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Coliboaia Cave

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Site type:
Cave
Lat/Long:
46.53, 22.59
Country:
Romania
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Coliboaia Cave (Romanian: Peștera Coliboaia, pronounced [koliˈbo̯aja]) is located in Apuseni Natural Park, Câmpani, Bihor County, Romania. It may contain the oldest known cave paintings of Central Europe, radiocarbon dated to 32,000 and 35,000 years BP, corresponding to the Aurignacian and Gravettian cultures of the Paleolithic period.

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 the Aurignacian culture (35,000 to 29,000 years ago) and the Gravettian culture (29,000 to 22,000 years ago). 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. A more recent paper makes a more accurate dating, using method 14C: 26,605 ÷ 36,324 cal. BP.