The Modern Antiquarian. Ancient Sites, Stone Circles, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic Mysteries

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Wildkirchli (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Miscellaneous

Hiking information and maps

Website showing the highlights from various Appenzerland hiking routes and a map of the Ebenalp area.
All of the hiking routes begin at the Ebenalp Cable Car station and center in the valley east of Wasserauen.

http://www.letsgo-europe.com/Switzerland/Appenzell/hiking.html

Website giving the operating times and prices of the Ebenalp cable car.

http://www.letsgo-europe.com/Switzerland/Appenzell/ebenalp.html

The Wasserauen - Ebenalp cable car runs approximately every 10 to 15 minutes on the following schedule:

Jan 1 - Apr 30: 7:30am - 5:00pm
May 1 - May 31: 7:30am - 5:30pm
Jun 1 - Jun 30: 7:30am - 6:00pm
Jul 1 - Aug 31: 7:30am - 9:00pm
Sep 1 - Sep 30: 7:30am - 6:00pm
Oct 1 - Nov 1: 7:30am - 5:30pm
Nov 1 - Dec 31: 7:30am - 5:00pm

Ticket prices differ in the summer and winter, and the cable car station does offer group discount rates:

SUMMER TICKETS
May - Nov One-Way Round-Trip
Single Ticket 18 CHF or 11 EUR 25 CHF or 15 EUR
Group of 8 or more 14 CHF or 8.50 EUR 19 CHF or 11.50 EUR
Group of 25 or more 13 CHF or 8 EUR 18 CHF or 11 EUR
Students under 25 8 CHF or 5 EUR 10 CHF or 6 EUR
Children 6-16 half price half price

WINTER TICKETS
Dec - Apr Adults Kids
Morning (until 1pm) 25 CHF or 15 EUR 18 CHF or 11 EUR
Day Pass 33 CHF or 20 EUR 26 CHF or 15.50 EUR
Half-day after 11:30am 28 CHF or 17 EUR 20 CHF or 12 EUR
Half-day after 1pm 25 CHF or 15 EUR 18 CHF or 11 EUR
Night Ski-Pass 20 CHF or 12 EUR 15 CHF or 9 EUR
Season Pass (ages 7-16) 240 CHF
Season Pass (17 and up) 360 CHF

http://www.ebenalp.ch/en/homesummer/

The offical website of the Ebenalp cable car is in German but contains a live web cam from the top of the Ebenalp cable car station and gives a clear indication of the current weather conditions

Wildkirchli (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Links

Wikipedia article on religion during the Paleolithic period


Wikipedia article on religion during the Paleolithic period

Wikipedia article on Neanderthal Humans


Wikipedia article on Neanderthal Humans

Website on arctolatry or bear worship


Website on arctolatry or bear worship

Wikipedia article on bear worship


Wikipedia article on bear worship

The Cult of the Cave Bear


The Cult of the Cave Bear by PG Chase from the Penn museum in pdf format

Bear worship during the Palaeolithic - University of Hannover


Article on cave bear worship during the Palaeolithic period from the University of Hannover in pdf format

Wildkirchli (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Fieldnotes

Wildkirchli Caves - Fieldnotes

Visited 18/09/2008

If Wildkirchli sounds like a wild place, that's because it is.
Wildkirchli means "little church in the wilderness" and collectively refers to a system of caves in the Alpstein massif of Appenzellerland. This region lies in the northeast corner of Switzerland and is entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen. The town of Appenzell is at the heart of the Appenzellerland and can best be pictured as something out of Willy Wonka's chocolate land. The Wildkirchli cave system itself is found on the south east flank of the Ebenalp Mountain, which at 5,381 ft above sea level, is the most northerly summit of the Appenzell Alps.

The mountains, with their clean air, became a popular tourist attraction and in 1955 a cable car was built from the village of Wasserauen in the valley below. The cable car station of Ebenalp allows access to the mountains' high plateau where hiking trails lead to a network of mountain huts and gasthauses,(guest houses). The Wildkirchli caves are a short 15 minute walk below the Ebenalp cable car station. Beyond the caves is a guest house serving light refreshments. The mountain is a popular hiking destination attracting up to 200,000 visitors a year.

The Wildkirchli caves have been a refuge from the outside world for thousands of years. Their isolation at an altitude of 4770 feet cuts them off almost completely. Evidence suggests that the caves were inhabited by cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) throughout the various ice ages, dating back to 90,000 BC. The caves were first mentioned in a description of the Pilatus Mountains by Joachim Vadian in 1524; although the first detailed description by the Capuchin P. Clemns from Appenzell did not appear until 1716 in the book, Naturhistorie des Schweizerlandes, (Natural History of Switzerland) by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer.

In 1621 the caves where first visited by P. Philipp Tanner, after which time the first altar was built. This so-called "cave shrine" consisted of a shallow barrel vault, and had an entrance porch which was later extended. Hermits sort refuge in the caves, the first being Paulus Ulmann in 1658 to 1660. From this time these hermits became known as Waldbrüder. In 1853 the last hermit died after he took a purler when collecting leaves. Various parts of the caves were re-modelled or sealed up with the current altar back wall dating from 1785. In 1860 a new bell tower and small "guesthouse" was constructed, which in 1972 became a small museum.

Between 1903 and 1908, the caves were partly excavated by the St. Gallen archaeologist Emil Bächler (1868–1950). Bächler discovered evidence of habitation dating back to the Palaeolithic period, 50,000 to 30,000 BC. These included traces of Neanderthal humans who he believed may have co-inhabited the caves with hibernating cave bears. Bächler had carried out investigations at other cave sites and in 1940, published his findings in the book, Das alpine Paläolithikum der Schweiz im W., Drachenloch und Wildenmannlisloch.

Although bear worship or arctolatry as it is collectively called, does exisit in many different forms and cultures throughout the world, Emil Bächlers' speculation on Neanderthal mans' practice during the Palaeolithic period is today regarded with some scepticism. I have included links to various web sites and downloadable pdf's with regard to this subject.

Wildkirchli (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Images (click to view fullsize)

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West Kennett Avenue (Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue) — Images

<b>West Kennett Avenue</b>Posted by Chance

Avebury (Stone Circle) — Images

<b>Avebury</b>Posted by Chance

Windmill Hill (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Images

<b>Windmill Hill</b>Posted by Chance

United Kingdom — Links

The coins of the ancient Britons


Victorian guidebook to coins of various ancient British tribes By Sir John Evans from 1864 - A nighthawkers delight

Download the complete book in PDF via Google books

Stonehenge (Stone Circle) — Images

<b>Stonehenge</b>Posted by Chance

Morbihan (56) including Carnac (Departement) — Links

Carnac at france-for-visitors.com


Visitors guide to France in English for the Carnac area including map

Carnac by car


An amateur's guide to visiting the Carnac stones by car by Graham and Angela

The megalithic monuments of Carnac and Locmariaquer; their purpose and age


Small guide book to the site in English, by Zacharie Le Rouzic from 1908
Download the complete book in various formats including pdf and epub

Hob Hurst's House (Burial Chamber) — Images

<b>Hob Hurst's House</b>Posted by Chance

Plas Newydd Burial Chamber (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) — Images

<b>Plas Newydd Burial Chamber</b>Posted by Chance

Plas Newydd (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Plas Newydd</b>Posted by Chance<b>Plas Newydd</b>Posted by Chance

Plas Newydd (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Another and even more interesting example of this class has recently been brought to light by the Hon. W. O. Stanley, at Plas Newydd, not far from the great dolmen represented on woodcut No. 50.

It is a chamber or cist, 3 feet 3 inches wide by about 7 feot long, and covered by two slabs. Before being disturbed, the supporting slabs must have formed nearly perfect walls, thus distinguishing the cist from those standing on widely-spaced legs. Its principal point of interest, however, is the widely-splayed avenue of stones leading up to it, showing that it was always intended to be visited ; and still more curious are the two holes that were pierced in the slab that closed the entrance. The upper part of this slab is now broken off, but so much remains that it is easy to see that they were originally circular and about 10 inches in diameter. Such holed stones are very frequent in Eastern dolmens, and are also common in Cornwall and elsewhere ; but what their purpose may have been has not yet been explained.

Rude stone monuments in all countries their age and their uses by James Fergussion - London 1872 Page 166 to 168

Boskawen-Un (Stone Circle) — Images

<b>Boskawen-Un</b>Posted by Chance

Burn Moor Complex — Images

<b>Burn Moor Complex</b>Posted by Chance

Lot (46) (Departement) — Images

<b>Lot (46)</b>Posted by Chance

La Pierre-Levée (Poitiers) (Burial Chamber) — Images

<b>La Pierre-Levée (Poitiers)</b>Posted by Chance

Dolmen de Crucuno (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) — Images

<b>Dolmen de Crucuno</b>Posted by Chance

Dolmen de Coste-Rouge (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) — Images

<b>Dolmen de Coste-Rouge</b>Posted by Chance

Morbihan (56) including Carnac (Departement) — Images

<b>Morbihan (56) including Carnac</b>Posted by Chance

Morbihan (56) including Carnac (Departement) — Links

Annuaire-Mairie.fr


Offical listing for many of the monuments in the region. Contains early mono photos - English translation via Google.

The Megaliths of Carnac


Another useful web listing of sites with pictures

The Great Circle, North East Circle & Avenues (Stone Circle) — Images

<b>The Great Circle, North East Circle & Avenues</b>Posted by Chance

The Weddings at Stanton Drew — Images

<b>The Weddings at Stanton Drew</b>Posted by Chance

Charente (16) (Departement) — Images

<b>Charente (16)</b>Posted by Chance

Ashdown Park Sarsens (Natural Rock Feature) — Images

<b>Ashdown Park Sarsens</b>Posted by Chance
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Hail and Welcome

Chance was born in Ratae in the year of the Rat, and grew up in the territory of the Corieltauvi. Now living days walk west of Wale-dich (Avebury), on the border between the Atrebates, the Durotriges and the Dobunni.

Practical experience of excavation on Neolithic, Bronze-age, Roman sites.
Enjoys exploring on bicycle, with wild camp provisions along Roman roads and ancient Celtic tracks. Interested in the various tribes, how they divided their land, their agricultural calendar, their common beliefs and ritual systems. Often attends the tribal meetings held at Avebury and Stonehenge.

Contact - Chippychance on UTube
http://www.youtube.com/chippychance

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