Featured: Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Stone Worlds: Narrative and Reflexivity in Landscape Archaeology

Stone Worlds: Narrative and Reflexivity in Landscape Archaeology

Who's Online

There are currently, 305 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Kent's Cavern - Cave or Rock Shelter in England in Devon

Submitted by AngieLake on Tuesday, 16 May 2023  Page Views: 27009

Natural PlacesSite Name: Kent's Cavern Alternative Name: Kents Cavern
Country: England County: Devon Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Torquay  Nearest Village: Ellacombe
Map Ref: SX93456418  Landranger Map Number: 202
Latitude: 50.467734N  Longitude: 3.502696W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

meyndu would like to visit

AngieLake has visited here

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : One of the most beautiful caves here showing stalactites and stalagmites formed over many millennia. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Kents Cavern is a cave system in Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for its paleolithic archaeological and geological features. The caves are a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and are open to the public.

The caverns and passages at the site were created around 2 million years ago by water action, and have been occupied by one of at least eight separate, discontinuous native populations to have inhabited what is now Britain and Ireland. The specimens discovered here are representative of the era's people (the other representative populations are Pakefield, Boxgrove, Swanscombe, Pontnewydd, Kent’s Cavern/Paviland, Gough's Cave and the present descendants of Celtic lineage).

Read more atWikipedia

Official web site with opening times, what's on and visitor information.

Previous news: New dating analysis shows humans ventured as far as Devon more than 40,000 years ago, see below for details.

Note: Kents Cavern up for sale for ~£2.5m (or offers!)
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : The flint-knapping exhibition linked to RAMM (the temporarily closed museum in Exeter), was in the final chamber of the tour on 17th February. Part of the 'Cutting Edge' exhibition, here Karl Lee, one of Britain's top flint knappers, demonstrated how he makes stone tools. Here he's holding an antler hammer. My 6-yr-old grandson Finley is in the appropriate red 'skull' hoodie! (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : The excellent tour guide brought the caves to life, and here is shown with a typical very early skull (sadly I didn't hear all he was saying, being distracted by the beauty of the caves, and caves in the dark not terribly conducive to my hearing problem!) Please don't miss the chance to take this tour if you're in Torquay. As it was half-term, there were many families present, and my grandsons ... (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Another weird formation. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : The information that [in June 2010] accompanied the display of the tiny piece of jawbone featured in the news item of 6th Nov 2011. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : The fragment of human jawbone with teeth that is making news at the moment. Photographed here in June 2010 at Torquay Museum. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Karl Lee demonstrating the art of flint knapping as part of the Cutting Edge exhibition 17th February.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Another view of some of Karl Lee's hand axes laid out appropriately on a hide. (17th February).

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Examples of Karl Lee's work were laid out on a hide, which looked very natural in the caves.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : A really beautiful wall of rock.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : These two tall thin stalagmites were enclosed by a panel of glass for protection.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Formations of rock were colourful and beautiful.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : One of the earlier passages on the tour was like a crevasse.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : A model of another early explorer, probably William Pengelly, though I didn't note the info board here.

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Showing how the early explorer Father John MacEnery would have worked. "In 1825 this young Irish priest, who was chaplain to a local family, was shown Kent's Cavern by a friend - and he quickly became the first recognised expert on these caves. Many of his names for the tunnels and chambers are still used today and he excavated a large number of flint tools and extinct animal remains. Attempts...

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Reconstruction of typical life style of inhabitants of the caves. "As far back as 350,000 years Kent's Cavern was used as a shelter by our earliest ancestors. Modern humans (Homo Sapien Sapiens) as displayed here, used the caves as a temporary home during hunting trips. They left behind flint tools and weapons which helped them to hunt the herds of animals which grazed outside on a vast grassy...

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Blue plaques commemorating the Rev John MacEnery 1796-1841, Chaplain to the Careys of Torre Abbey in Torquay, and the first systematic explorer of Kents Cavern, and William Pengelly, 1812-1893, the geologist, author, teacher and philanthropist, whose international reputations owes much to his work at Kent's Caverns. [Torbay Civic Society plaques.]

Kent's Cavern
Kent's Cavern submitted by AngieLake : Kents Cavern which won a Best in the SW award in 2008 for its excellent attractions.

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.3km WSW 242° Torquay Museum* Museum (SX9232863616)
 2.2km NNW 327° Stonehenge at Babbacombe Model Village* Modern Stone Circle etc (SX923660)
 6.6km NW 313° Doda Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX887688)
 7.5km S 177° Ash Hole Cavern* Cave or Rock Shelter (SX9370356680)
 7.6km NW 317° Milber Down Camp* Hillfort (SX884699)
 8.0km SSW 210° Broadsands Chambered Tomb* Chambered Tomb (SX89315732)
 8.7km WNW 298° Ladywell (Abbotskerswell)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX858684)
 8.9km WNW 283° Ipplepen Iron Age Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX848664)
 9.8km NW 315° Newton Abbot Museum* Museum (SX866712)
 10.1km WNW 292° Dornafield Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SX842682)
 10.9km NNW 348° Whitewell Woods Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX913749)
 11.2km NW 307° Newton Abbot Fort Hillfort (SX846710)
 12.0km N 354° Lidwell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX924761)
 12.2km WNW 284° Tornewton Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (SX816674)
 12.3km WNW 284° Brokern Cavern Cave or Rock Shelter (SX81596748)
 12.3km WNW 284° Three Holes Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (SX815673)
 12.6km WNW 289° Denbury* Hillfort (SX816685)
 12.9km N 353° Castle Dyke (Devon)* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX92147700)
 13.6km WSW 253° The Brutus Stone* Marker Stone (SX8035760411)
 13.6km WSW 253° Totnes Museum* Museum (SX8030060419)
 14.1km WSW 253° Leech Wells* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX799603)
 15.7km NNW 337° Castle Dyke (Chudleigh)* Hillfort (SX875787)
 16.0km NNW 333° Pixie's Hole Cave or Rock Shelter (SX86547865)
 16.1km NNW 333° Cow Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (SX86477866)
 18.4km NW 320° St Mary's Well (Bovey Tracey)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX820786)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Cerro Del Villar

Bedd y Foel >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Prehistoric Settlements

Prehistoric Settlements

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Kent's Cavern" | Login/Create an Account | 29 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Kent's Cavern by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Fascinated to read about Kent's Cavern. I visited there 70 years ago and the memory of that visit started a fascination in caves.
[ Reply to This ]

Kents Cavern up for sale by Andy B on Tuesday, 16 May 2023
(User Info | Send a Message)
Kents Cavern, described as ‘the most important prehistoric cave complex in Britain’, is up for sale for £2.5m. It is billed by the estate agent as “Britain’s oldest home” and includes a network of caves featuring stalagmites and stalactites, a collection of full-size (replica) ice age animals, and an acre of woodland trails.

Kents Cavern in Devon, which has been open to the public since the 19th century and in the ownership of the same family for 100 years, is now up for sale. Bettesworths agency describes Kents Cavern as “the most important prehistoric cave complex in Britain”, with “a long and rich record of ancient human occupation”.

Matt Pope, writing on PalNet said: "Kents Cavern has been in the ownership of the Powe family for five generations and they have had an open and responsible approach to allowing research and caring for the site, so a change of ownership (despite SAM and SSSI protection) does raise issues of risk and uncertainty." He is looking to coordinate some official response once he has more background.

Here are the links:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/property/britains-oldest-home-kents-cavern-8432695

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/11/devon-bolt-hole-caves-for-sale-billed-as-britains-oldest-home

https://www.bettesworths.co.uk/investment/for-sale/torquay/4627
[ Reply to This ]

Firestone - Kents Cavern as an educational and scientific resource by Andy B on Thursday, 13 October 2016
(User Info | Send a Message)
Kents Cavern, once home to Neanderthals and Britain’s very first early modern humans, and gateway to UNESCO’s English Riviera Global Geopark, has created a charitable organisation called the Kents Cavern Foundation (KCF). It is dedicated to delivering education, scientific research and conservation at the caverns. In 2014, the Foundation received a grant from the Heritage Lottery to fund an exciting two-year project called ‘Firestone’. It aims to encourage the general public to identify, look after and celebrate the exceptional prehistoric heritage in the area and in particular the ancient human occupation of Kents Cavern.

As Project Firestone’s Education, Community and Outreach Officer, I am working with national and international partners to develop interpretation and improved access to the caverns and their collections, showcasing the connections between human evolution, the natural environment and geological heritage. Firestone will also support the wider ambitions of the KCF charity to deliver a centre of excellence for earth heritage and human evolution.Since September 2014, Firestone has begun work on four major ongoing projects: primary school education, the Kents Cavern Collection, development of a woodland trail, and the very first Stone Age School.

Project Firestone was introduced just as the Stone Age became part of the national curriculum for 7–11-year-olds. Firestone is providing support to teachers and schools to integrate the Stone Age into their framework in a cross-curricular fashion, using engaging and challenging materials that are newly developed. the materials accompany learning in the classroom with a visit to Kents Cavern.

Using this topic in the national curriculum, Project Firestone is able to spread awareness of the importance of Kents Cavern in the world’s Stone Age story, initially to local people, but with the aim of creating educational materials that can be used on a national level. We have created activities for school children which involve selling a Stone Age home, figuring out the chronology of Kents Cavern and trying to reconstruct what the local landscape would have looked like.
http://www.kents-cavern.co.uk/primary-schools

The second major project which Firestone has been involved with is to create an archive of the Kents Cavern collection. In 1825, the first recorded excavations were carried out by Fr. John MacEnery. His work was followed up by William Pengelly, who undertook the first major excavation of the cave from 1865–1880. Since MacEnery’s work, it is estimated that in excess of 80,000 artefacts have been found in Kents Cavern during numerous digs, the greatest part being recovered by Pengelly.

While many were sent to Torquay Museum, the Natural History Museum and the British Museum, other artefacts were sent to smaller institutions and to museums and collectors all over the world. For conservational and educational purposes it is important for us to know where the artefacts are housed now and the condition they are in. Firestone has been tasked with locating the Kents Cavern collection and creating an online reference point for anyone to view, detailing what each item is, where it is kept and its condition.

Contact has been made with a few museums throughout the UK and from this around 3000 of the artefacts have been located – so only 77,000 to go!
http://www.kents-cavern.co.uk/dig-deeper

The third project is to develop the woodland trail area of Kents Cavern. This will be ready to use within a couple of months. Firestone has developed an Ice Age animal hunt activity, involving seven panels with information about different prehistoric species which lived during the Ice Age. The panels are complemented with animal images from cave art, provided by our partner sites within the Ice Age Europe network. The woo

Read the rest of this post...
[ Reply to This ]

A cut-marked and fractured Mesolithic human bone from Kent’s Cavern, Devon, UK by Andy B on Sunday, 15 February 2015
(User Info | Send a Message)
A cut-marked and fractured Mesolithic human bone from Kent’s Cavern, Devon, UK, Schulting, R.J., Bello, S.M., Chandler, B., and Higham, T.F.G. 2012.

An isolated adult human ulna fragment recovered from the ‘black mould’ layer of Kent’s Cavern by William Pengelly in 1866 exhibits a series of stone tool cut marks. The specimen has been directly AMS 14C-dated to 7314–7075 cal BC (OxA-20588: 818538 BP) and may be from the same individual as a maxilla fragment dated to the same period. The cut marks are located on the olecranon process, in a position indicative of dismemberment, whereas the fracture characteristics of the bone furthermore suggest peri mortem breakage, typical of butchery for the extraction of marrow. We here present and discuss the specimen and consider both ritual mortuary treatment and anthropophagy as possible explanations. Although it is difficult to interpret a single element in isolation, the latter scenario seems to be better supported and is not without parallel in prehistoric Europe, as indicated by a review of the available literature.

https://www.academia.edu/2233202/A_cut-marked_and_fractured_Mesolithic_human_bone_from_Kent_s_Cavern_Devon_UK
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern, Kevin Dixon recounts the legends. by AngieLake on Saturday, 28 September 2013
(User Info | Send a Message)
Interesting article in local weekly about Kents Cavern.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/KEVIN-DIXON-Did-Kenneth-kill-King-collapse-Kents/story-19855015-detail/story.html#axzz2g8h4VGJQ

[ Reply to This ]

Last chance to see exhibition of stone tools at Kents Cavern, it closes on 31 Jan by Andy B on Thursday, 15 December 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Last chance to see the Exhibition of stone tools at Kents Cavern, it closes on 31 January 2012.

With a wide range of objects from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum 's collections this exhibition shows the variety of raw materials used to produce handaxes, spear heads and scrapers. It reveals sources of suitable stone in south west England and takes a look at some of the main sources from around the world.

This is a rare opportunity to explore the geology and material science of stone tools rather than their often discussed historical or cultural importance. Find out whether people used local rocks or traded stone over long distances. See how the physical properties of the stone influence the final shape, type and quality of the tool. Discover the latest dating methods and how scientists can determine the source of the stone. Examine and handle stone tools and learn how to identify them.

Kents Cavern is a prehistoric cave and award winning visitor attraction. The site was used by Britain's earliest ancient humans thousands of years ago and today the cave is the only underground visitor centre in the UNESCO Global Geopark, a protected national monument and an internationally renowned prehistoric show cave.

Open daily, 9am to 4.30pm
Entry to the exhibition is free. There is an admission charge to visit the cavern.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Chasing Mammoths in Torquay! by AngieLake on Tuesday, 08 November 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
More news from the local area news website regarding the ancient history of Kents Cavern:

"When early man chased mammoths in Torquay .Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Western Morning News Follow.

Torquay has seen some fun times, but perhaps it’s never been quite so wild as it was in the days when the locals used to chase mammoths down what is now the high street.

Northern Europe’s oldest known modern human would have probably joined in with such fun – not for the sport, but because chasing mammoths over cliffs was an effective way of gaining vast quantities of meat at a time when mankind had very few weapons."

More here:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/early-man-chased-mammoths-Torquay/story-13788229-detail/story.html

[ Reply to This ]

Humans ventured as far as Torquay more than 40,000 years ago by Andy B on Sunday, 06 November 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
The early humans were pioneers who took advantage of a temporary warm spell to visit Britain during the last ice age

A fragment of human jaw unearthed in a prehistoric cave in Torquay is the earliest evidence of modern humans in north-west Europe, scientists say.

The tiny piece of upper jaw was excavated from Kents Cave on the town's border in the 1920s but its significance was not fully realised until scientists checked its age with advanced techniques that have only now become available.

The fresh analysis at Oxford University dated the bone and three teeth to a period between 44,200 and 41,500 years ago, when a temporary warm spell lasting perhaps only a thousand years, made Britain habitable.

The age of the remains puts modern humans at the edge of the habitable world at the time and increases the period over which they shared the land with Neanderthals, our close relatives who evolved in Europe and Asia.

More in the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/nov/02/humans-torquay-ice-age
[ Reply to This ]
    Professor Erik Trinkaus connects humans to their Neanderthal ancestors by Andy B on Thursday, 15 December 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Professor Erik Trinkaus of Washington University connects humans to their Neanderthal ancestors

    In a world in which people pride themselves on the virtues of being human, physical anthropology professor Erik Trinkaus aims to unite modern man with the Neanderthal—society’s depiction of the village idiot.

    Through ongoing research, Trinkaus hopes to connect man to his evolutionary ancestors and strip Neanderthals of their stereotype as primitive and ignorant beings.

    Trinkaus was part of an international team that reexamined the 40,000-year-old Kent’s Cavern fossil in England, the earliest known sign of the modern man in Europe. His findings and theories on the subject were featured in The New York Times, The Scientist and Scientific Computing earlier this month.

    His work has already gotten anthropologists to accept that as modern humans spread across Europe, Neanderthals were absorbed into their ranks.

    His research chimes in on a century-long debate regarding the transition between Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe.

    “On the surface, this is just a paper more thoroughly diagnosing this scrappy little piece of jaw as a human rather than a Neanderthal,” Trinkaus said. “In fact, it is part of the puzzle of this much bigger picture, and the ultimate question here is not ‘What did this fossil look like and how old is it?’ but…‘How much [more] superior are we than archaic forms of humans? How special are we as modern humans compared to late archaic humans?’”

    But it is difficult for the Kent’s Cavern fossil to answer these questions because archaeologists cannot be sure of exactly how old it is—their dating methods have a margin of error of about two millennia.

    Due to this uncertainty, archeologists cannot be completely sure of how its age compares with that of another ancient fossil—one of a jaw with three teeth, found in Romania’s Pestera cu Oase (the Cave with Bones), which also dates back to around 40,000 years ago.

    Trinkaus said his British colleagues believe the Kent’s Cavern fossil to be the older of the two and that the spread of Neanderthal innovations was caused by their imitation of modern humans.

    Trinkaus believes that Neanderthals were smart enough to advance with these innovations on their own.

    “I personally would be proud to have a Neanderthal amongst my ancestors,” Trinkaus said. “They were tough; they lived under incredibly difficult circumstances.”

    Neanderthals often survived with severe arthritis and other crippling ailments, such as blindness and missing limbs.

    Trinkaus noted that he has received numerous responses to his findings, some praising him for his discoveries that stand to ground humans in their evolutionary history.

    http://www.studlife.com/news/2011/11/21/wu-professor-connects-humans-to-their-neanderthal-ancestors/
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern artefacts in Torquay Museum by AngieLake on Saturday, 19 June 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
Torquay Museum's site page now has a few photos of artefacts from Kents Cavern.
It is an interesting museum and well worth a visit. See site page for opening times, etc.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern hosting Stone Age exhibition by AngieLake on Friday, 12 February 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
CUTTING-EDGE cave technology from the Stone Age goes on show in Torquay tomorrow.

The 12-month exhibition at Kents Cavern shows a variety of raw materials used to produce handaxes, spearheads and scrapers.

All items have been loaned by Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum, giving visitors a rare insight into prehistoric life.

It also shows the latest dating methods and how scientists can determine the source of the stone, allowing them to trace the movement of early tools.

Nick Powe, owner of Kents Cavern, said: "It's really exciting that a place like Kents Cavern has a display like this.

For more, link here:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Stone-Age-exhibition-caves/article-1830270-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern to be iconic Centre For the Ice Age? by AngieLake on Monday, 05 October 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
This article appeared in today's Herald Express:

£12m scheme to turn cavern into national education centre
Monday, October 05, 2009, 09:30

PLANS to create a £12million visitor and education centre at Torquay's Kents Cavern, to tell the story of prehistoric man in Britain, were unveiled today.

Proprietor Nick Powe, whose family has owned the Wellswood caverns for around 100 years, is working on ambitious plans to create an attraction of national status reflecting the fact it is one of the most important Stone Age sites with a history of human occupation stretching back 500,000 years.

Mr Powe said they want to create a centre of the same kind of stature as the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, the Tate in St Ives or the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth.

The caves are already Britain's oldest scheduled ancient monument and are one of the key sites for the resort's UNESCO Global Geopark status.

Mr Powe said they want to create an 'iconic' Centre For The Ice Age at the cavern, which as well as appealing to tourists will attract geology and archaeology enthusiasts, students and academics from across Britain and abroad.

For more of this story, click here:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/163-12m-scheme-turn-cavern-national-education-centre/article-1391519-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]

Cave dig unearths important finds by coldrum on Thursday, 01 October 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
Cave dig unearths important finds

Sheffield archaeology student Iona Chaddock excavating at Kents Cavern
The dig is part of a study into why and when Neanderthals became extinct

Teeth and bones from late Ice Age animals, including hyenas, deer and woolly rhinos, have been discovered by archaeologists at a cave in Devon.

The dig at Kents Cavern, Torquay, also unearthed a 15,000-year-old spearpoint, known as a "sagaie", which is made from reindeer antler from the same era.

The spearpoint is thought to be the first complete one found in the UK.

The dig, organised by the University of Durham and the University of Sheffield, is part of a study into Neanderthals.

Improve understanding

The team at the helm of the privately-funded dig is trying to discover exactly when and why Neanderthals became extinct.

It is also hoping to discover when our own species first came to the UK and if it is connected to the death of Neanderthal Man, as well as finding out more about the nature of later Ice Age life in the cave.

Some items found during the dig are sent away, after cleaning, for radiocarbon dating to accurately check their age.

It is believed that the teeth and bones from the hyena could date back more than 25,000 years.

Bones from a woolly rhinoceros
Teeth and bones from late Ice Age animals have been found in the cave

Dr Paul Pettitt, senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Sheffield, said: "Our excavation is still in its early days but has already unearthed excellently-preserved fossils and a spearpoint of antler from the Ice Age.

"Our research will dramatically improve our understanding of life between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago."

Before the dig could go ahead, permission had to be sought from the government because Kents Cavern is the oldest recognisable human dwelling in Britain and is classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8253091.stm
[ Reply to This ]

Caves give up more secrets by coldrum on Thursday, 01 October 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
Caves give up more secrets

A NEW dig to find evidence of Britain's first man starts in Torquay next week.

The team of archaeologists are back at Kents Cavern to continue their major excavations underground in search of more evidence for the Neanderthal occupation of the caves tens of thousands of years ago.

The cavern is open during the excavation from Tuesday to Thursday from September 10 and visitors will be able to view the dig in action, the first in more than 80 years, as part of the guided cave tour.

Cavern owner Nick Powe said: "We are thrilled Kents Cavern could soon be revealing more of its tantalising secrets, and play a part in increasing our knowledge of the Neanderthal occupation of Britain, thanks to the expertise of the team.

"The caves have already yielded some incredible finds, such as a 37,000-year-old ancient human jawbone unearthed during the last excavations at Kents Cavern in 1927, which it is believed could be Neanderthal. The bone is now back on display at Torquay Museum.

"Many Torbay residents know Kents Cavern as a tourist attraction, but I don't think many realise just how important an archaeological site the caves are, not just in Britain but in Europe, and is the oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument in Britain, with evidence of human occupation dating back half a million years — and as such it's the oldest recognisable human dwelling in the entire country."

Experts Dr Mark White, of Durham University, and Dr Paul Pettitt, of Sheffield University, will be running the dig.

Dr White said: "Britain played a major role in the professional development of archaeology and the way we think about human origins and the antiquity of humans on Earth.

"We hope the information recovered from this series of excavations will contribute to widely-debated issues in human evolution, specifically whether the expansion in numbers of our own species tens of thousands of years ago was connected with the extinction of the Neanderthals.

"Britain has so far failed to play a role in this fascinating and important debate, and we believe Kents Cavern is the prime site where answers could be found."

The team of archaeologists also hopes to learn more about the origins of Kents Cavern's use as a human shelter, and establish firm dates for the first occupation of the cave by Neanderthals and early members of our own species.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Caves-secrets/article-1291040-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern - Ancient Weapon Found by AngieLake on Wednesday, 02 September 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
I put this up as a News item earlier tonight but it hasn't come up yet.
[Extract from Herald Express, 2 September 2009]:

"ARCHEOLOGISTS digging at Kents Cavern have found a 15,000-year-old weapon carved from a reindeer antler.

The rare sagaie, or javelin point, was crafted by a stone age inhabitant of the caves and is the only complete example of its kind found in the UK.

It is being hailed by the tourist attraction as major find and a signal that further exciting artifacts could lie just below the surface.

Dr Paul Pettitt, director of the archaeological dig, said: "This sagaie, made of antler, most probably reindeer, functioned as a spear or javelin point.

"This form of weapon was common on the continent around the time of the late Paleolithic, the Magdalenian, and used by hunter-gatherers about 14,000 to 15,000 years ago.


"These are rare, only a handful of fragmentary samples are known from Britain. This is the only complete sagaie I know of from the UK."

The find was made on the first day of an archeological dig aiming to find evidence of Neanderthal or early human occupation at the caves.

The caves are the oldest known dwellings in the UK but there has not been a major dig at the site for more than 80 years.

Nick Powe, owner of the attraction, said: "This is a very exciting find and we are anticipating more.

"We think it was probably used to kill an animal as the tip of it is broken off.

"It is basically a sharpened reindeer antler and to find it on the first day is amazing."

More on this link:

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Cavern-dig-uncovers-15-000-year-old-weapon/article-1303064-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Kent's Cavern - Ancient Weapon Found by Andy B on Saturday, 12 September 2009
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Angie, this is the right place to post it, instead of separate news item, thanks
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Kent's Cavern's Cannibals by AngieLake on Saturday, 08 August 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
The latest news from the scientific examination of bones from Kent's Cavern dates them at 9000 years old and with cut marks which might link to cannibalism. See this report:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Butchered-bone-gives-clue-cannibalism/article-1233577-detail/article.html

The bones in question are on display until 6 Sept in the 'Ancestors Exhibition' at Torquay Museum.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Kent's Cavern's Cannibals by coldrum on Thursday, 01 October 2009
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Also BBC news article here:

    Cannibalism theory over bone find

    A human bone found in Devon with tool cuts thought to have been made during a ritual ceremony 9,000 years ago may be evidence of cannibalism.

    Torquay Museum staff identified the arm bone as they documented animal remains discovered in Kents Cavern in Torquay.

    The bone's marks are thought to have been made by stone tools and could indicate a ritual - or that the victim was devoured by other people.

    The caves are the oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument in Britain.

    The bone was first unearthed in 1866 by archaeologist William Pengelly, who spent 15 years excavating the cavern.

    It was put into storage in the museum and "rediscovered" in December 2008.


    The marks are believed to be from a stone tool

    Enlarge Image

    It was found as part of a cataloguing programme, which has been examining about 15,000 animal bones excavated from the cavern that had been housed in the museum's store.

    The museum's researchers found the butchered bone in June, and, working with the University of Oxford's School of Archaeology and Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, identified it as a fragment of human arm bone.

    It was then radiocarbon dated to 8,185 years BP [Before Present, an archaeological term meaning before 1950].

    Tom Higham, from the radiocarbon unit, said: "The bone was particularly well preserved and the result is seen as very reliable."

    Dr Rick Schulting, of the University of Oxford's School of Archaeology, said: "Finds like this highlight the complexity of mortuary practices in the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), many thousands of years before the appearance of farming, which is more usually associated with complex funerary behaviour."

    The museum said only one other site in Britain had yielded similar human remains with cut marks of this age - Gough's Cave at Cheddar Gorge.

    "Some archaeologists have interpreted these marks as evidence of cannibalism, but ritual burial practice or dismemberment for transportation has not been ruled out," a museum spokesman said.

    Archaeological digs there have unearthed a 37,000-year-old human jawbone and stone tools that were more than 40,000 years old.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8188406.stm
    [ Reply to This ]

Extensive dig hopes to reveal cavern's secret by coldrum on Wednesday, 17 June 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
Extensive dig hopes to reveal cavern's secret

A DIG aiming to unearth Torbay's links with the ancient colonisation of Europe by mankind is due to start this spring.

A team of archaeologists will survey Kents Cavern, Torquay, today in advance of major excavations at Easter and in September.

The digs aim to discover more about the Neanderthals who lived in the caves tens of thousands of years ago.

The project is being carried out by archaeologists Dr Mark White from Durham University, and Dr Paul Pettitt from Sheffield, and is the first archaeological dig at the cave for more than 80 years.

Dr White said: "We hope he information recovered from these excavations will contribute to widely-debated issues in human evolution, specifically whether the expansion in numbers of our own species tens of thousands of years ago was connected with the extinction of the Neanderthals.
Click here!

"Britain has so far failed to play a role in this fascinating and important debate, and we believe Kent's Cavern is the prime site where answers could be found."

The team of archaeologists also hopes to learn more about the origins of Kents Cavern's use as a human shelter, and establish firm dates for the first occupation of the cave by Neanderthals and early members of our own species.

Kents Cavern owner Nick Powe said: "We are thrilled Kents Cavern could soon be revealing more of its tantalising secrets, and play a part in increasing our knowledge of the Neanderthal occupation of Britain, thanks to the expertise of Dr Pettitt, Dr White and their team.

"The caves have already yielded some incredible finds, such as a 37,000-year-old ancient human jawbone unearthed during the last excavations at Kents Cavern in 1927, which it is believed could be Neanderthal."

"Many Torbay residents know Kents Cavern as a tourist attraction, but I don't think many realise just how important an archaeological site the caves are, not just in Britain but in Europe.

"Kents Cavern is the oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument in Britain, with evidence of human occupation dating back half a million years, and as such it's the oldest recognisable human dwelling in the entire country."

Kents Cavern will be open during the excavation at Easter, from March 30 until April 12, and visitors will be able to view the dig in action as part of their cave tour.

Many of the artifacts unearthed during previous excavations are in Torquay Museum, under the care of curator of collections Barry Chandler.

These gems include the 37,000 year-old ancient human jawbone, 400,000-year-old stone tools and the fossilised remains of some of Kents Cavern's wildlife occupants, including scimitar cat, bear, hyena and lion.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Extensive-dig-hopes-reveal-cavern-s-secret/article-643119-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]

Re: The Origins Dig-Darwin200, 30th March-11th April 2009 by AngieLake on Monday, 06 April 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
For the latest news on the excavations, follow this link:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Dig-unearths-ancient-mammals/article-875384-detail/article.html
[ Reply to This ]

The Origins Dig-Darwin200, 30th March-11th April 2009 by coldrum on Friday, 20 March 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
The Origins Dig-Darwin200

30 Mar - 12 Apr 2009
KENTS CAVERN


Two major excavations between 30th March and 11th April and again from 31st Aug to 9th Sept 2009.

Excavation Directors Dr Mark White, of the University of Durham, and Dr Paul Pettitt, of the University of Sheffield, said: "We hope that the information recovered from these excavations will contribute to widely-debated issues in human evolution - specifically whether the expansion in numbers of our own species tens of thousands of years ago was connected with the extinction of the Neanderthals. Britain has so far failed to play a role in this fascinating and important debate, and we believe that Kents Cavern is the prime site where answers could be found."

Visitors to the caves will be able to see the dig in action as part of the guided tour starting 30th March - normal cave entry fees apply.

Public access to the dig site will be available between 10 and 11am from Thur 2nd to 9th April, price £2. Free for season ticket and membership holders. The finds tent in the gardens will be open to the public for free.

To keep up to date with the Darwin200 Origins Dig starting on 30th March check out the Dig Blog.

http://www.kentscavern.co.uk/diarydetail.cfm?id=165
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Extensive Dig Hopes to Reveal Cavern's Secret by AngieLake on Friday, 30 January 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
Kent's Cavern was in the news on 26 January, regarding the forthcoming excavations. Here is a short excerpt, with a link to the full article:

"The caves have already yielded some incredible finds, such as a 37,000-year-old ancient human jawbone unearthed during the last excavations at Kents Cavern in 1927, which it is believed could be Neanderthal."
"Many Torbay residents know Kents Cavern as a tourist attraction, but I don't think many realise just how important an archaeological site the caves are, not just in Britain but in Europe.
"Kents Cavern is the oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument in Britain, with evidence of human occupation dating back half a million years, and as such it's the oldest recognisable human dwelling in the entire country."

**"Kents Cavern will be open during the excavation at Easter, from March 30 until April 12, and visitors will be able to view the dig in action as part of their cave tour.**

Many of the artifacts unearthed during previous excavations are in Torquay Museum, under the care of curator of collections Barry Chandler.
These gems include the 37,000 year-old ancient human jawbone, 400,000-year-old stone tools and the fossilised remains of some of Kents Cavern's wildlife occupants, including scimitar cat, bear, hyena and lion."


http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Extensive-dig-hopes-reveal-cavern-s-secret/article-643119-detail/article.html

[NB: I'd emailed this to Andy, so it may come up twice!]
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Cave Dig Hopes to Find Signs of Modern Man by AngieLake on Thursday, 29 January 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
The archaeological dig that was postponed from last September is now due to start on 30th March at Kent's Cavern in Torquay.

AN ULTRA modern search at Kents Cavern hopes to uncover clues missed by the Victorians.
Two archaeologists are planning to excavate a small part of Kents Cavern, Torquay, to unravel their quest to see if modern man lived alongside Neanderthals.
They say it is the most important site in the UK to solve the scientific mystery.
The dig is the first excavation at the cave in more than 80 years.
A two metre by one metre trench is to be opened in the Great Chamber of the Cave, so named by Victorian archaeologist William Pengelly in the 1860s.
The dig is being carried out by archaeologists Dr Mark White, of Durham University, and Dr Paul Pettitt, of Sheffield University.
It is just a few metres from the modern entrance and work will start at the end of March for two weeks.
The cave is a scheduled ancient monument because of its links with Stone Age man.
They plan to use modern techniques of almost 150 years of improvements in archaeology to determine what conditions existed in the cave tens of thousand of years ago.

See more on
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Cave-dig-hopes-signs-modern-man/article-653881-detail/article.html

(In a previous article in our local evening paper it said that visitors to the caves would be able to view the excavations, so you may like to go along and see for yourselves?)
[ Reply to This ]

Red tape delays Kent's Cavern dig by Andy B on Monday, 01 September 2008
(User Info | Send a Message)
THE first archaeological dig for decades in Torbay's oldest home has been delayed due to red tape.

Britain's leading Stone Age archaeologists wanted to start a hunt for 40,000-year-old Neanderthal flint hand axes at Kents Cavern, Torquay.

It was hoped to start an archaeological dig during the first week of September but now cavern owner Nick Powe said: "The dig has been postponed to April 2009.

"The necessary permissions are too late coming to commence in two weeks' time.

More:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Red-tape-delays-archaeological-dig/article-289260-detail/article.html

Thanks to Angie
[ Reply to This ]

New scan of 'Neanderthal' jawbone by Andy B on Friday, 15 December 2006
(User Info | Send a Message)
A piece of jawbone found in a Devon cave is being re-examined by scientists who believe it may be Britain's first direct evidence of Neanderthal man.

The bone was excavated from Kents Cavern in Torquay in 1927 and was thought to be about 31,000 years old.

But more research showed the Torquay Museum piece could be 40,000 years old.

A computer scan is to be carried out to determine if the bone was put back together correctly after it was found, and to see if DNA can be extracted.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6171325.stm
[ Reply to This ]

DNA Test for Jaw Bone by Andy B on Friday, 06 October 2006
(User Info | Send a Message)
Torquay Museum has given the go-ahead for DNA testing on one of the world's most famous fossils.

The museum's committee voted in favour of allowing the Natural History Museum to undertake high-tech testing of a fossilised jawbone excavated from Kents Cavern in 1927.Previous estimates put the bone at 31,000 years old, but experts now believe it could actually date back to a few thousand years earlier.

If the DNA is successfully recovered and proves to be from a modern human, it would be the oldest human DNA recovered from Britain.

However, if the tests prove it is from Neanderthal man, then it would be the first direct bone evidence showing that Neanderthals were located in mainland Britain.

The fossil is being loaned for a year to the Ancient Occupation of Britain project at the Natural History Museum, under the directorship of palaeonathropologist Chris Stringer.

More: This is South Devon
[ Reply to This ]

...but none found so far by Anonymous on Tuesday, 18 July 2006
A two-day search of Kents Cavern, Torquay, the oldest known home in Britain, has failed to find evidence of Ice Age cave art.

Kents Cavern owner Nick Powe said a three-strong team of experts from Sheffield University carried out a systematic search and added: "The team is still confident that cave art, whether pigment-based or engraved, is concealed in the caves.

"The cave system is extensive and many of the walls are coated in a thick layer of calcite.

"While they said that the underground surfaces they examined in Kents Cavern were great and the most likely place to find cave art, they drew a blank on this visit."

Led by Dr Paul Pettitt, the archaeologists were very hopeful of finding some early cave art in the Bay as it was prolific across Western Europe and the people living in the cave were all part of the same culture and time zone.

Mr Powe said: "The team has not given up and they will be back using other techniques to look behind the stalagmite covered walls."

Source: http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk
[ Reply to This ]

A top team of archeologists is hunting for Ice Age art in Kent's Cavern by Anonymous on Thursday, 13 July 2006
The specialist Palaeolithic archaeologists from Sheffield University are using cutting-edge scientific techniques during a systematic search of the Torquay cave walls.

Paul Pettitt, senior lecturer in Palaeolithic Archaeology, and well-known archaeology writer and cave art specialist Paul Bahn - who have both visited Kent's Cavern before - are joined this week by Rob Dinnis, a doctoral researcher at Sheffield University investigating British Ice Age humans.

They hope to find early cave art in Kent's Cavern, because Ice Age art was prolific across Western Europe and the Stone Age people living in the Torquay caves were all part of the same cultural zone. Mr Pettit said: "Cave art from the Ice Age is well known in southern France and northern Spain. Some of the most impressive examples are the wonderful paintings from Lascaux and Altamira, but most are simple engravings of shallow lines.

"These images are often almost impossible to see without specialist techniques, and this may help explain why none have been found in Kent's Cavern to date.

"The British cave art finds are simple engravings of animals, such as wild cattle and deer, and date to around 14,000 years ago.

"During the later stages of the Ice Age, human populations were rarely present in Britain due to the severity of the climate.

"Before 14,000 years ago, visits were very sporadic, but for up to one thousand years groups of human hunter-gatherers were exploiting much of the UK. "The techniques we use have revealed Ice Age art invisible to the naked eye in other caves in Spain and France and, since Kent's Cavern is one of the richest sites for this time period, it may well contain examples of Ice Age cave art."

The three-strong team is using methods similar to those which led to the discovery of 14,000-year-old cave art at Creswell Crags, in the Midlands, three years ago.

Nick Powe, Kent's Cavern owner, added: "Scientific research like this further emphasises the great importance of Kent's Cavern to the Stone Age cultural heritage of Britain.

"The possibility of Paul and his team finding evidence of Ice Age art here in Torbay is not only tremendously exciting for us here but also very timely, with National Archaeology Weekend taking place this Saturday and Sunday."

Leading prehistoric technology expert Karl Lee will be at Kent's Cavern this weekend demonstrating how cavemen made weapons from flint, as well as showing visitors how prehistoric people made fire.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.