For my third and final column on the Palaeolithic, I will clamber into some of the most famous caves in the country. Even better – as I will outline at the end of this selection – the majority are open to the public, offering unparalleled opportunities to visit these stunning prehistoric sites.
KENTS CAVERN, DEVON
The first sustained mention of the Palaeolithic in the pages of Current Archaeology comes in issue 65 (February 1979) and the focus is Kents Cavern in Torquay, Devon – so it is there that I will begin this review. Given its location amid the amusements of the English Riviera, it can be easy to overlook Kents Cavern: it risks not being taken seriously enough. But this is a site of the highest significance, not just because of its Palaeolithic remains but also in terms of its place in the history of British archaeology. Fieldwork there across the 19th century, especially that led by William Pengelly between 1865 and 1880, revealed successive stratification of Lower, Middle, Earlier, and Later Palaeolithic materials. Reanalysis of these records in the 1960s by John Campbell demonstrated just how good that fieldwork was, arguably the earliest stratigraphic excavation in the world. This was at least as significant as the more famous fieldwork of Augustus Pitt Rivers in this same period – but who today remembers Pengelly? The answer: precious few. Yet, as CA 262 explains, it was probably Pengelly who inspired Pitt Rivers in the first place (while the latter had the social links and the political platform to promote his ideas, and would thus come to be immortalised as the father of British archaeology). For all its significance, alas Current Archaeology did not return to Kents Cavern for another 30 years, until CA 236 (November 2009) reported on new fieldwork to establish firm dates for its occupation. Most recently, CA 262 (January 2012) provided an in-depth analysis of that activity, explaining the cavern’s long history of settlement by both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, with more than 80,000 artefacts chronicling hominid occupation dating back at least 60,000 years, and fossil faunal remains of bears and hyenas dating back to the Middle Pleistocene (400,000 years ago).
PAVILAND CAVE, GOWER PENINSULA
North-west of Kents Cavern, across Dartmoor, Exmoor, and the Bristol Channel, lies Paviland Cave on the Gower Peninsula (between Port Eynon and Rhossili) – the second stop on my itinerary. It feels a world away from our previous stop, sitting as it does in rural isolation, a steep scramble from the coast path, rather than amid the hustle and bustle of a busy town. Current Archaeology’s first visit there was in issue 160 (November 1998), as part of a review of finds from Creswell, Cheddar, and Paviland, which examined its long history of exploration back into the early 19th century, making it one of the earliest cave sites excavated in Europe. Excavations there commenced in 1820 with the work of William Buckland, and the site was made famous by its ‘Red Lady’ burial – originally thought to represent the remains of a woman who died 18,000 years ago, but this has more recently been shown to be a man, interred there 31,000-26,000 years ago (see CA 176, October 2001). CA 180 (July 2002) then returned with news of recent scientific analyses from that site and also from Cheddar, where isotope analysis revealed the diets of the humans and animals that lived and died in these caves, with those from Paviland including marine foods alongside an expectedly heavy carnivorous focus, especially involving deer. More disturbingly, other evidence from Cheddar implies possible ancient cannibalism, with some of the human remains bearing signs of butchery marks.
PONTNEWYDD CAVE, DENBIGHSHIRE
On the other side of Wales, near St Asaph in Denbighshire, lies our third Palaeolithic cave – that of Pontnewydd. CA 93 (August 1984) first introduced this site to the magazine at the time of its modern-day excavation. Like the other sites mentioned in this column, though, it was subjected to repeated antiquarian investigations, and this particular cave was also used as a Second World War ammunition dump and was further damaged by cavers in the 1960s, so there was a complex chronology to unravel. There remained much of significance still to discover, however, including undisturbed stratigraphic sequences and evidence (especially burnt flint subjected to thermoluminescence dating) that puts its earliest occupation at around 230,000-200,000 BC. Some fine finds of stone tools were also made there, and there are some fragmentary human remains, especially Neanderthal teeth (see CA 262, January 2012, and CA 288, March 2014), alongside evidence for its use by prehistoric animals, including wolves (Canis lupus). In fact, Pontnewydd provides the earliest evidence for this species in the UK, dating back c.243,000 years, alongside finds of large steppe fauna such as reindeer and woolly rhinoceros, dating to 41,000-28,000 years ago. Most recently, Rebecca Wragg Sykes placed Pontnewydd in perspective in her survey of Neanderthal communities in CA 372 (March 2021), examining in detail the 18 teeth from there that are thought to represent at least five individuals, including an adult, two teenagers, and two older children, diving deeply into what this evidence tells us about their lives.
CHEDDAR GORGE, SOMERSET
Thanks to its picturesque scenery and accessible location, Cheddar Gorge is the most famous of the sites explored in this column. But, as at Kents Cavern, familiarity ought not to breed contempt: the presence of Palaeolithic alongside more recent Mesolithic evidence at this location accords it the highest status. Current Archaeology’s first in-depth coverage came in issue 160 (November 1998), in the tri-site survey mentioned in my section on Paviland, while CA 197 (May 2005) built further on this, placing the Palaeolithic evidence from Cheddar in relation to new finds from Creswell (more of which below). CA 212 (November 2007) followed up on previous coverage, confirming the presence of Upper Palaeolithic art at Cheddar dating to c.13,000 years ago, hot on the heels of finds of Mesolithic engravings identified nearby, and reported in CA 199 (September 2005). More recently, finds from the cave featured in Nick Ashton’s book Early Humans, reviewed at that time in CA 330 (September 2017). The magazine’s most recent visit came in CA 337 (April 2018), reassessing the evidence for ‘Cheddar Man’, the 10,000-year-old skeleton found at the site in 1903. Recent scientific analyses, including DNA sequencing, have revealed a host of new evidence about his life, including a genetic profile that places him closely alongside other burials of this date from Spain, Hungary, and Luxembourg.
CRESWELL CRAGS, DERBYSHIRE
The final Palaeolithic cave on my itinerary is that of Creswell Crags in Derbyshire. As noted above, CA 160 (November 1998) represented the magazine’s first visit there, but it really hit the headlines in CA 197 (May 2005) thanks to new fieldwork, including the discovery of Palaeolithic art – the first, and oldest, known in Britain. The creative outpouring associated with the Palaeolithic is explored more widely in CA 426 (September 2025), and Creswell’s story of art down the ages was further enriched in CA 350 (May 2019), which reported on more recent graffiti, with surveys revealing thousands of engravings made by antiquarian visitors. And the fuller context of the site is told in two excellent books already flagged in this column: Nick Ashton’s Early Humans (CA 330, September 2017) and Rebecca Wragg Sykes’ Kindred (CA 372, March 2021).
Kents Cavern is regularly open to visitors; see www.kents-cavern.co.uk. So, too, are Cheddar Gorge (www.cheddargorge.co.uk) and Creswell Crags (www.creswell-crags.org.uk). Paviland Cave is freely accessible with care (be sure to check the weather and tides); see https://coast-swansea.com/hiking-coastal-trails/paviland-cave-and-fox-hole-slade-cave-walk. Pontnewydd Cave, however, lies on private land and is not accessible to visitors.
