Only 1km from our guesthouse you will find the beautiful Lonetal with its
fascinating landscape and history. Itīs the caves of the
Lonetal where the oldest signs of human arts and culture have been
discovered.The most renowned is the lion man. An ivory
sculpture more than 30.000 years old and discovered in a
jurassic cave in the lonetal.
The lion man
 More
than 30 000 years ago, at the beginning of the upper paleolithic
age, the suebian mountains have been part of the living-area of
the early anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens). They
crossed the valleys marked by the ice age in small groups
tracking animals like mammoth, reindeer and wild horse. In the
caves we find evidence of their residence, as campfire rests,
tools and jewelry made out of stone, bone, antler and ivory.
Furthermore, in four caves several small figures have been
discovered. Most of them are entirely sculptured. These figures
carved with stone tools out of mammoth ivory represent the
worldwide eldest objects of mobile art. They show the most
important animals to hunt, but also the most dangerous
individuals, as the cave-bear and cave-lion which have been
admired for their force and strength. This fascination was
expressed through the lion man, the biggest and most spectacular
of the ivory figures, excavated in the
"Hohlenstein-Stadel" cave in the valley of the Lone.
This statuette masterly sculptured out of a mammoth tusk
reconciles animal and human attributes. The animal part is
represented by the lion-head, the long body and the big paws,
the human part by the legs and feet, as well as the upright
position. One cannot decide whether the statue was characterized
as feminine or masculine, because it is preserved only in
fragmentary form.
The fantastic creature of the lion man represents a unique
relic which refers to the intellectual and religious state of
mind of the humans during the last ice age. Nevertheless their
certainly complex view of the world which reflected the daily
struggle with nature cannot be deciphered anymore.
For more information see www.lonetal.net.
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