Brillenhöhle
Brillenhöhle | |
interior of Brillenhöhle | |
| Alternative name | (formerly) Zwickerhöhle |
|---|---|
| Location | near Blaubeuren |
| Region | Ach Valley, Swabian Jura, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Coordinates | 48°24′20″N 9°46′40″E / 48.40556°N 9.77778°E |
| Type | Jurassic limestone |
| Length | 23 m (75.46 ft) |
| History | |
| Material | limestone Karst |
| Periods | Upper Palaeolithic |
| Cultures | Aurignacian, Gravettian, Magdalenian |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1906, 1911, 1951, 1955, 1963 |
| Archaeologists | Robert Rudolf Schmidt, Peter Goessler, Albert Kley, Gustav Riek |
| Condition | advanced decay, ruin |
The Brillenhöhle (German: Brillenhöhle, literally spectacles cave) is a cave ruin, located 16 km (9.94 mi) west of Ulm on the Swabian Alb in south-western Germany, where archaeological excavations have documented human habitation since as early as 30,000 years ago. Excavated by Gustav Riek from 1955 to 1963, the cave's Upper Paleolithic layers contain a sequence of Aurignacian, Gravettian and Magdalenian artifacts. In 1956 the first human fossils were discovered within a fireplace in the center of the cave, a discovery which made important contributions to the foundational understanding of the Magdalenian culture of central Europe.