Poročila 
THE INTERNATIONAL ROUND-TABLE "MARTEL AND THE SLOVENE 
KARST 1893-1993" (POSTOJNA, NOVEMBER 12 -13, 1993) 
Hundred years ago, in the autumn of 1893, the world famous speleologist Edouard A. 
Martel came to explore the Dinaric Karst within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. He vis-
ited a great deal ofthis karst, but trully important explorations he carried out in Carniola, in 
the Postojnska jama cave system. 
To honour and to recall memories ofthese events, to reassess the Martel's work in our 
karst from the modem point of view and to review the significance of our karst in older 
French literature, the Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU under the patronage ofthe Spe-
Ieological Association of Slovenia and in the coperation with the Museum ofNotranjska, 
organized this round table. 
25 experts from five countries (Austria, France, ltaly, Great Britain, Slovenia) have 
taken part; among them must be mentioned in particular Dr. Karl Mais, the director of the 
Speleological Institute, Vienna, Dr. T. R. Shaw, the author of a comprehensive book His-
tory of Speleology, and the representatives of France, Mr. D. Lopez, consul and Mr. J. 
Granon, the attach for science. In the last moment several eminent participants renounced 
their arrival, among them unfortunately D. Andr, connoisseur and collector ofthe material 
ofMartel 's biography and correspondence, who sent an interesting set of slides about Marte! 
which were shown to the participants. 
Due to short daylight the work was a bit unusually disposed: during the day the field 
work and late in the aftemoon and in the evening the discussion part ofthe meeting. There 
have been presented seven main papers, four of them treating the Martel's work on the 
slovene karst (A. Kranjc, A. Mihevc, D. Rojšek, S. Šebela) and three Martel's activity and 
his significance with an accent on his work in the Dinaric karst (A. Kranjc, K. Mais, T.R. 
Shaw). These papers served as the basis for interesting and detailed discussion for which 
there was no Jack oftime as usually and which is the essential advantage ofthe round tables. 
The field work followed "the Martel's traces" in Postojnska jama, Otoška jama, Pivka 
jama, Črna jama and Magdalena jama and in Škocjanske jame. 
For the organization there were no special financial means neither a cotisation was 
foreseen this is why the material support of Postojnska jama, Škocjanske jame and the 
Postojna commune was so welcome. Of course, the organiser still has difficult and responsable 
task to publish the presented papers and, as usually, we rely on financial support of the 
Ministry for Science and Technology. 
Andrej Kranjc 
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