Bracelet Cave
PRN 24334
A large entrance in Hope Wood, at the south-east end of the cliff line, before being dug it apparently was a creep six feet long (Barrington & Stanton 1977). The short passage reaches a surface shaft, and the digs opened a 12 foot hole in the floor dropping to two small lower chambers. The gold bracelet was found on 3rd December 1955 by E. C. Harris of the �Ebbor Research Group�, and became the subject of an inquest held at Wells on 23rd July 1957 (Haldane 1969). There are two accounts for the exact location of the find. According to Haldane, �the finder stated that the bracelet was found in the cave mouth, some twenty inches below the ground surface, which was about ten inches below the roof of the cave entrance.� In contrast, E.J. Mason (1972) says it was found outside the cave, six inches from the entrance on its north-west side. Both versions agree that it was in undisturbed soil. Mason started to excavate the cave in June 1956, and continued at intervals for the next decade. He found human remains and Romano-British pottery in the first three feet of the deposit, particularly in the first foot and becoming scarce below a depth of eighteen inches. The bones were fragmented, as in the case of this humerus, and disconnected, except for some vertebrae found in position in the soil outside the entrance of the cave. At least nine individuals could be identified (2 adult females, 2 adult males, 2 adolescents, 1 child and 2 of indeterminate age and sex). The sherds were of Romano-British ollae of the 1st and 2nd Century A.D. Mason also found two chert blade implements of Upper Palaeolithic date beneath the chimney at the back of the cave.
The bracelet, its whereabouts unknown, was about 6cm in diameter, and had a plano-convex cross-section with expanded terminals. It was attributed to the Late Bronze Age (Haldane 1969). |
