West Kingsdale Master Cave
Bones
Reindeer, (see also Notes, below)
Position in Cave
River Junction.
Identification
?E.K. Tratman, R.J.G. Savage (Bristol).
Location of Finds
Unknown. Not in the UBSS museum collection.
Additional Notes
A fragment of a left scapula from a horse or large bovid was recovered from sediments at River Runction by P Murphy on the 17th December 2001. Radiocarbon dating showed the bone was less than 200 years old (Murphy, et al. 2002). A horse skull was recovered from River Junction in November 2002 (Murphy, 2003). A photograph taken by D. Brook of some of the bones recovered in 1967 shows: metatarsal of Bos primigenius or bison; damaged femur from large Bovid (?same as above); tibia of unknown affinity; ?sheep bone. This assemblage suggests a late Neolithic/early Bronze age date.
References
Brook, D. & Crabtree, H. (eds). 1969. Appendix 2: The drainage and development of West Kingsdale. University of Leeds Speleological Association Explorations Journal: 70-73.
Murphy, P.J. (2003) More of the Kingsdale horse. Speleology (BCRA) 2: 5.
Murphy, P.J., Lord, T.C. & Brook D.B. (2002) The Kingsdale Reindeer Revisited. Cave and Karst Science 29 (2) : 87-89.
Waltham, A.C. 1974. The chronology of the caves. in: Waltham, A.C. (ed). Limestones and caves of north-west England. Newton Abbot. David and Charles. 440-450.
Article Author Graham Mullan