Jaskinie dorzecza Prądnika – dzieje ewidencjonowania i dokumentowania

There are 757 registered caves in the Prądnik catchment, which lies in the southern part of the Kraków-Wieluń Upland. Six caves of this area were known in the literature before the beginning of the 19th century; two of them, Ciemna Cave and Łokietka Cave, were mentioned as early as in 1691. In the 19th century Ojców and its vicinity became a popular tourist destination. This translated into the growing popularity of caves, which came to be described in the guidebooks. The first cave maps, cross-sections, and topographical sketches showing locations of cave entrances were created during archaeological excavations which started in the second half of the 19th century. Later, amateur archaeologist Stanisław Jan Czarnowski documented several previously undescribed caves. The first inventory of caves, the result of systematic work of Kazimierz Kowalski, was published in 1951 and supplemented in 1954. It includes descriptions and maps of 181 caves from the Prądnik catchment. After the publication of Kowalski’s inventory, several individuals conducted more or less systematic searches for caves in the Prądnik catchment. In 1986, Mariusz Szelerewicz and Andrzej Górny published a complete list of the caves of the Kraków-Wieluń Upland, which included 218 caves from the area in question. Systematic works aimed at preparing a complete cave inventory commenced in 1990. The whole area of the Prądnik catchment was meticulously searched and all the caves were measured and described. A description of each cave was provided with a complete annotated bibliography. The gathered data were presented in 16 preprint booklets. In 2017–2020 the data were supplemented and elaborated in a unified style. Finally, at the end of 2020 the inventory was published. It includes the detailed data of 757 caves of the Prądnik catchment