Stránská skála

Stránská skála
Toppath on Stránská skála
Highest point
Elevation	310 m (1,020 ft)
Coordinates	49°11′26.05″N 16°40′32.66″E / 49.1905694°N 16.6757389°E / 49.1905694; 16.6757389
Dimensions
Area	15.54 ha (38.4 acres)
Geography
Stránská skála Location in the Czech Republic
Location	Brno, Czech Republic
Parent range	Dyje–Svratka Valley
Geology
Age of rock	Middle Pleistocene

Stránská skála is a hill and a national nature monument in Brno in the Czech Republic. It refers to a Mid-Pleistocene-Cromerian interglacial most important paleontological site in Central Europe.

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Location

Stránská skála is situated in the northern part of the Brno-Slatina district, in the eastern part of Brno. From the geomorphological point of view, Stránská skála belongs to the Dyje–Svratka Valley within the Outer Subcarpathia.

Description

Stránská skála is dating to approximately 600,000 BP, as supported by paleomagnetic dating. It is a 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long and 400 m (1,300 ft) wide hill, built from Jurassic limestone, especially Callovian-Oxfordian, built from light brown Caleidocrinus (Crinoid) mostly and Brachiopoddes and Coral and more other types of limestones rich of fossil fauna as well. Its northwestern slope is composed from karstified limestone cliffs in which numerous fossiliferous fissures and caves were found. Approximately 48 meter (157 ft) of this slope are covered by complex talus fan.

Paleontology

At this place extensive excavations were made by paleontologist Rudolf Musil and his colleagues in 1956–1968 which yielded rich paleothological material, including Homotherium moravicum^[1] teeth and approximately 1600 bones and bone fragments of birds from 23 families, 51 genera and 68 species. Earlier (1943) were Ursus deningeri discovered, an later rich spectrum of coastal animal fossils such as ostracods, bivalves and fishes. The other terrestrial fossil animals are represented mostly of snakes. The site is unique in that it has been a particularly abundant source of prehistoric artifacts (especially stone tools) dating from the Acheulean period, ower Bohunician to Neolitics and Eneolitics, which spanned roughly 27,000 to 20,000 B.C. In addition to the abundance of various stone tools were discovered also fireplaces (the older one 250.000 BP).

Gallery

General view of Stránská skála

References

Valoch, Karel (1989). The Early Upper Palaeolithic in the Eastern Part of Central Europe, Anthropologie XXVII, 2–3, 89–91.
Valoch, Karel (2000). More on the Question of Neanderthal Acculturation in Central Europe, in:Current Anthropology 41:4, 625–626. Chicago
Mlíkovský, Jiří, (2002): Early Pleistocene birds of Stránská skála, Czech Republic: 2. Absolon's cave. Sylvia 38: s. 19–27

^ M. Anton et al.: Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of Homotherium latidens (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology. Quaternary Science Reviews 24 (2004).