Book Review: Derbyshire Cavemen by Stephen Cliffe Derbyshire

Submitted by astronomer on Tuesday, 14 September 2010 Page Views: 10826

Country: England County: Derbyshire Type: Cave or Rock Shelter

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**Fox Hole Cave** submitted by Stu : Fox Hole Cave/Rock Shelter. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kevin Kilburn writes: The Peak District of Derbyshire is one of the finest prehistoric landscapes in Britain whose relative lack of destructive agriculture has allowed the preservation of surface artifacts, burial mounds and henges going back more than five millennia. It is also one of the few Limestone karst regions in the UK whose caves clearly demonstrate human inhabitation since the last Ice Age. Stephen Cliffe’s book amply illustrates their important place in UK archaeology.

The blurb on the back cover says it all: ‘Derbyshire Cavemen explores the little known world of cave folklore and archaeology in a cave rich region encompassing the uplands of the Peak District and the surrounding areas.
The ‘White’ and ‘Dark’ Peaks of the Derbyshire/Staffordshire/Cheshire and Yorkshire borderlands reveal their many legends and the archaeology of our prehistoric ancestors, whose DNA we share today, including Neanderthals, Ice Age reindeer hunters, Celtic chieftains, Romans, Medieval outlaws and saintly hermits, who all utilised caves as homes, hunting lodges, contemplative cells and sepulchres for the dead.

Stephen Cliffe has delved into archives at Buxton and other museums, pillaging the knowledge of generations of experts on archaeology and folk history. No other writer has previously pulled together strands of information of such depth on this fascinating subject in a regional context for popular publication.’

Phew ! But I wholly agree with all this. Having lived near and explored the western side of these Peakland moors for nearly 50 years, this is by far the best book I have come across regarding the extensive cave systems within 25 miles of Buxton, which is second only to Bath as a Celtic-Romano British spa town. I bought the book on August Bank Holiday weekend 2010 and yet the publishers managed to fit in a footnote dated 7th July regarding the announcement of the Happisburgh discoveries in Norfolk of the oldest flint tools yet found in the UK, from 800,000 years ago and pushing back evidence for UK prehistoric habitation by 100,000 years. Cliffe’s book couldn’t be more up to date than this.

I have one minor quibble. Stephen Cliffe makes no mention of Alfred Brothers, the first photographer ever to take pictures by flashlight underground. This took place at the Blue John Mine at Castleton. Alfred Brothers was a founder member of Manchester Astronomical Society and he was a major pioneer photographer in the late Victorian age. I have been associated with this Society for many years.
That aside, I heartily recommend this book to Megalithic Portal readers.

Review by Kevin Kilburn