Mamutowa Cave (Mammoth Cave)

In the 19th century the archaeologist Jan Zawisza dug so many mammoth bones out of this cave that he named it Mamutowa – Mammoth Cave. A huge arched opening in the Kluczwoda Valley near Wierzchowie leads into one of Poland's most important Palaeolithic sites, where some of the oldest artworks found on Polish soil, about 30,000 years old, were discovered. Today the cave is also a magnet for climbers tackling the overhanging routes on the chamber roof.

History of research

Jan Zawisza excavated the cave in 1873–1882; it was the first cave in Poland to be investigated archaeologically. Leon Kozłowski followed in 1913, and Stanisław Kowalski in 1957–1967. The digs revealed several phases of occupation. The oldest, from the transition between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, belongs to the leaf-point cultures, including the Jerzmanowice culture. A later phase belongs to the Aurignacian of 35,000–30,000 years ago, and the clearest traces were left by Gravettian hunters. The cave sediments also yielded bones of woolly rhinoceros, cave bear, reindeer and many other Ice Age animals.

Did you know?

The Archaeological Museum in Kraków holds a collection of about 20 spindle-shaped spear points from the cave, mostly made of mammoth tusk, as well as a small square plaque of tusk with two holes for hanging, decorated with lines of dots. There are also parts of a necklace of drilled animal teeth and an object of reindeer bone that some researchers interpret as a whistle. In 1992 Kraków cavers found a small chamber with dripstone at the end of one passage. In 2008 the film "Deklaracja nieśmiertelności" (Declaration of Immortality) was shot here, about climber Piotr Korczak, who made groundbreaking ascents in this cave.

What you see on site

Beyond the arched portal opens a tall entrance chamber, whose roof has partly collapsed, forming a rock arch. Several narrow passages lead off it; the cave's total length is about 105 m. Before the entrance you can see scallops and potholes on the walls, traces of water once flowing under pressure, and in the north-eastern passage rock surfaces probably polished by animals rubbing against them. The walls and roof of the chamber carry 30 climbing routes graded from IV to VI.8 on the Polish Kurtyka scale.

Tripto tip

This is not a guided show cave: the entrance chamber is easy to reach, but the deeper passages are tight, dark and slippery, so do not go further without a torch and experience. In winter bats hibernate here – do not disturb them. The cave lies in the Kluczwoda Valley, Wielka Wieś municipality, within the Kraków Valleys Landscape Park, on the slope of Berdo hill. A few hundred metres north is the show cave Jaskinia Wierzchowska Górna – together with the valley they make a good half-day plan. For Mamutowa alone, including the walk in, allow about an hour.