# Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones)

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Banat](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/banat) › [Caraș-Severin County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/caras-severin) › [Anina](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/city/anina)

> A cave closed to visitors in the Miniș valley near Anina, where some of the oldest modern human fossils in Europe, about 40,000 years old, came to light in 2002.

**At a glance:** Caves in Anina, Caraș-Severin County. Information verified on 31 October 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** The cave is not open to visitors: access is allowed only to research teams, along the diving route through the sump at the Plopa entrance.
- **Address:** Miniș valley, Ponor–Plopa karst system, by the DN57B (Anina – Bozovici), Anina, Caraș-Severin County
- **Coordinates:** 45.02844, 21.8376
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%C8%99tera_cu_Oase
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q946978
- **Categories:** [Caves](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/caves), [Monuments and historic sites](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/monuments-and-historic-sites)

## About Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones)

Peștera cu Oase, the Cave with Bones, is part of the karst system of the Miniș valley, in the Anina Mountains, a few kilometres from Anina. Its galleries lie underground, between the Plopa and Ponor caves, about 40 m above the underground Ponor river, and no longer have any opening to the surface: the old entrances collapsed or were choked with sediment. The name comes from the thousands of cave bear bones covering the floor; during the last Ice Age the galleries were a hibernation site for bears, and their nests can still be seen.

In February 2002 the cavers Ștefan Milota, Adrian Bîlgăr and Laurențiu Sarcina, from the Timișoara club Pro Acva Grup, reached it from below, through the Plopa spring and the underground river, and found a complete human jawbone lying on the surface, named Oase 1. In 2003 the face and other skull bones of an adolescent, Oase 2, turned up, and in 2004–2005 an international team, with the Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology, studied the galleries. The dates point to about 37,000–42,000 years ago, which makes the Oase finds some of the oldest modern human fossils in Europe. In 2015 DNA analysis showed that Oase 1 had 6–9% Neanderthal genes and a Neanderthal ancestor only four to six generations back.

### What you can see

The cave cannot be visited. The only way in passes through a sump 16 m long and 5 m deep, which can only be crossed with diving equipment, then along 220 m of underground river and up a 30 m shaft. To keep it untouched, access is allowed only to researchers, along this route, and the collapsed entrances are not reopened. Nearby you can visit the Bigăr Waterfall on the DN57B, the Nera Gorge and Ochiul Beiului Lake, and towards Reșița, Comarnic Cave, explored with a guide.

## Don't miss

- The Chamber of the Mandible, where the Oase 1 jawbone lay on the surface among cave bear bones.
- The Ramp of the Ancestors, the 7.5 m slope where the face of Oase 2 was found.
- The Gallery of the Bears' Nests, with hibernation hollows dug into the floor by cave bears.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** the Miniș valley is ~10 km from Anina, on the DN57B towards Bozovici (~20 minutes); from Reșița it is ~46 km (~1 hour) and from Timișoara ~130 km (~2h20). The Plopa entrance, through which the only route to the cave passes, is a spring with a sump, not a visitor site. The Bigăr Waterfall is ~19 km away, also on the DN57B, and Comarnic Cave ~42 km.

**Public transport:** the nearest town is Anina, linked to Oravița by the mountain railway; the Miniș valley is reached by car.

### Rules

Access to the cave is restricted to scientific purposes. Do not try to get in through the Plopa spring: the sump can only be passed with cave-diving equipment and training, and the galleries are a palaeontological and archaeological site.

## Details

- **Developed and lit:** No
- **Historical period:** Upper Palaeolithic
- **Civilisation:** early modern humans
- **Year discovered:** 2002

## Frequently asked questions about Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones)

**How do I get to Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones)?**

Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones) is located at Miniș valley, Ponor–Plopa karst system, by the DN57B (Anina – Bozovici), Anina, Caraș-Severin County. More under “Getting there”.

## Nearby attractions

- [Bigăr Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bigar-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Bozovici, CS · ~12 lei · 45 min · Top 100 · 13 km
  The moss-covered tufa waterfall in the Miniș gorge, exactly on the 45th parallel and once famous worldwide; it partly collapsed in 2021 and is regenerating naturally, a few steps from the DN57B road.
- [Beușnița Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/beusnita-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Caraș-Severin County · ~12 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · Top 100 · 14 km
  A moss-clad tufa waterfall whose water fans out in dozens of threads over green steps, in the beech forest of the Cheile Nerei–Beușnița National Park, an hour's walk beyond Ochiul Beiului Lake.
- [Ochiul Beiului Lake](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ochiul-beiului-lake) — Lakes · Caraș-Severin County · ~12 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · 14 km
  A small karst lake with turquoise water clear to the bottom, fed by a spring beneath it and hidden in the forest of the Bei valley, in the Cheile Nerei – Beușnița National Park.
- [Nera Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/nera-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Sasca Montană, CS · ~12 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · 22 km
  Romania's longest gorge, almost 20 km between Șopotu Nou and Sasca Română, with the Devil's Lake, tunnels cut into the rock and a trail crossed by no road at all.
- [Comarnic Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/comarnic-cave) — Caves · Iabalcea, CS · 35 lei · 1½ – 2 hours · 24 km
  A wild, unlit cave in the Anina Mountains with more than 6 km of passages on three levels, 1,750 m of which you explore with a helmet and head torch, led by the national park's rangers.
- [Semenic – Caraș Gorge National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/semenic-caras-gorge-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Carașova, CS · 2 euro + TVA · 4½ – 5 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · 25 km
  A 36,000 ha national park in the Banat, with the 19 km Caraș Gorge, the Semenic plateau, over 800 caves and the virgin beech forest of Izvoarele Nerei, a UNESCO site.

## Featured in the guides

- [The largest cave in Romania and the other records: the longest, the deepest, the oldest show cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/largest-cave-in-romania) — Longest: Wind Cave, over 42 km. Deepest: Avenul de sub Vârful Grind, −815 m. Largest halls: Humpleu. Plus the oldest show cave and the ice cave record.
- [Famous caves in Romania you cannot visit: Movile, Topolnița, Vântului, Coliboaia, Peștera cu Oase (and what to see instead)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/caves-you-cannot-visit-in-romania) — Movile, Coliboaia, Cu Oase, Cloșani and Piatra Altarului are closed; Topolnița and Tăușoare need a permit; Wind Cave is open with a caving guide.

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Last updated: 31 October 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania