Many objects have been taken home by the finders, and are now decorating living rooms in the region. But there are so many of them, that new pieces are still being found regularly. One farmer found no less than 3,000 artifacts in a cave. Several of them were sent to the Austrian artifacts researcher, Klaus Dona, who also did research on them (7).
Dona concluded that of those 3,000 objects, 2,500 are made of stone, varying in size from about a medallion to 20 inches (8). The rest are made from kaolin, a clay-mineral that nowadays is used for making ceramics and fireproof materials. Other uses for it are fillings for glue and paint, as a coating for high-quality paper, and even as a cure for diarrhea.
No two pieces are alike. Many objects have a thin layer of patina, but when Dona wet it, to his own surprise, it came off easily. He then thought it was fake, but according to an expert he consulted, this was appropriate. When the machining process isn't exactly used as it should be, the sheen can be washed away from kaoline, by sunlight or moisture. Even after hundreds of years.
To make the story even more baffling, among the 3,000 artifacts in the cave a crystal skull was also discovered.