Kugelsteinhöhle III

The Kugelsteinhöhle III is a tunnel cave near Deutschfeistritz in the district of Graz-Umgebung. It lies on the north-eastern slope of the Kugelstein hill, just below the edge of the high plateau and south of the Leiterhöhle. The cave sits at 485 metres above sea level and is one of several caves in the Kugelstein massif. Archaeologists have found traces of human activity dating back to the La Tène and Roman periods. Excavations uncovered shards of pottery, stone tools made from quartzite and hornstone, and a worked bone point. Animal remains include bones of cave bears, brown bears, bison, wolverines, reindeer and hamsters. Visitors enter through a wide opening nine and a half metres across and three metres high. A spacious passage leads southwest for 21 metres before turning northwest. The floor consists of humus, grey sand, reddish-yellow sand and red-brown Terra Rossa. At the far end a three-metre-deep shaft was dug during excavations, and two side passages run south from the main gallery’s bend.