Forat de l'Esclop

The Forat de l'Esclop is accessed through three different entrances.

The upper one is about 12 metres from the base of the cliff and is accessible after a delicate traverse. A narrow entrance gives way to a pit that widens rapidly and that leads to the first small chamber we reach after entering through the lower or main entrance.

The gallery continues horizontally with good dimensions until a small upward step, behind which a small 9-metre pit opens.

Returning to the upward step, at its lower part we find a gallery through which one advances stooping and which opens into the middle of the pit we saw before.

We also find in this spot the start of a gallery that continues under a stalagmitic crust resulting from a re-excavation as explained before.

The gallery is of modest dimensions and we must advance stooping and further on lying down. After a few metres we see a cone of sediments coming from the upper part of the gallery, where among blocks and overcoming a very narrow passage we can access another gallery at a higher level and where, turning back, we will exit to the outside through the third entrance with two eyes and which is located on a ledge of the cliff.

Following the exploration and descending the pit we find a ramp of sediments and blocks that leads us to a low passage.

The gallery continues horizontally for about 15 metres.

A narrow passage continues and a short descending gallery that is filled with blocks, sediments and a large quantity of bone remains, quite old, since a large part are totally cemented to the floor.

These are the remains of a more important cavity dismantled by surface erosion, a phenomenon that we also observe at the nearby Forat del Túnel del Vent, in the same Vall d'Ingla.

We are surprised by a corner with a profusion of dark-coloured helictites due to the mineralization of calcite and further on some beautiful stalagmites and transparent flows that present an exceptional "leopard skin".

Testimonies of this re-excavation are the stalagmitic crusts that have remained hanging after the water carried away the sediments on which they had formed, examples that we find in different places of the cavity.

We also find remains of sediments on transparent speleothems, visually spectacular, giving rise to a phenomenon called "leopard skin".

Some bearded sediments announce that we are in a zone of periodic flooding.

The cavity presents a sedimentary infill with a subsequent re-excavation produced in a period of greater rainfall, probably after the Wurm glacial phase, where water circulation intensified notably, with the consequent increase in underground erosion.

Currently, and although we do not find any permanent water circulation, the pit presents signs that it is exceptionally flooded, especially in the lowest part, as denoted by the presence of bearded sediments on the walls of the final gallery.

The Forat de l'Esclop is accessed through three different entrances.

The upper one is about 12 metres from the base of the cliff and is accessible after a delicate traverse.

The gallery continues horizontally with good dimensions until a small upward step, behind which a small 9-metre pit opens.

Returning to the upward step, at its lower part we find a gallery through which one advances stooping and which opens into the middle of the pit we saw before.

The gallery is of modest dimensions and we must advance stooping and further on lying down. After a few metres we see a cone of sediments coming from the upper part of the gallery, where among blocks and overcoming a very narrow passage we can access another gallery at a higher level and where, turning back, we will exit to the outside through the third entrance with two eyes and which is located on a ledge of the cliff.

Following the exploration and descending the pit we find a ramp of sediments and blocks that leads us to a low passage.

The gallery continues horizontally for about 15 metres.

A narrow passage continues and a short descending gallery that is filled with blocks, sediments and a large quantity of bone remains, quite old, since a large part are totally cemented to the floor.

The bone remains that we find throughout the cavity remain to be studied, especially taking into account that in nearby cavities remains of animals prior to the Neolithic have appeared.

A possible handle of a jar and remains of pottery were also found.

It seems more difficult to locate burials, since at the end of the Bronze Age the dead were cremated and the ashes buried in urns, some of which were found in the nearby Fou de Bor. In any case a controlled excavation would be pertinent.