Cioarei Cave
Caves
About
The Cioarei Cave in the village of Boroșteni, Peștișani commune, where the great sculptor Constantin Brâncuși was born, has major significance in the history of mankind. Here, one of the oldest human settlements in Europe was found.
The traces of human existence discovered in the cave date back to approximately 50,000 years ago. The Neanderthal man and later, Homo Sapiens, modern man, lived in this cave, hidden from sight in the vegetation of a slope of the Vâlcanului Mountains.
"Geographically, it is located at about 350 meters above sea level and 30 meters above relative altitude to the Bistricioara stream, a tributary of the Bistrița. In terms of surface area, it has a length of 27 meters, a width of seven meters, occupying an area of 85 meters. Due to its geographical positioning, the cave offered the paleolithic man a very favorable natural environment for exploiting resources through hunting, as a result of the animal migration between the mountain and the depression that opens generously at the exit of the waters from the mountainous area. The petrographic diversity of the Bistricioara riverbed was another favorable element for the installation of the Neanderthal man in the Cioarei cave later and of Homo sapiens sapiens, attracted in particular by the strategic and microclimatic elements of the cave: the southwest orientation of the entrance, absence of currents, lack of humidity, small dimensions," explains Dumitru Hortopan, director of the Gorj County Museum.