Description : The Blätterhöhle is the still accessible part of an originally larger rock cave. It is located on the " Weißenstein " in the Lennetal in the Westphalian city of Hagen . The human remains from the late Paleolithic, early Mesolithic and Neolithic times discovered there are of great importance for archaeological research. The Mesolithic finds from the leaf cave, which are up to 11,300 years old, are the earliest direct archaeological evidence of anatomically modern people in Westphalia and the Ruhr area . In addition, these finds are among the earliest human remains from the post-glacial period in Europe. Comparably old human remains are mainly known from caves in Belgium and southern Germany . In 2011, the skull part of a young person from the leaf cavity was dated to around 11,300 years. Of their age comparable finds are in North Rhine-Westphalia to date only from about 30 kilometers from the leaves cave in the scenic similar Hönnetal lying Balver cave known. In an excavation from 1939 with no horizon, the small skull fragment of a human being was dated to an age of 10,400 years using the radiocarbon method in 2003. Unlike in the leaf cavity, the details of the find and other findings are not known. The remains of the skull are exhibited in the Westphalian Museum of Archeology in Herne . The Neolithic finds from the leaf cavity are also of great importance. Burials from this period, which can be attributed to the Michelsberg culture , are rare in Europe. With its dating between 4000 and 3000 BC The skeletal remains of Neolithic people from the leaf cave can be classified as the end of the Michelsberg culture and an early phase of the Wartberg culture . The culture also created gallery graves ; including in East Westphalia, on the northern edge of the Sauerland and in North Hesse. Due to the composition, dating and find situation of its Stone Age relics, the Leaf Cave is one of the most important archaeological sites in Germany. In addition, the finds of great importance for the international Stone Age research. Find complexes comparable to the relics and findings in the leaf cave have so far only become known from caves in southern Germany and Belgium . The early Neolithic findings show a parallel society of hunters / gatherers and agriculturally oriented people. So far, they have rarely been archaeologically proven in this form.
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