | |
| Location | Apuseni Natural Park,Bihor County,Romania |
| Coordinates | 46°31′51″N22°35′44″E / 46.53083°N 22.59556°E /46.53083; 22.59556yes |
| Depth | 560 m |
| Length | 750 m |
| Discovery | 1903[dubious –discuss] |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Entrances | 1 |
Coliboaia Cave (Romanian:Peștera Coliboaia,pronounced[koliˈbo̯aja]) is inApuseni Natural Park, Câmpani, Bihor County, Romania. It may contain the oldest knowncave paintings ofCentral Europe,[1] radiocarbon dated to 32,000 and 35,000 years BP,[2][3] corresponding to theAurignacian andGravettian cultures of thePaleolithic period.[4]
The Coliboaia Cave was first mentioned in literature before 1900, but only in 1981 was it extensively investigated byGabor Halasi. The cave was not widely known until September 2009, when prehistoric mural cave paintings were discovered. It was quickly put under protection by theRomanian Federation of Speleology.[5]
The drawings in the Art Gallery are representations of animals, done in black and likely with charcoal. Some of the animals depicted includebison,bears, andrhinoceros, while the subject of other drawings remains unknown. The images are on both walls of the cave and do not appear to have any type of symmetrical pattern.[6]
On the right wall, there is a drawing of a bison. The picture is 1.43 to 2.02 m (4.69 to 6.63 ft) above the ground and executed in bluish-gray lines. On the left side, an illustration of a rhinoceros head is 58 to 89 cm (22.8 to 35.0 in) above the floor. A consistent element to these drawings is that they only represent the heads of animals.[7]
The age of the pictures is being debated. Archaeologists’ estimates vary, but fall within the Middle Paleolithic, in between 35,000 and 23,000 BCE, which corresponds to theAurignacian culture (35,000 to 29,000 years ago) and theGravettian culture (29,000 to 22,000 years ago).[8] However, the fact that cave bears and rhinos were scarce during those two time periods, makes this dating controversial.[dubious –discuss] Furthermore, the drawings do not appear to be completely uniform. This suggests they were not all done at the same time.[1][dubious –discuss]. A more recent paper makes a more accurate dating, using method14C: 26,605 ÷ 36,324 cal. BP.[9]