Shamshir Ghar

Général Description

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Shamshir Ghar (note 1) is a comparatively spacious and essentially dry cave, about 225 m long. It contains some rock art (cave paintings of tridents in red colour, and a possible wall engraving) but only a few speleothems (calcite formations). Known to the broad public for ages (note 2) is Shamshir Ghar today, if it has survived US-American cave demolition frenzy, one of the few well researched caves of Afghanistan (note 3). SITUATION: About 24 km south-west of Kandahar (note 4), and about 5.5 km north-north-east of Panjwayi town. DUPREE, L B (1958: 154, 167) puts the village of Badwan (note 5), a small Pathan farming community on the east bank of the river Arghandab, nearest to the cave but a more recent Internet website (afghanan.net, accessed 2003.05.15) places Shamshir Ghar not far from Deh Morasi Ghundai which appears to be the Demaracy (near N31°32'30”: E065°30'00-, AIMS sheet PH41-04) on the road from Panjwayi to Kandahar. The cave lies south-east of Badwan (north-west of Dmaracy) at an uphill walking distance of 15 to 30 minutes and about 100 vertical metres above the current river bed of the Arghandab in a limestone hill (note 6). SITUATION 1958: ZEIGLER (1958: 19) places the cave approximately 324 feet (98.8 m) above river level and says that the opening is reached by a trail which follows a gully. SITUATION 1957: RATHJENS (1957: 287) positions his Karsthöhle … in der Nähe von Kandahar, etwa 30 km südwestlich der Stadt, bei Panjwai am Arghendab … SITUATION 2000: Aziz-Ur Rehman (2000.10.23 personal correspondence), literally quoted, directs one to the village of Buthwan … From Kandahar 30 miles and 1 1/2 hour drive, situated in south west of the province in mountains valley. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1590 (ABUL FAZL 1590 translated and edited by JARRETT 1893; JARRETT & SARKAR 1949; JARRETT, SARKAR & SEZGIN 1993, 2: 399-400) noted At a distance of five kos [about 20 or 40 km] is a hill called Azhdarkoh [JARRETT & SARKAR 1949: -Dragon Hill-] in which there is a onderful cave known as the Cave of Jamshid. People enter with lighted lamps, but [but too great fear boiling up from suppressed subconcious disturbences are mentally projected to] the oppression of its atmosphere [and] prevents exploration of its extent. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1958 (ZEIGLER 1958: 19): The cave consists of five major chambers, all connected by tunnels. The entire cave is dry except for a moist spot at the end of chamber 5. Thin ledges of limestone a few inches thick project into the chambers a foot or so above the floor; elsewhere the walls are smooth. These ledges are well developed in Tunnel 1 and probably represent less soluble limestone. Chamber 3 is the largest of the chambers, being approximately 60 feet wide and 100 feet long [18 by 30 metres]. Boulders up to 30 feet across [9 m] partially fill this chamber. Some of the this ledges protrude from these walls. Chamber 5 is really a series of six interconnected sinkholes. The end sinkhole contains a deposit of fine clay:the others are partially filled with broken rock. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1958 (after DUPREE, L.B. 1958: 167-168, two cave plans with 4 longitudinal sections), dimensions in metres, 1st width by 2nd height by 3rd length: A west facing cave entrance (after excavation about 5 by 2 m) gives access to a First Chamber (11 by 2.5 by 16 m) with smooth walls. Two -fissures-, perhaps rift passages not pushed to a conclusion, enter from the wall and another two fissures in the ceiling: The Front Porch in the entrance had a calcite travertine [flowstone] floor that dipped into the mouth of the cave. … Near the floor level (before excavation) thin ledges projecting outward attained a width of 50 cm. -These ledges probably represent less soluble zones in the limestone- (John Zeigler MS). A low pinched-in tunnel connects to the Second Chamber (13 by 6 by 17 m) from where a narrow tunnel (1.5 by 1.5 by 11 m) with protruding ledges, apparently formed by running water, leads to the large Third Chamber (25 by30 by 35 m) which contains a few drip stones (stalagmites), protruding ledges and a smoked lamp hole (?) on the floor in the northern end. A jumbled mass of limestone boulders, some 10 m in diameter, separates the 3rd from the Fourth Chamber (10 by 12 by 40 m) which slopes in the opposite direction (south) and ends in a pit were a naturally mummified corpse was found fully clothed and wearing a turban cap. A difficult 4 m climb in the east wall of 3rd chamber ascents to a short tunnel (no dimensions given, circa 4 m wide) which leads to a connected series of sinkholes at right angles to and south of the tunnel. These sinkholes end in a small, moist chamber, were literally thousands of bats [Chiroptera] hung (in 1950) not only from the ceiling but from one another. This is the only moist section of the entire cave. North of and perpendicular to the short tunnel is a straight north-south rift passage (1 by 1 by 28 m) with a parallel side rift (1 by 1 by 15 m). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1957 (RATJENS 1957: 287) notes … eine einzige tiefe [sic! lange] Karsthöhle … an die von der Bevölkerung im weitem Umkreis allerlei seltsame Erzählungen geknüpft werden. Die Höhle mündet seitlich einer kleinen Schlucht unvermittelt am steilen Hange aus und muß schon aus diesem Grunde eine Vorzeitform sein. Ich konnte sie etwa 100 m tief begehen und fand sie von mächtigen Sinterbildungen erfüllt. Merkwürdig ist eine dicke geschichtete Sinterplatte am Eingang der Höhle, die aus der heutigen Situation nicht erklärbar ist. Übrigends hat schon die amerikanische Expedition von 1950 im Eingang dieser Höhle gegraben. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1961, after LINDBERG (1961a: 21) gives … some complementary notes. On the right-hand side near the entrance is a low, 2 to 3 m long passage ending in a 4 or 5 m high chimney. There are more chimneys. On the left-hand side, again close to the entrance, there is a minute spring with the water issuing from a fissure and collecting in a small basin. In the deepest part of thecave one still finds the remnants of the two human skeletons of which one is still clothed. CAVE CONTENTS: DUPREE, L B (1958), looking through an archaeologist's lens, recorded extensive sediments … present only in the First and Second Chambers. A small, thin, and unstratified patch existed in the Fifth Chamber in front of the paintings, but the other chambers contained nothing more than fallen boulders thin layers of dust and in places thick layers of bat dung [guano]. LINDBERG (1961a: 21) observed that the major part of Dupree's 5th Chamber is covered with purple coloured and evil smelling bat excrements and that there are large stalagmites and cauliflower speleothems (botryoidal speleothems). WALLACE & WALLACE (1969: 123) noticed a 2 m high stalagmite is the only significant calcite decoration (speleothem). CAVE DEVELOPMENT: ZEIGLER (1958: 16-27) and ZEIGLER (in DUPREE 1958: 169, fig. 8 on page 170) postulates the cave was formed inside the mountain when rainfall was much highe than at present (probably in the Miocene and early Pliocene) but was opened approximately two thousand years ago. Sediments in the cave preserve a surprisingly good historical sequence of the cave's history: Culturally sterile clays (loess) were deposited before the channelling out process had been completed. Finally, seeping water began the deposit of calcite. Continued erosion and probably repeated freezing and thawing ultimately caved in the roof along fissures about 2000 years ago. The moisture remaining in the cave evaporated, and the caliche found in the First and Second Chamber was deposited. Lack of extensive dripstone deposits in the cave suggests that little moisture has reached the inside of the cave since the chambers were formed. Loess, which blankets higher terraces near Gulbahar, north of Kabul, make it possible to date the well-preserved terraces as Wisconsin and post-Wisconsin. The terraces are representatives of vast quantities of rock which were removed during montain glaciation of the Panjshir valley. CULTURAL HISTORY - human use & folklore: Archaeological excavation of the cave in 1950 by DUPREE, L.B. (1951a, 1951b, 1956a, 1956b, 1956c, 1957, 1958, 1964c, 1972) failed to to find evidence of palaeolithic or neolithic occupation but yielded a stratigraphic sequence of the Afghan historic periods ranging from about the birth of Christ to the Mongol invasion (1220-1227 AD = 598-605 H): The cave was apparently used as a hide-out in socially insecure times (note 7). The trident and dot paintings in the Fifth Chamber have probably a religious significance but DUPREE (1958: 286) suspects that they are the result of refugee, not pilgrim, art. Aziz-ur Rehman (2000.10.23 personal correspondence with Simon J. Brooks) believes in Hindu festivals at the cave (note 8) but appears to confuse his, as he called it, –>Sham Sher Ghara with the –>Bolan Baba Ghara. CAVE CLIMATE: LINDBERG (1958: 130; 1961a: 21) had measured in the entrance air temperatures of 16° (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more he same cave) Vertebrata: Chiroptera: Rhinopomidae: Rhinopoma hardwickei seianum Thomas, R. microphyllum Brünwich, and Vespertilionidae: Miniopterus schreibersi pallidus Thomas. (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more (1957.12.04) and 24°C (1958.04.14), in the 1st chamber 18°C (1957.12.04), in the 3rd chamber 27°C (1957.12.04) and 26°C (1958.04.14) at 75% humidity. The water temperature in the basin was 18°C (1957.12.04). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 130) recorded (and collected?) Oligochaeta (Enchytraeida), Mollusca, Isopoda, Blattida, Coleoptera (Catopida, Ptinida, Lathriida, Dasytida), Diptera (Borborida, Drosophila, Streblida, larvae), Lepidoptera (-Noctuelles-), Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Arachnida (Araneida), Acaria, lizard and bat (Chiroptera). JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746) list from grotte Chamchiar Ghar Arachnida: Acari terrestria: Erythraeidae: Balaustium afghanicum Cooreman; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Argasidae: Argas bonetti Roubaud & Colas - Belcour. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1748) list from -grotte Chamchir Ghar, Kandahar Panjvaï- (same as above) Insecta: Coleoptera: Cholevidae: Nargus mohammedis Saulcy. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1749) list from -grotte Chamchir près Kandahar- (once more he same cave) Vertebrata: Chiroptera: Rhinopomidae: Rhinopoma hardwickei seianum Thomas, R. microphyllum Brünwich, and Vespertilionidae: Miniopterus schreibersi pallidus Thomas.