Case file · Cryptid
Drachenhöhle, the Dragon's Cave of Mixnitz
A large cave above Mixnitz in Styria, Austria, where medieval people found huge bones and took them for the remains of dragons, giving rise to the legend of the 'Dragon slayer of Mixnitz'.
1918 CE · 47.33, 15.38 · status: explained
The account
The bones belonged to cave bears that used the cave for tens of thousands of years, along with cave lions, wolves, ibex and marmots. Between 1918 and 1923 the phosphate-rich cave earth was mined for fertiliser, yielding thousands of tonnes and a rich fossil collection.
The sceptical view
Explained by palaeontology: the 'dragons' were cave bears, a classic example of fossils shaping legends.