Cave painting expert Jean Clottes, PhD, together with other French experts assessed over May 14 -19 in Bihor County (western Romania) the possibility of creating the largest tourist cave network in Romania, which will include over 12 caves in this county.
According to the Romanian Speleological Federation Chairman Viorel Lascu, Jean Clottes PhD, other experts in this field, among whom cave bear expert Michel Philippe, Romanian-French Speleological Association, and ďOrgnac Regional Prehistory Museum conducted an assessment of the Bihor’s archaeological potential, visiting the caves at Fanate, Valea Sighistelului, Rosia, Crisul Repede Gorge and highlighting the ‘Palaeolithic culture’ of these caves.
This archaeological treasure is to be exploited by the experts from the Tara Crisurilor Museum in Oradea (western Romania) as a future complex research, logistically supported by the Romanian Speleological Federation, the Natural Reservation Muntii Apuseni and various speleological clubs. The tourist cave networks will comprise a large number of caves – Vadu Crisului, Varciorog, Crisul Repede Gorge, Ursilor Cave, Scarisoara Cave and Bihorului Gates.
On Monday, Jean Clottes launched in Oradea the book ‘L’Art des Cavernes’ (Cave Art), its launching being attended by over 250 cave-painting lovers who came from Bucharest, Cluj (central-west Romania), Timisoara (western Romania). At the same time he held a conference named ‘Cave Art’ – a journey into space and time into the Palaeolithic art in Europe’, and was followed by the photo exhibition ‘Bihor underground mysteries’, the authors being Cristian Lascu, chief editor at the National Geographic Romania and Andrei Posmosanu from Romanian Speleological Federation.
The conference and the French delegation journey in Bihor took place under the Days of the Tara Crisurilor Museum in Oradea and was the outcome of the partnership between the ‘Tara Crisurilor Museum’ Complex and Orgnac – Grand Site de France, Grotte et Musee Regional de Prehistoire and with the support of Service ďarcheologie de la Direction Regionale des Affaires Culturelles de la region Rhone-Alpes, Ministere de la Culture, Romanian-French Speleological Association and the Romanian Speleological Federation.
Source: Financiarul