SLOVANSKA MITOLOGIJA –VIRI IN REKONSTRUKCIJE
MITOLOGIA SLAVA –FONTI E RICOSTRUZIONISLAVIC MYTHOLOGY –SOURCES AND RECONSTRUCTIONS

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Potočka zijavka
Fertility Rites in The Raining Cave2 0 1 2 ,9Boštjan Odar

In memoriam Mitja Brodar

S L A V I C A

X V-Potočka zijavka is one of the most mysterious Palaeolithic cave sites in Europe. For
the ﬁrst time it is proposed that in this cave 32-36 thousand years ago fertility rites were
performed, worshipping a cave bear as totemic animal. Interestingly, we will not ﬁnd anyother archaeological traces in the cave, not even from the youngest historical periods, except of a rock-bowl that was hand-carved with chisel. Though there is no reliable information about the origin and meaning of the rock-bowl, another Slovenian cave site oﬀers avery intriguing explanation about an old Slovene faith and fertility rite. At least in the
Late Middle Ages the fertility rite was abandoned in Potočka zijavka, but the cave itself
continued to play an important role in Christian religious thought as a sacred place until
the 20th Century. The most exciting is the idea about the interplay of three basic elements,
important for life: earth, water and sun. Thus we can follow the concept of trinity mostprobably far back into Palaeolithic times.

M Y T H O L O G I C A

Keywords: Potočka zijavka, Palaeolithic, Middle Ages, fertility rites, trinity

Research history

S T U D I AAlong the Slovenian – Austrian border the mountain ridge of Olševa runs directlyfrom west towards the east. Mount Olševa belongs to the Eastern Karavanke and is partof the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. On the most western side of Olševa the cave of Potočka zijavka (zijavka [zijauka] (fem.) - a gaper) is positioned at an altitude of 1630 m. The cave
was named after one of the previous owners of the cave, a certain Potočnik (ﬁg. 1).
Potočka zijavka is well known among people and mountaineers from both sides ofthe state border between Slovenia and Austria. J. C. Grosz of Austrian-Slovenian roots
from Bela (Bela - Bad Vellach, Austria) was the ﬁrst who investigated Potočka zijavka.
He met his fortune at the rear of the cave, where he came across cave bear bones, one
ﬁreplace and one bone point. As winter was near, he dug out only a shallow trench, 4m3
in size. He carried on excavations the following summer, in 1927, and stopped his excavations in September 1928.To prevent further illegal excavations by Grosz in the cave on
the Yugoslav side of the border (then Kingdom of Yugoslavia), S. Brodar started with excavations by himself with the ﬁnancial support of Celje’s community and the Museum of
Celje. He began to excavate at the rear of the cave, where Grosz had left the trench open.
Excavations took place from 16 September till 6 October 1928. On 21 September Brodar
found the ﬁrst bone points. He was aware of discovering a Palaeolithic site. In the next
9

Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 1. Southern slope of Mount Olševa with Potočka zijavka entrance in the centre of the circle.
Slika 1. Južno pobočje gore Olševe z jamskim vhodom Potočke zijavke v sredini kroga.

years Brodar excavated also at the entrance of the cave. After completing the excavationsin 1935, Brodar handed all artefacts over to the Museum of Celje. Paleontological material, samples of sediments and charcoal from ﬁreplaces were deposited in the building of
the old Gymnasium (Grammar school) in Celje. Just before the end of the Second World
War, on 14 February 1945, a bomb hit the old school in an air raid by Allies. The material
stored in that building was destroyed. Only stone artefacts and bone points that werestored in the museum, survived the Second World War untouched.
The new excavation campaign took place between 1997 and 2000.1 Six bone points
were directly dated with radiometric method AMS 14C. They showed the uncalibrated
age of around 30,000.2 In calendar years these bone points show the time span between
32 and 36 thousand years before the present.3
Finds and their context
Potočka zijavka represents a complex site with three micro-locations: the front of
the cave, the bright part of the cave at the entrance and the rear of the cave where total
darkness reigns (ﬁg. 2).
The most promising area for the archaeological research was surely at the caveentrance and in front of it. The front of the cave is exposed to sunshine and is the warmest place, especially on sunny days. The cave itself is very wet and muddy because of1

Pacher et al., 2004.
Pacher 2001; Rabeder and Pohar 2004.
3
Turk 2007.
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Figure 2. Ground plane and longitudinal section of Potočka zijavka. Areas with the greatest density of bone points,
stone tools and ﬁreplaces are marked in grey. The black dot represents the position of the rock-bowl.
Slika 2. Tloris in presek Potočke zijavke. Območja z največjo gostoto koščenih konic, kamenih orodij in ognjišč so
označena s sivo. Črna pika predstavlja lokacijo skalne sklede.

permanent water dripping from the cave roof and is quite cold. The temperature in the
cave does not rise over 10° C even on the hottest summer days in the last years (25°C
1700 m above sea level). Unfortunately we do not have any archaeological traces from thearea in front of the cave because of erosion caused by snow and ice during the last glacial
maximum (OIS 3).
At the cave entrance, which is illuminated by indirect daylight, the situation was
totally diﬀerent. The oldest occupation horizon is represented by layer 8 with sparse traces of human activities; one small ﬁreplace was found in the centre of the cave entrance.
The richest was the cultural horizon in layer 7 that yielded 16 ﬁreplaces in total. Aroundthe ﬁreplaces the concentration of bone points and stone artefacts was the biggest: 31
bone points in diﬀerent states of preservation originate from this horizon. A huge ﬁreplace was set in the most intensively used part of the cave that has produced more than11

Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

2m3 of pure charcoal. Many charcoal pieces were bigger than a human ﬁst.4 In layer 5
three ﬁreplaces were set at the cave entrance; 11 bone points were found a bit deeper inthe cave. The youngest traces of human activities belong to layer 3; two bone artefacts
and two stone ﬂakes were found near the cave entrance. Many pieces of red pigment andsix jawbones with holes made by a human hand were found at the cave entrance in occupation layers.
But nobody would expect cultural remains to be found in the complete darkness at
the rear of the cave that is lying 15 metres higher than the cave entrance and spreading
to a distance of 100 m from it. Even today it is diﬃcult to approach the rear of the cave,though we are equipped with the modern type of artiﬁcial light. The path is indeed rocky,
very muddy and full of puddles: 81 bone points that were left behind in the complete
darkness represent almost two thirds of the whole collection (128 pieces). All bone points
were concentrated near the eastern and northern cave wall in layers 4 and 5 according to
Brodar. But only two small ﬁreplaces were set in the area without any natural light. The
ﬁrst ﬁreplace was documented by Grosz together with a bone point. It was a part of layer
5 if compared with the proﬁ le of Brodar. The second ﬁreplace was discovered by Brodar
in layer 4. Both excavators noticed a lot of the smallest particles of charcoal scattered allover the place in both cultural layers. Particles of charcoal might provide evidence forthe intense use of torches during some activities in complete darkness. Most probably
the two small ﬁreplaces served the function of maintaining the ﬁre on torches. Brodar
unearthed a unique needle of tubular shape and two jawbones with hand-made holes.
Both Grosz and Brodar failed to ﬁnd stone tools at the rear of the cave.
The list of faunal remains conﬁrms the almost total lack of animals that are traditionally human game. Of all animal bone remains in Potočka zijavka 99.9% are derived
from the cave bear. Other animals are represented only with several bones or teeth.5
The new excavation campaign in 1997–2000 did not essentially change the list of faunal
remains.6 At the rear of the cave only cave bear bones were found. A few bones of deer
(Cervus elaphus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and rabbit (Lepus europaeus) could
bear witness to human hunting. But even these animals could have fallen prey to otherpredators such as cave hyena or wolf. Therefore we have to be cautious in determining
human prey only by the presence or absence of game in cultural layers. Even cut marks
on bones, made by stone tools, tell us little about predators themselves. This is true also
for cave bears from Potočka zijavka, on whose bones very rare cut marks appear.7
Bone artefacts
In total 128 bone points in diﬀerent states of preservation originate from Potočka
zijavka. This collection oﬀers a complex view of how bone points were made and how
they were used. 8 Except for three to ﬁve bone points made of horn-cores of chamois, all
the others were made of cave bear bones. The biggest one is 19 cm long, the smallest only
4 (ﬁg. 3). Bone points were a substantial part of composite hunting weapons. Extensive

4

Brodar S., Brodar M. 1983, 159.
Brodar S., Brodar M. 1983, 90-94.
6
Rabeder et al. 2004.
7
Pohar 2004, 212-213, 215.
8
Odar 2008.
512

Boštjan Odar

Figure 3. Points were made of cave bear bones. Bigger points were used as lance-heads and smaller as arrow-heads.
Damaged bone points were reshaped anew and consequently their function was changing.
Slika 3. Konice so bile izdelane iz kosti jamskih medvedov. Velike konice so bile uporabljene kot sulične osti, majhne
pa kot puščične osti. Poškodovane konice so bile ponovno priostrene in tako se je njihova uporabnost spreminjala.

and thorough experimental research on bone points has shown that hunters, who werevisiting Potočka zijavka around 30,000 years ago, were equipped with lances and bows.9
Especially interesting are the jawbones of cave bears with one or more holes above
the jawbone channel. Eight such jawbones of diﬀerent preservation were unearthed.10
Three of them were lost during the Second World War. Two jawbones were found at
the rear of the cave, one with three holes and one with a single hole. There is no doubtthat these perforations were made by people, as there is a complete absence of carnivore
gnawing marks. Both jawbones lack the jawbone branch (ramus mandibulae) that was
intentionally removed. From the cave entrance three jawbones with a single hole havesurvived till today. Two of them lack the jawbone branch while on the third it is only
partly broken. When the ﬁrst jawbone with three holes was found, Brodar already assumed that it was a certain type of ﬂute (ﬁg. 4a). Seven other specimens only fortiﬁed
his belief. Interestingly, such jawbones appear only in the Slovenian Alpine region. Muchlater, in the 1980’s the ﬁrst experiments with replicas were carried out. Ethno-musician
Mira Omerzel and ﬂautist Matija Terlep unambiguously proved that these perforated
jawbones give a wide range of sounds, which are easy to be transformed into music.11
One more interesting jawbone was found at the cave entrance. The unusually big
jawbone is perfectly preserved and has a single hole on the upper end of the jawbone
branch (ﬁg. 4b). The hole was made with a puncher. The rounded and polished edge of
9Odar 2008a, 180-229; Odar 2011.
Brodar S., Brodar M. 1983, 155-158.
11
Brodar S., Brodar M. 1983, 82, 155-158; Omerzel-Terlep 1996.
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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 4. a) The cave bear jaw with three holes above the mandibular channel represents a certain type of ﬂute. The
jaw-branch was removed intentionally to make sounds and music more easily. b) The cave bear jaw has a hole on
the top of jaw-branch. The hole was made with puncher, probably a bone point. The edge of the hole is nicely rounded
and polished as the jaw would hang on a rope.
Slika 4. a) Čeljustnica jamskega medveda s tremi luknjami nad čeljustničnim kanalom predstavlja poseben tip
piščali. Veja čeljustnice je bila odstranjena namenoma za lažje izvablajnje zvokov in glasbe. b) Na zgornjem delu
veje čeljustnice se nahaja luknja. Luknja je bila narejena s prebijačem, verjetno koščeno konico. Rob luknje je zaobljen in spoliran, kot da bi čeljustnica visela na vrvici.

the hole indicates that the jawbone was hanging by a rope. Brodar thought this jawbone
could be in the function of a totem.12
Rock-bowl»On the hot summer day (1st of August) this year I visited Olševa for the ﬁrst time.
On the return, Ms. T. from Maribor suﬀered from thirst. In the hope of ﬁnding some dropsof water, I went into the mentioned gaper. Indeed, I found in it old totally blackened rockbowl that was made ages ago and deepened in newer times by human hand. I became attentive and I began to observe the cave. I noticed diluvial layers and began to suspect that
here must be a nice part of very old history, a dwelling place of diluvial mammals and maybe even of man.« So begins Brodar with the story about his discovery of Potočka zijavka
on the third page in the newspaper Jutro that came out on Wednesday 17 October 1928.
He mentioned an unusual rock-bowl that was hand-carved. This rock-bowl is still there
and is always full of fresh water that is constantly dripping from the cave roof (ﬁg. 5).
There is no information as to when this bowl was carved, nor do we know who made it.
Until recently this rock-bowl seemed to be the only such cave item known in Slovenia.
Interpretation
Ice Age sanctuary
During his excavation campaign 1928–1935 Brodar made an astonishing conclusion. Due to the numerous bone points and plenty of cave bear bones he assumed that
Palaeolithic hunters climbed up to the highland Alpine cave to slaughter cave bears withaim of getting fur for clothing and meat for food. But he did not try to explain the totallack of burnt bones in the ﬁreplaces and around them. Why would people want to climb
up to the cave on a mountain that is far away from the vast plains, if cave bears lived
12

14

Brodar S., Brodar M. 1983, 54.

Boštjan Odar

Figure 5. The rock-bowl is full of water from spring till late autumn. Water constantly drips from the cave roof until
the winter, when water begins to freeze.
Slika 5. Skalna skleda je od spomladi do pozne jeseni polna vode. Voda nenehno kaplja iz jamskega stropa vse dozime, ko voda zamrzne.

all around in the lowland? The statistic has clearly shown that only one bear every 50
years encountered death in Potočka zijavka.13 What was, then, the reason for so manyﬁreplaces if not for preparation of food? And why so many ﬁreplaces at the cave entrance
that is open to daylight and not at the rear of the cave where a total of 81 bone points was
discarded? These are only a few of the questions that raise suspicion and curiosity.
There is no doubt that Palaeolithic hunters developed a special attitude to cavebears in the case of Potočka zijavka. This attitude is reﬂected both in the ﬂutes made ofcave bear jawbones and in the bone points that are made of cave bear bones. These artefacts were left behind in the cave bear den. Therefore I began to think about the oncevery popular cave bear cult theory that was initiated by the Swiss E. Baechler in the early
1930s.14 He thought to ﬁnd traces of the immolation of cave bears in the Swiss Alpine
cave of Drachenloch. His idea was followed and further developed by P. W. Schmidt and
W. Koppers.15
Once it became recognized, the idea of massive slaughter of cave bears for ritual
purposes in many Alpine caves was not so easy to dismiss. It was B. Kurtén who attacked
the old fashioned idea in the now classic book from 1976, The Cave Bear Story – Life andDeath of a Vanished Animal. Today we know that cave bears encountered natural deathin caves during the hibernation period due to insuﬃcient food supply. Ethnographic
13

Information from Irena Debeljak; Debeljak 2004.
Baechler 1920/1921.
15
Schmidt, Koppers 1924; Schmidt 1964.
14

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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

sources reveal that bear hunt was practised only on special occasions. The hunt took
place during the hibernation period. A bear awakened during hibernation was muchless dangerous. The chosen bears didn’t weight more than 200 kg. It was too dangerous
to hunt bigger bears.16 The average weight of cave bears was much bigger than the weightof bears that live today. Adult cave bear males weighted over 500 kg, females around 300kg.
If we abandon the idea of bear hunt in the case of Potočka zijavka, then there has
been some other reason for human activities in the cave bear den. We should not thinkthat bone points were just lost in the cave. Experimental work led me to the conclusionthat much time and eﬀort is needed to produce bone point. Bone points were too precious objects to be lost in the cave. Everybody would try to ﬁnd lost bone points even if
they were broken. It seems most probable that bone points were intentionally left in the
cave either alone or attached to the wooden shafts of lances and arrows. Interestingly,
indigenous people who live around the circumpolar north once used bone points, madeof bear bones, as tips on hunting weapon. These tribes believed that the outsized powerof the bear would be transmitted to the hunting weapon. They also believed that bears
are distant ancestors or close relatives and that people are able to have common successors with bears.17
Potočka zijavka was surely perceived as shelter by Palaeolithic hunting communities. They were also aware that this cave was a cave bear den. To the traditional hunters
hunting and shelter could represent two general principles, of man and of woman (ﬁg. 6).
Many indigenous people all over the world explain hunting as an act of sexual interaction between the hunter and his prey. Piercing the prey with hunting weaponry and consequently bleeding is compared to the ﬁrst sexual experience of a girl with a man. Therefore hunting does not mean exclusion from the cycle of life, rather it is an act to renew it.
Hunting enables the circulation of living powers between people and animals. Animals
oﬀer their body and powers to people. On the other hand people ensure that the animal
remains will be handled with respect. From the vast regions near the circumpolar northmany bear burials with all their bones lying in an anatomical position are well known.18
At their visits to Potočka zijavka hunters set ﬁres, played music on ﬂutes made ofcave bear bones and one of the members might wear the big cave bear jawbone hanging
around her or his neck. Bone points or hunting armoury and bone ﬂutes would play animportant role in hunting rites and were intentionally left in the cave as part of the rite.
Traces of red pigment, ochre and iron oxide in Potočka zijavka indicate its use during theritual practices: painting the clothes, parts of a body or cave walls. Rites in the cave bearden must have been connected with these animals. Cave bears were born in caves, theyused caves during their life and they died therein.
But not only the cave, the mountain of Olševa itself seems to have an importantrole in the whole setting. The mountain ridge is oriented in east – west direction, and thecave is oriented in south – north direction with the entrance opening to the south. Bothorientations indicate that Mount Olševa with Potočka zijavka was axis mundi, the centreof the world, for Palaeolithic communities. A position in front of the cave entrance gives
one the impression of standing at the top of the world.
16

Pacher 1997; Binford 1997.
Binford 1997; Ingold 2003, 114-115.
18
Kurtén 1976, 91; Zachrisson and Iregren 1974. Ingold 2003, 13, 113-115.
17

16

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Figure 6. The meaning of the bone points and cave could ﬁnd explanation in this scheme. Both items were constantly
present in the everyday life of Palaeolithic communities.
Slika 6. Pomen koščenih konic in jame je mogoče pojasniti s to shemo. Oba pojma sta bila prisotna v vsakdanjem
življenju paleolitskih skupnosti.

At higher symbolic level bone points could represent a link between EARTH and
SUN, the two of three essential elements that contribute to the life on our planet (ﬁg.
7). The third element, that was already mentioned, is WATER from The Raining Cave.
There is, thus, an indication for incorporation of animism into a geo-solar cosmologicalprinciple in the case of the Palaeolithic cave site Potočka zijavka. Otherwise said, we canobserve the interplay of cave bear cult with the fertility cult and worshipping of Earth,
Sun and Water at the same time.
17Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 7. A slight recombination of the previous scheme leads directly towards a geo-solar cosmological principle.
Potočka zijavka seems to be the axis mundi in the Ice Age.
Slika 7. Preobrazba prejšnje sheme nas vodi prav do Zemeljsko-Sončevega kozmološkega principa. Zdi se, da je
Potočka zijavka bila axis mundi v ledeni dobi.

Slovene sanctuary
I was occupied with the mystery of the rock-bowl in Potočka zijavka for a long time.
Oral tradition tells that in the summer sheep were hiding in the cave to avoid the sweltering heat. The sheep pasture on the top of Olševa has a long tradition that might be rooted
in prehistoric times. The locals believe that shepherds had carved the rock-bowl in orderto water the sheep. However, this conviction does not withstand critical judgement. The
rock-bowl is far too small to water ﬂocks of sheep. It is shallow, and it contains not morethan a litre of water. If shepherds had intended to water the ﬂock, then they would haveneeded to place a wooden drinking trough in the raining cave. For themselves shepherds
would easier gather water with pots rather than from the rock-bowl. Traces indicate thatthe bowl was carved out with a metal chisel, most probably with an iron one. Thus therock-bowl has wide time span of existence, lasting from the Iron Age until recent times.
Then, in the year 2010, two papers were published in Studia Mythologica Slavica 13,
describing an old Slovene fertility rite.19 This rite was still in practice in the early 19th century in the Slovene Karst region. It took place in the rock shelter of Triglavca near Divača
each autumn after the buckwheat was harvested. The rite was led by a chief, a sort of holy
1918

Čok 2010; Placer 2010.

Boštjan Odar

Figure 8. Triglavca rock-shelter near Divača village. In the centre of the small shelter stands a big stalagmite with abowl full of water. Above the bowl hangs a stalactite that permanently supplies the bowl with water.
Slika 8. Jamsko zavetje Ttriglavca blizu vasi Divača. V sredini majhnega zavetja stoji velik stalagmit s skledo, polno
vode. Nad skledo visi stalaktit, s katerega nenehno kaplja voda.

man, who was accompanied by four young priestesses. The event was performed secretly
during the night. The catholic church has, namely, eagerly persecuted the old Slovene
faith. The company entered the rock shelter and surrounded the elongated stalagmite withthe hand-carved bowl full of water. Nearby the bowl another hole was drilled in the samestalagmite into which the torch handle was most probably inserted. The stalagmite formation is remarkably reminiscent of a vulva. The elongated stalactite above the stalagmite
can be compared to a penis that supplies the bowl with dripping water (ﬁg. 8). The chief
carried with him the seeds of three types of cereals: wheat, rye and buckwheat. Whengathered around the rock-bowl the chief carefully laid the seeds into the water and begancalling either the female mythological being deva or the divinity Deva (deva (fem.) – a
girl ready for wedding) to protect the crop on the ﬁelds in the forthcoming year from theevil female demon mora. Thereafter the company left the shelter and went quietly home. A
few days later the chief carefully returned to the shelter during the day. Instead of cereals
he already found sprouts in the bowl. He took the sprouts with him and planted them on
the newly ploughed ﬁelds of the conﬁdants, exclaiming: »Jari!« (»Let germinate!«).
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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 9. Standing behind the rock-bowl in Potočka zijavka, we can see the mighty Mount Brana far away .
Slika 9. Ko stojimo za skalno skledo v Potočki zijavki, lahko vidimo v daljavi mogočno goro Brana.

The ritual was most probably forcibly terminated in the mid 19th century. Whenthe story came out ﬁrst in 1967 and once again in the 1970’s from two granddaughtersof priestesses, the fear of disclosure of the old Slovene faith within a catholic milieu was
still present. In order to prevent any harm to those people, the conﬁdant Boris Čok kept
this valuable historic information to himself until recently.
Although the real meaning of the rock-bowl in Potočka zijavka is unknown today,
its function seems to be the same as in the case of the rock-bowl in Triglavca. The position of the rock-bowl itself in Potočka zijavka is unusual. It is situated near the easterncave wall and is not easily seen while examining the cave. From that position the mountain Brana (brana (fem.) - harrow) on the other side of the Logarska valley dominates thecentre of the cave entrance (ﬁg. 9).
What was just a suspicion in previous visits to the cave became evident one day
after the midwinter solstice. On 22 December 2011, I climbed to the cave with the local Marko Slapnik, who took some pictures. The path was covered with 30–50 cm snow
and sunshine was protruding through clouds. We arrived at the cave at 13.45 CET justa few minutes before the Sun became aligned vertically with Mount Brana. At the timeof midwinter solstice the Sun is low enough to illuminate the eastern part of the caveentrance with the rock-bowl in the centre when slowly moving above the peak of Brana(ﬁg. 10). A harrow (brana - object or Brana - name) is as important a tool in agriculture
as the plough. After ploughing and before sowing the ﬁelds have to be harrowed. In
agricultural communities ploughing and harrowing is likened to the sexual act.20 For
2020Teržan 2001.

Boštjan Odar

Figure 10. At the time of mid-wintersolstice the rock-bowl, Mount Brana
and the Sun are aligned. We see thereﬂection of the Sun from frozen waterin rock-bowl.
Slika 10. V času zimskega sončnega
obrata so skalna skleda, gora Brana
in Sonce poravnani. Od površine zamrznjene vode v skalni skledi se odbija
sončni žarek.

the fertility success in agriculture the Sun and plenty of water is needed. Potočka zijavka
is The Raining Cave that is visited by the Sun each year at the time of the midwintersolstice. In that period of time the rock-bowl containing ice is directly illuminated by
the Sun. After midwinter solstice the days become longer and longer, and soon ice in the
cave will slowly begin to melt. The sunny illumination of ice in the rock-bowl could be
an allegory for the starting of life anew.
It is not clear if the old Slovenes inherited the concept of the sacred landscape ofOlševa and the cave sanctuary from the previous inhabitants together with the fertility
rite. Although there is no archaeological or ethnological evidence for such heritage, it
seems to me most probable. But for certain I do not think that there was a direct inheritance from the Palaeolithic times. Rather we should think about the continuity of mental
landscapes that are shaped in the human mind by the complexity of life in particular
landscapes: the same places in diﬀerent times but with almost the same lifestyle result inthe same or almost the same perception of these places.
The Christian sanctuary
When I was sitting in front of the cave in 2009, and enjoying the picturesque sightover the landscape around me, I remembered the local tale that long ago people weregathering white sinter from cave walls. The sinter from Potočka zijavka was used as a
remedy for animals and even people took it sometimes. The locals named this sinter,
21

Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 11. The church of the Holy Spirit was built in the 15th century, but underwent several renovations. Before
raising the church, big white stones were standing on the top of the hill according to oral tradition.
Slika 11. Cerkev Svetega Duha je bila zgrajena v 15. stoletju, a je kasneje bila večkrat obnovljena. Pred izgradnjo
cerkve so na vrhu hriba stali veliki beli kamni, kot pripoveduje ustno izročilo.

looking like a curd, Mary’s milk. Though the name itself must have a symbolic meaning,
the tale does not tell us more. After several hours just before descending, I was quite sure
to recognize the presence of the Virgin Mary in the tale. The Virgin Mary could produce
milk only after giving birth to Jesus Christ. But before that event the Holy Spirit was on
the scene according to the Bible. Playing with the idea, I became aware of the real presence of the Holy Spirit in the vicinity of Potočka zijavka. At the foothills of Olševa there
stands a church of the Holy Spirit, which is in direct eye contact with the cave itself (ﬁg.
11).
The church of the Holy Spirit was built in the 15th Century on the same place whereonce big white stones were standing according to oral tradition. The spot with the stones
was a sacred place to the locals, but later these stones became an allegory for the appearance of the white dove. Therefore the stones underwent the transformation into thechurch of the Holy Spirit. The modest inventory in the church consists of a gothic chalice,
a bell with an inscription in gothic majuscule, and a wooden relief from the year 1425
showing the Holy Trinity.
The idea about the presence of the Virgin Mary in the mountain cave is indeed not
something new. In 1483–1485 Leonardo da Vinci executed the painting of the Virgin
Mary with her child, the infant St. John and an Angel in the rocky shelter. This picture
was commissioned the Franciscan Confraternity in Milan in 1483, and is today on display in the Musée du Louvre known under the name The Virgin of the Rocks. Leonardo
painted also the second version of The Virgin of the Rocks in the period between 1495–
1499 and 1506–1508, which is in the possession of the National Gallery in London. The
most striking fact is that the rocky scenery on both paintings is reminiscent of the scene
22

Boštjan Odar

as seen through the cave entrance of Potočka zijavka with the surrounding mountains
and Logarska valley behind. The impressive waterfall, named Rinka, is a water source
for the river Savinja, which runs through the Logarska valley. But instead of the valley,
Leonardo depicted a broad river, looking like a valley, between the mountains. It seems
almost as if the painter were standing at Potočka zijavka during execution of the twopaintings.
Leonardo’s depiction of The Virgin of the Rocks is a vivid reﬂection of the perception of the Virgin Mary at the time of the great discoveries of Columbus.21 The sight
through the rock shelter towards the river on both pictures might represent a »vein of
the most beautiful water« (vena di aqua bellissima), a metaphorical image through which,in the 14th century, the Dominican Domenico Cavalca sought to convey the purity of
the Virgin. Marian symbolism may also be seen in the rocky shelter itself. In the Songof Solomon (2:14), Mary is described as a »dove ... in the clefts of the rock« (columba inforaminibus petrae) and »in the cavities of walls« (in caverna maceriae). The Virgin Mary
was also considered to be »a rock cleft not by human hand« (lapis sine manu caesus; lapis
abscissus de monte) and »the exalted, untouched, crystalline mountain and the cave inthe mountain« (montagna ecclesa, intatta, cristallina, cavita nella montagna).22 Marianepithets of this kind were also transferred to Christ himself, who was considered the Sonof God born out of the rock, as the »mountain hewn out of the mountain not by humanhand« (mons de monte sine manu hominis excisus). Thus the mountain, rock and cavewere able to symbolize not only Mary, her virginity and thus the Christian paradox ofvirgin birth, but also Christ as the incarnation of God born out of the rock.
The ﬁnal note
At one of the visits to Potočka zijavka in the year 2011, I was involved in longer conversation with the owner of the estate, where the church of the Holy Spirit is standing.
He was complaining over the changing environment because of global warming. Once
when winters were cold and abundant with snow, a huge icicle, looking like a pillar wasformed during the winter at the cave entrance splitting it in two parts. On sunny days
the icicle would reﬂect the sunshine far and wide. This natural occurrence must havelooked impressive and it might be a vivid allegory of the visit of the Holy Spirit (sunshine
reﬂection) to the Virgin Mary (the cave). Interestingly, the encounter of Holy Spirit with
Virgin Mary can be easily compared with symbolism from the Palaeolithic times. It canalso be seen as another expression for worshipping fertility and praising of Earth, Sun
and Water.
I can only imagine how mighty must have looked the icicle in front of the cave inthe last Ice Age more than 30 thousand years ago. But we can still admire hundreds oficy stalagmites at the cave entrance in early spring that can grow over 2 metres high andresemble phalli.

21
22

Zöllner 2011, 64-76.
Zöllner 2011, 67-76, 223-224.

23

Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Ice Age fertility rites: music, dancing and eroticism?
Slovenia
The cave site of Divje babe I is positioned on the northern slope of the Šebrelje
plateau, and above the river Idrijca in western Slovenia. The Šebrelje plateau is part of thefoothills in the most southeastern part of the Alps. The cave entrance is hidden in theforest and is thus not visible from the Idrija valley.
The ﬁrst systematic excavations by Mitja Brodar ran at the cave entrance in 1978
and from 1980 to 1986. Ivan Turk began a new excavation campaign in 1989, which
continued until 1999. He decided to excavate in the inner part of the cave with the new
methods developed by him. More than 80 ESR and AMS 14C dates for all sedimentationlevels were done. They showed a time span between 115,000 and 40,000 years before thepresent.23
Very rare but important ﬁnds indicate that people only occasionally visited thecave. Fragments of bone points were found in the deepest layers. A fragment of the earliest bone point was found in the 115,000-years-old layer, whilst the youngest bone points
originate from the 40,000-years-old layer.24 However the most interesting is a large
ﬁreplace from layer 8, that is around 60,000 years old. The Neanderthal bone ﬂute wasfound nearby (ﬁg. 12).25 In close proximity, two cave bear skulls were found together
facing away from each other.26 The male skull was oriented to the west, the female to theeast. Both skulls were turned around on the crown of the head and were supported withsmaller stones. The male skull has unusual symmetrical holes in both massive spurs behind the mandibular articular depression (fovea articularis mandibulae). The two holes
were probably made for the purpose of strongly attaching or hanging the skull.
But what is the real context of the ﬁreplace with the ﬂute and two cave bear skulls
nearby? The secret is to be found in the old Slovene name of the northern slope of Šebrelje
plateau. The toponym Divje babe means Savage women in English. An incredible sightcan be seen if one stands on the other side of the Idrija valley and looks towards Divjebabe. A natural rock formation in the form of a large vulva is visible directly below the
cave (ﬁg. 13). And this is exactly what the Neanderthals probably saw. The two skulls ofadult cave bears are the most complete skulls in the cave. The female skull was oriented
to the east, where the Earth gives birth to the Sun, whilst the male skull was oriented to
the west, where the Sun goes down. Nearby the ﬂute made from the thighbone of a young
premature cave bear was found. The position of cave bear skulls indicates the same geosolar cosmological pattern, as that previously deﬁned in Potočka zijavka. The ﬁreplace,
two intentionally oriented cave bear skulls, and the ﬂute were all together positioned in
the womb. The rock formation beneath the cave entrance is visible only in winter when
the trees are without leaves. The cave was not appropriate for living. It is almost without
sunlight and it has tricky access, even dangerous due to the steep slope. Rare stone tools
and fragments of bone points conﬁrm this supposition.

23

Turk 2007.
Turk et al. 2001; Turk 2007, 159-165.
25
Turk 1997; Kunej, Turk, 2000; Turk, Dimkaroski 2011. Tuniz et al. 2011.
26
Turk 2003; Turk 2007, 338.
24

24

Boštjan Odar

Figure 12. The original bone ﬂute from Divje babe I (above) and the reconstruction of the ﬂute by Ljuben Dimkaroski, the academy musician – trumpet player.
Slika 12. Originalna koščena piščal iz Divjih bab I (zgoraj) in rekonstrukcija piščali, ki jo je izdelal Ljuben Dimkaroski, akademski glasbenik – igralec trobente.

FranceThe most important region with Aurignacian rock art depictions in Europe is certainly the Dordogne in France. There are to be found many blocks of limestone withengraved pictograms. One of the best known sites with Aurignacian art is Grand Abri La
Ferrassie near Les Eyezies-de-Tayac. In the sediments from the Lower Aurignacian morethan 20 engraved blocks from rock fall were found. In the most cases sexual symbols in
the form of vulvae and phalli were depicted on them. Such depictions from the Aurignacian are also known from Abri Castanet, Abri Blanchard, Abri Cellier in Tursac andfrom caves Chauvet and Cosquer.27
Upper Palaeolithic rock art in caves was a substantial part of rites. The presence ofbone points in the caves, weather as objects or depicted as hunting armoury on cave walls,
indicate a wish of Palaeolithic hunters after renewing the living world. The presence of
hunting weapon in the caves, either as object or depicted on walls, must be considered as
phalli in vulvae. In one of the passages in the cave of Niaux an arrow was depicted on an
27

Clottes 2001; Clottes, Lewis-Williams 1996; Floss 2009; Le Guillou 2001.

25

Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Figure 13. During the winter thenorthern slope of Šebrelje plateau
discloses the secret of its strange
name, Savage women (Divje babe).
Directly beneath the cave a huge
vulva was formed out of the rocky
slope by natural forces. The caveentrance is encircled.
Slika 13. Pozimi severno pobočjeŠebreljske planote razkrije skrivnost njegovega imena – Divje babe.
Iz skalnega pobočja tik pod jamskim vhodom so naravne sile izoblikovale velikansko vulvo. Jamski
vhod je obkrožen.

elongated stalactite, resembling the phalli. The big rocky hill protruding from the earth
at the nearby village of Niaux gives one the impression that the Mother Earth is close togiving birth.28 Thus depicted animals and other signiﬁcant human remains in such caves
were actually positioned in the womb. Several beautifully ornamented bone points were
found in the famous French cave of Lascaux.29 In many cases simple projectiles weredepicted over diﬀerent animal species as in Niuax or Lascaux, for example.30 Clottes andLewis-Williams (1996) have connected cave rock art with trance and magic that occurs
during shamanistic practice in ornamented caves. Music and dancing are a substantial
part of shamanistic practice, so the presence of musical instruments in such caves should
not surprise.
Germany
In the ﬁrst place the oldest known Venus ﬁgurine from Hohle Fels, South Germany
has to be mentioned.31 The ﬁgurine, made of ivory, was found in 2008 on the base of an
Aurignacian layer that was roughly dated with radiometric method AMS 14C to an age
between 31,000 and 40,000 years. Until this discovery, there was an assumption that thetradition of making ﬁgurines with denotation of sexual parts of the body ﬁrst appearedin Gravettian. This ﬁgurine is something special because of the explicit exaggeration ofvulvae and breasts. In the same year the second surprising ﬁnd from the lower Aurignacian layer came to the light. The ﬂute made of bird bone was found in the same horizon
28

Clottes 1997.
Allain 1979.
30
Clottes 1997; Leroi-Gourhan and Allain 1979.
31
Conard 2009a.
29

26

Boštjan Odaras the Venus ﬁgurine and only 0.7m away.32 The composition of both – Venus and theﬂute – indicates some ritual practice in Hohle Fels 30,000 – 40,000 years ago. Three ﬂutes
were also found in the Aurignacian layer of Geiβenklösterle, and are 32,000 to 36,800
years old.33

Aknowledgments for photographic material to:
Luc Moreau (Fig. 1 and 11), David Badovinac (Fig. 3 and 4), Alek Hojnik (Fig. 5 and 9),
Andrej Pleterski (Fig. 8), Marko Slapnik (Fig. 10) and Tomaž Lauko (Fig. 12 and13).

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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Potočka zijavka
Obredja plodnosti v Deževni jami
Boštjan Odar
Odkritje in najdbe
Potočka zijavka je eno od najbolj skrivnostnih paleolitskih jamskih najdišč v Evropi. Zijavka, ki leži na skrajnem zahodnem delu gore Olševe, je postala mednarodno znana leta 1928, ko je v njej začel raziskovati Srečko Brodar. Pred njim je v zijavki
nepooblaščeno kopal Avstrijec slovenskega porekla J. C. Grosz in najdbe, predvsem
ogromno kosti jamskega medveda, odnašal v Avstrijo (sl. 1).
Srečko Brodar je kopanje nadaljeval v zadnjem delu jame, kjer kraljuje popolnatema in kjer je kopal tudi njegov predhodnik. Že po nekaj dneh so kopači poleg velikekoličine kosti jamskega medveda prinesli na svetlo koničasto izoblikovano kost. Brodarje v njej prepoznal človeški izdelek – koščeno konico. V popolni temi je bilo izkopanih
81 koščenih konic in dokumentirani dve zelo majhni ognjišči (sl. 2). Kamenih orodij ne
Grosz ne Brodar nista našla. V svetlem, vhodnem delu jame je bilo odkritih 17 velikih
kurišč, ob katerih so bila raztresena kamena orodja in koščene konice. V debelih slojih jamskih usedlin je Brodar zaznal veliko drobcev rdečega barvila, okre, in večji kosželezovega oksida. V ledeni dobi je bila Potočka zijavka medvedji brlog, saj kosti jamskega medveda predstavljajo več kot 99,9 % vseh živalskih kosti. Potočka zijavka je zelo
mokra in blatna jama, ker v njej nenehoma kaplja voda z jamskega stropa. 1-3
Koščene konice, ki so stare 32–36 tisoč let, so bile sestavni del lovskega orožja,sulic in puščic (sl. 3). Konice so bile izdelane iz kosti jamskih medvedov, velikih in zelo
nevarnih zveri. Iz čeljustnic jamskega medveda pa so ledenodobni obiskovalci izdelali
nekaj piščali z eno ali več luknjami nad čeljustničnim kanalom (sl. 4a). Nenavadno velika čeljustnica jamskega medveda z luknjo na zgornjem delu pa kaže, da je nekoč visela
na vrvici (sl. 4b).4-12
Zanimivo je dejstvo, da v jami ni bilo odkritih nobenih človekovih sledi iz mlajših
obdobij, razen nenavadne skalne sklede, ki je vselej polna vode (sl. 5). O tem, kdaj je bila
skleda izdelana in kdo jo je naredil, ni podatka. Sledi v njej kažejo, da je bila skleda izklesana s kovinskim dletom, najverjetneje železnim. To bi pomenilo, da ima skalna skleda
dolg časovni razpon obstoja, vsaj od železne dobe naprej.
Interpretacija
Ledenodobno svetišče
Brodar je domneval, da so paleolitski lovci pred 30 tisoč leti v jamo prihajali lovit
jamskega medveda. Bodarjeva domneva pa je malo verjetna, saj so jamski medvedi živeli
vsepovsod, tudi v nižinskem svetu. Neverjetno se zdi, da bi se lovci povzpeli do odmaknjene jame 1500 m visoko samo zaradi medveda in bi potem težki tovor – meso in kožuh
nosili v dolino. Poleg tega danes vemo, da je v Potočki zijavki en jamski medved poginil
1-3
4-12

30

Boštjan Odarle na vsakih 50 let, pa še to povsem naravne smrti. Etnološki viri poročajo, da so lovci,
opremljeni s sulicami ter loki in puščicami, le ob posebnih priložnostih uplenili medveda, ki ni bil težji od 190 kilogramov. Večji medvedi bi bili prenevarni. Odrasli jamski
medvedi so tehtali bistveno več, samice okoli 300 kilogramov, samci pa več kot 500 kilogramov. Konice in piščali iz kosti jamskega medveda kažejo, da so ledenodobni ljudje
imeli poseben odnos do teh mogočnih zveri. Zato tudi ni naključje, da so ljudje zahajali
v brlog jamskega medveda. Ker teh zveri niso lovili, so bili obiski povezani z neko drugo
dejavnostjo, ki se je ne da pojasniti z vsakdanjo praktičnostjo ali ekonomijo. V vhodnem
delu jame je bilo odkritih 17 kurišč, v katerih ni bilo ožganih kosti jamskih medvedov, ki
bi kazale na obilne pojedine. Ta ognjišča so potem imela povsem drugačno vlogo. Skupajs piščalmi so bile koščene konice po vsej verjetnosti sestavni del obredja, v katerem soljudje častili jamskega medveda. K obrednim praksam je sodila tudi poslikava oblek inteles. Poleg glasbe in plesa je bil osnovni element obredja tudi ogenj. 13-18
Potočka zijavka je bila v ledeni dobi zavetišče najmogočnejših zveri v alpskem
svetu in je na simbolni ravni verjetno predstavljala ženski princip. Lovske skupnosti, ki
so jamo obiskovale, pa so lov, ki je zelo nevarna dejavnost, dojemale kot moški princip.
Lov je pri mnogih prvobitnih ljudstvih po vsem svetu na simbolni ravni predstavljal
ljubezenski akt med lovcem in plenom (sl. 6). Ta ljudstva so enačila prebadanje plena
z lovskim orožjem in posledično krvavitev s prvim spolnim odnosom mladenke. Zato
ulov zanje ne pomeni prekinitve življenja, temveč njegovo obnovo.
V sistem obredja pa ni bila vključena le jama, temveč celotna gora Olševa, čigar
greben poteka točno v smeri vzhod-zahod. Skupaj s Potočko zijavko, ki je usmerjena v
smeri sever-jug, sta ledenodobnim lovcem po vsej verjetnosti predstavljala axis mundi –svetovno os (sl. 7). Zatorej lahko v Potočki zijavki prepoznamo prepletanje čaščenja jamskega medveda z dvema osnovnima elementoma, ki sta potrebna za življenje: ZEMLJA in
SONCE. Tretji element, ki ga prav tako nahajamo v Deževni jami, je VODA. Prav ti trije
elementi pa tvorijo koncept, ki je znan pod imenom TROEDINOST.
Slovensko svetišče
Dolgo časa se je zdelo, da skalna skleda iz Potočke zijavke predstavlja edinstvenjamski primerek v Sloveniji. V letu 2010 pa sta bila V Studii mithologici Slavici 13 objavljena dva prispevka o skledi, ki je bila vklesana v stalagmit in se nahaja v jami Triglavca
pri Divači (sl. 8). Jama je bila še v prvi polovici 19. stoletja obredni prostor, kjer se je vsako jesen odvil slovenski obred plodnosti. Tudi v tem primeru je stalagmitna skleda, ki
spominja na vulvo, vselej polna vode. Voda nenehno kaplja iz podolgovatega stalagmita
nad skledo, ki bi ga lahko enačili s penisom. Obred, ki se je zaradi sovražnega odnosakatolicizma do starih običajev izvajal skrivoma ponoči, je vodil svečenik v spremstvu
štirih deklet – svečenic. Svečenik je v jamo prinesel seme pšenice, rži in ajde. Vse tri
vrste žita je skrbno položil v vodno skledo, nato pa so svečenice opravile svoj del obreda.
Obredni kraj so nato skrivoma zapustili, svečenik pa se je čez nekaj dni vrnil in iz sklede
pobral zelen šopek vzklitega zrnja. Tega je odnesel na njive zaupnikov in jih zagrebel v
zemljo v spremstvu vzklika: »Jari!« 19-20
Čeprav danes ni znan resničen pomen skalne sklede v Potočki zijavki, lahko njeno
vlogo enačimo s tisto, ki jo je nekoč imela skleda v Triglavci pri Divači. Lega skalne sklede
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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

v Potočki zijavki je izjemno nenavadna. Postavljena je namreč blizu vzhodne jamske
stene in je povsem neopazna. Je pa iz tega položaja vidna izstopajoča gora Brana onkraj
Logarske doline, ki jamski vhod Potočke zijavke navidezno deli na dva dela (sl. 9). Kar jebila sprva domneva, je postalo očitno en dan po zimskem sončnem obratu. 22. decembra
2011 sva z Markom Slapnikom iz Solčave splezala do Potočke zijavke. Pot je bila posuta
s 30–50 centimetri snega in sončni žarki so se prebijali skozi oblake. K jami sva dospela
ob 13.45, le nekaj minut preden je bilo sonce navpično poravnano z goro Brana. V časuokoli zimskega sončnega obrata je sonce dovolj nizko, da izpod svoda jamskega vhoda
osvetljuje vhodni del jame neposredno. Ko je sonce navpično nad Brano, je osvetljen
vzhodni del jame s skalno skledo v središču (sl. 10). Brana je tako pomembno poljedelsko
orodje kot ralo. Po oranju in pred setvijo se polje pobrana. Poljedelske skupnosti oranje
in brananje na simbolni ravni primerjajo s spolnim odnosom. Za rodovitnost v poljedelstvu je potrebno sonce in obilo vode. Potočka zijavka je Deževna jama, ki jo obišče sonce
vsako leto v obdobju zimskega sončnega obrata. V tem času je skalna skleda, ki vsebuje
led, neposredno obsijana s soncem. Po zimskem sončnem obratu postajajo dnevi vse
daljši in kmalu se bo začel led v jami taliti. Sončna osvetlitev ledu v skalni skledi je lahko
alegorija za ponovni začetek življenja.
Krščansko svetišče
Leta 2009 sem ob slikovitem razgledu izpred Potočke zijavke premišljal o tem, daso nekoč domačini strgali z jamskih sten belo sigo. Sigo iz Potočke zijavke so uporabljali kot zdravilo za živali in včasih so jo zaužili tudi ljudje. Domačini so to sigo, ki jepodobna skuti, imenovali Marijino mleko. Čeprav ima poimenovanje simbolni pomen,
ustno izročilo o tem molči. Po nekaj urah, tik preden sem odšel v dolino, sem bil povsem
prepričan, da se za poimenovanjem skriva Devica Marija. Devica Marija je mogla proizvajati mleko le po rojstvu Jezusa Kristusa. A pred tem dogodkom nastopi v zgodbi Sveti
Duh, kot poroča Biblija. Posvetilo se mi je, da se Sveti Duh resnično nahaja v neposrednibližini Potočke zijavke. Ob vznožju Olševe namreč stoji cerkev Svetega Duha, od koder
se odlično vidi Potočka zijavka (sl. 11). Cerkev je bila zgrajena v 15. stoletju na mestu,
kjer so predhodno stali veliki beli kamni, kot pravi ustno izročilo. Ta prostor je bil za
domačine sveti kraj, kasneje pa so kamni postali alegorija za pojav belega goloba. Zato sobeli kamni doživeli preobrazbo v cerkev Svetega Duha. Skromno notranjost sestavljajo
gotski kelih, zvon z napisom v gotski majuskuli in leseni relieﬁ leta 1425, ki upodablja
Sveto Trojico.
Ideja o prisotnosti Device Marije v gorski jami v resnici ni nekaj novega. V letih
1483–1485 je Leonardo da Vinci naslikal Devico Marijo z majhnima Jezusom in svetim
Janezom ter z Angelom v skalnem zavetju. Sliko je naročila Frančiškanska bratovščina iz
Milana leta 1483, danes pa je slika, znana pod imenom The Virgin of the Rocks (Skalna
Devica) na ogled v Musée du Louvre. Leonardo je naslikal še drugo inačico Skalne Device v obdobju med leti 1495–1499 in 1506–1508. Slika danes krasi National Gallery v
Londonu.
Najbolj bode v oči dejstvo, da je celotno okolje, v katero so postavljene biblijske
osebe, skoraj identično s Potočko zijavko in z razgledom po okolici. Zdi se, kot da bi
Leonardo v času nastajanja Skalne Device stal pred vhodom v Potočko zijavko. Le da
je Logarsko dolino, skozi katero teče Savinja, zamenjal z velikansko reko med gorskimi
vršaci. Leonardovi sliki v celoti odsevata dojemanje Device Marije v času velikih Ko32

Boštjan Odar

lumbovih odkritij. Pogled skozi skalno zavetišče na reko predstavlja »žilo najlepše reke«.
Gre za metaforo iz 14. stoletja, s katero je dominikanec Domenico Cavalca poskušal
prikazati čistost Device. Simbol Marije je moč zaznati tudi v skalnem zavetju. V Salomonovi pesmi (2:14) je Marija predstavljena kot »golobica ... v skalni jami« in »v stenskih
jamah«. Devica Marija je bila prikazana tudi kot »skala, ki ni odcepljena s človeško roko«
ali »vzvišena, nedotaknjena kristalna gora in jama v gori«. Takšno prikazovanje Marije
je bilo preneseno tudi na Jezusa. Sin Boga je bil rojen iz skale, kot »gora, iztesana iz gore,ne s človeško roko«. Gora, skala in jama torej niso le simbol Marije, njene nedolžnosti inposledično krščanskega paradoksa o deviškem rojstvu. Ti elementi simbolizirajo tudi
Jezusa kot inkarnacijo Boga, rojenega iz skale. 20-22
Ledenodobni obredi plodnosti: glasba, ples in erotika?
Slovenija
Jamsko najdišče Divje babe I se nahaja na severnem pobočju Šebreljske planote
nad reko Idrijo v zahodni Sloveniji. Jamski vhod je obdan z gozdom in zato ni viden iz
doline Idrijce. Arheološke raziskave v Divjih babah I so potekale med leti 1978 in 1999, ki
sta jih vodila Mitja Brodar (1978–1986) in Ivan Turk (1989–1999). Najstarejše jamske usedline so nastajale pred več kot 115 tisoč leti, najmlajše pa so se odložile pred 40 tisoč leti.
Izjemno redke, a pomembne najdbe kažejo na občasno prisotnost ljudi v jami. Najstarejši
ostanek koščene konice izhaja iz približno 115 tisoč let stare plasti, najmlajše koščene
konice pa so stare 40 tisoč let. Človeške sledi, ki prihajajo iz plasti 8, pa so izjemne, sajspreminjajo podobo neandertalcev v temeljih. V plasti 8, ki je stara približno 60 tisoč let,se je nahajalo večje kurišče, ob katerem je ležala koščena piščal. Piščal je narejena iz stegnenice jamskega medveda, dve leti starega mladiča (sl. 12). V bližini sta ležali na temeobrnjeni lobanji jamskih medvedov, ki sta pripadali odraslima samcu in samici. Lobanja
samice je bila usmerjena točno proti vzhodu, lobanja samca pa točno proti zahodu. Obelobanji sta bili podprti z manjšimi kamni. Kakšen bi lahko bil pomen teh najdb?
Odgovor se skriva v samem imenu severnega pobočja Šebreljske planote – Divjebabe. Če z druge strani reke Idrijce od daleč opazujemo severno pobočje v zimskem
času, ko so drevesa brez listja, se nam prikaže neverjetna podoba: neposredno pod jamskim vhodom zagledamo iz skale izoblikovano vulvo izjemnih razsežnosti (sl. 13). In
prav to so verjetno videli tudi neandertalci. Omenjene najdbe so bile odložene v maternico Zemlje. Jama ni bila primerna za življenje, saj je jamski vhod usmerjen na sever inje jama skoraj brez svetlobe. Dostop do jame iz doline Idrijce pa je zaradi strmine zelotežaven. 23-26
Francija
Francoska regija Dordogne je ena najpomembnejših regij z jamsko umetnostjo v
Evropi. Raziskovalci so v začetku 20. stoletja odkrivali številne piktograme, vgravirane v
skale. Tako so na skalnih blokih iz spodmola La Ferrassie odkrili upodobitve falusov in
vulv, ki sodijo v aurignaciensko obdobje (starost 37–32 tisoč let). Tovrstne upodobitve soznane še iz drugih spodmolov (Castanet, Blanchard, Cellier in Tursac) in jam (Chauvet
in Cosquer).
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Potočka zijavka. Fertility Rites in The Raining Cav

Mlajšepaleolitska skalna umetnost v jamah je bila sestavni del obredov. Prisotnost
konic v jamah, ali kot samostojni predmet ali kot upodobitev lovskega orožja, nakazuje željo paleolitskih lovcev po prenovi živega sveta. Prisotnost lovskega orožja smemo
primerjati s falusi v vulvah, torej spolni akt. V enem od prehodov v jami Niaux je puščica
naslikana na podolgovatem stalaktitu, ki spominja na falus. Velik skalnat hrib, ki se
dviguje nad vasico Niaux, daje vtis, da bo Mati Zemlja vsak hip rodila. Živali v jamskem
sistemu Niaux so torej upodobljene v maternici. Več lepo okrašenih koščenih konic jebilo najdenih v znameniti jami Lascaux. V mnogih primerih so konice ali lovsko orožje
narisane čez različne živali, kot v primeru jam Lascaux in Niaux. Raziskovalca Clottesin Lewis-Williams sta povezala skalno umetnost s transom in magijo, ki se odvijata medšamansko prakso v okrašenih jamah. Glasba in ples sta sestavni del šamanizma, zato
prisotnost glasbil v jamah ne sme presenečati. 27-30
Nemčija
Na prvem mestu je potrebno omeniti doslej najstarejši znani kipec paleolitske Venere iz jame Fels v južni Nemčiji. Venerin kipec z izrazito poudarjenim oprsjem in vulvo
je izrezljan iz slonovine in sodi nekam v zelo širok časovni razpon med 31 in 40 tisoč
let, torej v obdobje aurignacien. Do odkritja v letu 2008 so bili Venerini kipci pripisani
obdobju gravetien, ki je mlajše od 30 tisoč let. Še isto leto so v neposredni bližini Venere
arheologi našli piščal, narejeno iz ptičje stegnenice. Sklop Venere in piščali nakazuje namožnost, da so se v jami Fels pred 30–40 tisočletji izvajali obredi plodnosti. Tri piščali,ki so stare 32–36 tisoč let, so bile najdene prav tako v aurignacienskih plasteh v jamiGeiβenklösterle. 31-33

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