Skull Cave

(ولسوالی کشنده - AF)
36.084621,66.840820
Grottocenter / carte

Location

Skull Cave (note 1) is one of the archaeologically important (note 2) caves (or rock shelters) in the vicinity of –>Aq Kupruk. The cave entrance opens in a high terrace of the Balkh River (Balkhab) »in the limestone hills of the Hindu Kush mountains about 100 km south of Mazar-i Sharif« (DUPREE 1964: 638). ARCHAEOLOGY: »AK IV (Skull Cave) produced burials of approximately ten Later Iron Age individuals. We have not definitely dated the graves as yet, but we recovered much grave furniture which points (at least tetatively) to about fifth-sixth centuries A.D.« (DUPREE 1972a: 11). The excavated ceramics are described by DUPREE & KOLB (1972). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 02/02/2016

NOTE 1: "Skull Cave" seems to be a field name for »Aq Kupruk Four« (AK4). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 02/02/2016

Documents

Bibliography 02/02/2016

History

EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1965: Louis Dupree and others excavated archaeologically (DUPREE 1972a: 8; SANT 1991: 200-201). Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 02/02/2016

Comments

Limestone

Herbert Daniel Gebauer (02/02/2016)

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.0Asp (Ghar i)
0.8MAR, 2nd (Ghar i)
1.0Mar (Ghar i) [Snake Cave]
58.7SHADIAN PITS
94.6KHULM - MAZAR-e SHARIF road 1 (Cave on the)
97.0HAIBAK - KHOLM CAVES
99.4KHULM - MAZAR-e SHARIF road 2 (Cave of the)
99.9KARA KAMAR, Sarqia-i- Afghania 1
100.2SAYYAD (Caves at)