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<< Our Photo Pages >> Aveline's Hole - Cave or Rock Shelter in England in Somerset

Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 15 July 2013  Page Views: 32521

Natural PlacesSite Name: Aveline's Hole Alternative Name: Burrington Combe
Country: England County: Somerset Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
 Nearest Village: Burrington
Map Ref: ST47615867  Landranger Map Number: 172
Latitude: 51.324706N  Longitude: 2.753248W
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
 2 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.
 4 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
 5

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I have visited· I would like to visit

pennyminstrel visited on 4th Feb 2026 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Amazing to be able to freely visit such an ancient sacred spot. Shame about the cars whizzing past, but very atmospheric al the same

markj99 visited on 23rd Mar 2010 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 It is amazing that such an important archaeological site is so easily visited. I am a troglodyte at heart so I always enjoy visiting a cave.

lboutside saw from a distance

Andy B cazzyjane have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.5 Access: 4

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by Andy B : Artists reconstruction of Britain's Earliest Cemetery - Aveline's Hole in the Mendip Hills Somerset is approximately 10,000 years old. Image by Judith Dobie, English Heritage, used with permission. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Aveline's Hole is a cave at Burrington Combe in the limestone of the Mendip Hills. The earliest scientifically dated cemetery in Britain was found at Aveline's Hole. The human bone fragments it contained, from about 21 different individuals, are thought to be between roughly 10,200 and 10,400 years old.

A series of inscribed crosses found on the wall of the Aveline's Hole cave are believed to date from the early Mesolithic period just after the Ice Age. The pattern is said to be comparable with others known from Northern France, Germany and Denmark." A gate has been installed in the cave to protect the engraving, after consultations between English Heritage and other interested parties, including the landowner and English Nature.

More at Wikipedia

Inscribed marks were also noticed in Goatchurch Cavern while cleaning away graffiti. Three finely cut marks were uncovered, resembling the letter W with a patina darker than in nearby graffiti dated 1704. These have been identified as ritual protection marks, possibly dating from the period 1550 to 1750. The term ritual protection mark is preferred to "witch marks"

Note: Prehistoric and ritual cave engravings visit, Burrington Combe, Sunday 21 July
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Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by cazzyjane : Aveline's Hole. June 2018. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by cazzyjane : Aveline's Hole. My son is almost as far down as you can go in this photo. There is a locked gate at the bottom. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by caradoc68 : Real easy to find, real easy to drive passed. This one sits just meters from the road and right on the bend so caution in crossing the road. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by caradoc68 : Aveline's Hole is a cave at Burrington Combe in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England. The earliest scientifically dated cemetery in Britain was found at Aveline's Hole. The human bone fragments it contained, from about 21 different individuals, are thought to be between roughly 10,200 and 10,400 years old. A series of inscribed crosses found on the wall of the Aveline's Hole... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by Andy B : Artists reconstruction of Britain's Earliest Cemetery - Aveline's Hole in the Mendip Hills Somerset is approximately 10,000 years old. Image by Judith Dobie, English Heritage, used with permission.

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by Andy B : At more than 10,000 years old, Aveline's Hole in the Mendip Hills (Somerset) is Britain's earliest cemetery. Dr Rick Schulting of Queen's University, Belfast and Mick Wysocki of the University of Central Lancashire hold an example of the remains found at the site. (1 comment)

Aveline's Hole
Aveline's Hole submitted by Andy B : At more than 10,000 years old, Aveline's Hole in the Mendip Hills (Somerset) is Britain's earliest cemetery. Dr Rick Schulting of Queen's University, Belfast, holds an example of the remains found at the site. (2 comments)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 237m ENE 62° Burrington Camp* Hillfort (ST47825878)
 1.6km S 191° Black Down barrows (Mendip)* Barrow Cemetery (ST473571)
 1.6km SSE 148° Beacon Batch* Barrow Cemetery (ST48465726)
 2.4km SSW 194° Tynings Farm Barrow Group* Barrow Cemetery (ST47005635)
 2.5km SW 229° Cuck Hill Barrow Round Barrow(s) (ST4567057030)
 2.6km W 274° Dolebury Camp* Hillfort (ST450589)
 2.7km W 262° Barrow at Rowberrow* Round Barrow(s) (ST44925834)
 2.9km SSE 163° Gorsey Bigbury Henge* Henge (ST48435584)
 3.1km SE 133° Charterhouse Earthwork* Misc. Earthwork (ST49885651)
 3.3km SSE 165° Longwood Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (ST4841955518)
 4.1km SE 136° Charterhouse settlement* Misc. Earthwork (ST504557)
 4.3km W 267° The Wimblestone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (ST43355848)
 4.3km SE 132° Nordrach Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (ST5078755765)
 4.5km SSE 156° Charterhouse Warren Farm Shaft* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (ST4936054570)
 4.7km S 191° Sun Hole* Cave or Rock Shelter (ST467541)
 4.8km S 190° Goughs Cave (Cheddar)* Cave or Rock Shelter (ST4671053920)
 4.8km S 191° Cheddar Museum of Prehistory* Museum (ST46655393)
 4.8km S 189° Soldier's Hole Cave or Rock Shelter (ST468539)
 5.0km SSW 194° Flint Jack's Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (ST463538)
 5.1km S 172° Totty Pot Cave or Rock Shelter (ST48255358)
 5.4km NE 54° Fairy Toot* Long Barrow (ST52056178)
 5.5km NNE 25° Red Hill Longbarrow Chambered Tomb (ST49956361)
 5.7km NE 44° Butcombe Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (ST51646273)
 5.7km SE 126° Whites Town Farm Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (ST5223355265)
 5.8km ESE 116° Fernhill Farm* Modern Stone Circle etc (ST52865606)
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"Aveline's Hole" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Holes in the world: the use of caves for burial in the Mesolithic - Rick Schulting by Andy B on Wednesday, 04 October 2017
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Holes in the world: the use of caves for burial in the Mesolithic - Rick Schulting

Caves and rockshelters dominate the mortuary record for large parts of Mesolithic Europe, including southwest Britain and the Meuse Basin of Belgium. There is a striking correspondence in the ebb and flow of use of caves in these two regions, beginning in the Early Holocene (ca. 10,700/10,300 cal BP) but then declining markedly after ca. 10,000 cal BP, only to see a strong resurgence in the Neolithic.

The Early Mesolithic floruit may reflect an increased concern with marking group identity and territoriality in the light of rapidly rising sea-levels, leading to a readjustment of hunter-gatherer populations as coastal communities were forced to relocate. In southwest Britain, the ‘re-discovery’ of caves for funerary deposition occurs in the early part of the Neolithic, from just after 6,000 cal BP; it commences a few centuries earlier in Belgium, which experiences a strong peak in the early to mid-fifth millennium BP. There is a clear chronological – and arguably a perceptual – link between the mortuary use of caves and chambered tombs in the British Neolithic, while in Belgium the peak in Neolithic use of caves for collective burial coincides with the construction and use of 'allées couvertes'.

https://www.academia.edu/34761578/Holes_in_the_world_the_use_of_caves_for_burial_in_the_Mesolithic

From Mesolithic Burials – Rites, Symbols and Social Organisation of Early Postglacial Communities
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Re: Aveline's Hole by TheCaptain on Sunday, 05 January 2014
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see Aveline's Hole here on streetview

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…pursuing a rabbit in Burrington Combe': New research on the Early Mesolithic burial by Andy B on Tuesday, 08 October 2013
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Schulting, R.J. 2005. '…pursuing a rabbit in Burrington Combe': New research on the Early Mesolithic burial cave of Aveline's Hole. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society 23: 171-265.

The main focus of this paper is the re-analysis of the fragmentary human skeletal assemblage from Aveline’s Hole.A brief history of the site’s discovery and excavation is presented. A minimum of 21 individuals can be identified in the extant collection, including both sexes and a wide range of ages from neonatal to older adult.

http://www.academia.edu/543810/_pursuing_a_rabbit_in_Burrington_Combe_New_research_on_the_Early_Mesolithic_burial_cave_of_Avelines_Hole
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Prehistoric and ritual cave engravings visit, Burrington Combe, Sunday 21 July by Andy B on Monday, 15 July 2013
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[There are plenty of places still available on these tours on Sunday, I've just rung them to check. This sounds a great fun activity and is excellent value including all the equipment. I've been down Goatchurch Cavern and some of the other Burrington Caves about 25 years ago, albeit we didn't know the ritual marks were there then. It's a miracle they have survived as I remember the rocks down there being shiny with all the the thousands of bums and legs sliding along them - Andy B]

Prehistoric and ritual cave engravings
South West | Somerset, Sun 21st Jul 2013
Prehistoric and ritual cave engravings

Suitable for the relatively faint-hearted. Underground exploratory guiding by Chris Binding, co-author of Ritual Protection Marks in Goatchurch Cavern (2004) and Ritual Protection Marks in Wookey Hole & Caves in the Cheddar Gorge (2010), University of Bristol Spelaeological Society.
Strong footwear must be worn and bring your own refreshment/drink. A degree of personal fitness needed to negotiate uneven rocky chambers and uphill walk.

Price includes specialist caving equipment. Numbers limited. This event will take place on: Sunday 21 July, 10:30, 12:30, 14.30
Event details
Organiser: Caves visit
Booking details: Booking essential quoting ref: Arch guided tour or phone in advance. 447968275969
Fee details: £7.50 per person, includes use of caving overalls to help keep your personal clothing relatively clean PLUS a helmet and light.
Dates and times
Sun 21st Jul 2013 10:30-14:30
Additional times information
10:30am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm. Phone/email to book your place.

Venues and locations
Burrington Combe, disused quarry opposite the Rock of Ages

Tel: 07968 275969
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://binged.it/14YxXST
Directions: Free parking at the disused quarry adjacent to the Public Conveniences next to the cattle grid. NOT Burrington Inn!

Part of the Festival of British Archaeology 2013
http://www.archaeologyfestival.org.uk/events/57
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Pastcape by coldrum on Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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Pastscape site entry:

http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=194278
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Caving Trip: Prehistoric Markings & Ritual Engravings: Mendip Hills Festival 25 July by Andy B on Saturday, 10 July 2010
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Sun 25 July 10.30, 12.30 & 14.30

Caving trips to see the prehistoric markings and ritual engravings in Burrington Cave. …

Caving trips to see the prehistoric markings and ritual engravings in Burrington Cave, with Christopher Binding FRGS, CIC, co-author of Ritual Protection marks in Goatchurch Cavern 2004. Participants will need to have a degree of personal fitness as this event involved donning caving equipment and negotiating uneven subterranean rocky chambers, plus a stiff uphill walk. Cost (including equipment) £12.50 per person, numbers limited. Quote refenrece Archaeology 25-7

Location: Burrington Caves. Meeting place confirmed on booking..

O: Organised as part of Mendip Hills Festival of Archaeology
N: Christopher Binding FRGS, CIC
T: 07968 275969
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.cheddarclimbingcaving.co.uk

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Ritual Protection marks in Goatchurch Cavern by Andy B on Saturday, 10 July 2010
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A BRIEF SUMMARY OF POINTS FOUND IN
"RITUAL PROTECTION MARKS IN GOATCHURCH CAVERN,
BURRINGTON COMBE, NORTH SOMERSET.
University of Bristol Spelaeological Society, Vol 23, No.2, 2004: ISSN 0373-7527
by C.J. BINDING and L.J. WILSON

The original article provided detail about inscribed markings found in Goatchurch Cavern, North Somerset which have been identified as ritual protection marks, possibly dating from the period 1550 to 1750. The term ritual protection mark was preferred to the description "witch marks" used in some references in order to avoid confusion with the same term which is used in many writings to refer to the marks left on a witch's body by its familiar (used as a diagnostic in many witchcraft trials).

During November 2003 inscribed marks were noticed in Goatchurch Cavern while cleaning away graffiti. Three finely cut marks were uncovered, resembling the letter W with a patina darker than in nearby graffiti dated 1704. Photographs of the marks were taken but...

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