The 27.000 years old Cave of Konispol
The “Kreshmoi” Cave, or as we may call it the Cave of Konispol, is a large limestone cavern, which has an age of 27,000 years. It lies at a height of 400m near Saraqini’s ridge and the main entrance is set in such a position that it can not be touched by the cold northern winds. Of course this is thought to be one of the main reasons, except for the fact that the view that is being offered is very clear and gives you the opportunity to see all the space that lies before it and to enjoy the miracle that only Joni sea offers. The cave is approximately 50m long, 6m high at its maximum and is divided into two branches, one in the east and another in the west.
It is said that the cave has taken this name since the Christian era, as it was the place where for a very long time Christian believers held it as a pilgrimage place where they could go and perform their prayer rites, fasting.
Over time, it lost its primary function, returning to a place of refuge for residents of the area who could be threatened by the various attacks and fighting that took place in the area, but again there was something more.
It should be said that in this cave, human life has not been interrupted in any case and this can be easily proven, since it is represented throughout the ages: the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Age, the ancient and medieval periods until the nineteenth century. XII AD.
The archaeologist who discovered the cave is Halil Shabani, who together with a group of students from the “Our Archaeologist” circle of Konispol Gymnasium “Bido Sejko” in 1987 discovered the first traces of it, where they could make an ascertainment great that later he would receive a special appreciation from our history.
“In the first survey we saw that there were elements of the Neolithic and Palaeolithic periods in a cultural layer with depths over 1.5 m. With laboratory tests and comparative methods, it was possible to determine the age of the Cave, which resulted in the oldest age of 26,500 years, “says Shabani. Straw and blade work tools, earthenware, painted pottery, terracotta or mud sculpture, carbonated seeds of wild barley, wild grape, thistle, bones of goats, sheep, cows, etc., constitute several from the materials obtained at the “Kreshmoi” Cave.
Cave Description: This is a typical Karstic cave and is 50m long and 6m high at its maximum.
Research Chronicles and Data: It was excavated by Muzafer Korkuti and Halil Shabani between 1989-1990, and by interdisciplinary teams jointly directed by Karl Petruso and Muzafer Korkuti in 1992, 1993, and 1994.
The early Neolithic pottery was characterized by Impresso and Pseudobarbotine wares which are characteristic of the western and central Balkans. The middle Neolithic can be identified due to the exceedingly thick walled vessels that were found. Two different types of pottery suggest occupation in the late Neolithic. These are local and imported painted pottery of Maliq I style. The local pottery is rough and without much finish, whereas the imported pottery, although still containing sand as a temper, is competently fired and varies in colour from cream to grey unlike the local reddish colour.
Source: balkancavearchaeology.weebly.com & blog.urbanus.al
0
Leave a Reply