Upper Palaeolithic Mesolithic Neolithic-Beaker Culture Bronze Age Iron Age - Romano-British Conclusions
The basic conclusion of this brief archaeological study is that there is hardly any evidence that the caves and shelters at Ebbor were ever occupied by human groups. Indeed most of them are hardly suitable for habitation as they are either too small or too shallow and open to the elements. In contrast, these sites came into use in the Neolithic as burial places, a use that continued until Romano-British times. A series of outstanding artefacts acts as an indicator to the passing of time and developments in technology: the flint arrow head from Outlook Cave, or stone axe found on the bridge at Bridged Pot; the different beaker fragments and the hoard of eleven flints; the gold bracelet; the Romano-British pottery. Interpolating between the moments in time invoked by these objects, we can suppose that Ebbor Gorge was an area of interest throughout the period. It was, of course, a time of intense activity for Mendip in general; when the long and round barrows were constructed, when Wookey Hole was occupied, or Roman villas built.
Within the area of Ebbor Gorge, some variations can be seen in the use of different areas at different times. The older Neolithic and Beaker deposits appear in the shelters in the gorge itself, while the Bronze Age remains and principal Romano-British burials are found in Hope Wood. However, in the gorge, little variation can be seen between its east and west sides. In fact, Bridged Pot Shelter and Beaker Shelter on the east are almost perfectly mirrored by Outlook Cave and Little Shelter on the western side. We can only note that, as they have reached us, the deposits on the former side appear to be a little richer than the others. But they both reflect the same sequence, through the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age, with a small amount of later pottery.
A final comment we would like to make is that this modest re-examination of the archaeology of Ebbor Gorge has made it possible to clarify certain confusions. We have noted the inaccuracies in Branigan & Deane 1992 as regards the sites with Romano-British remains. Similarly, Chamberlain & Williams (2001), in their gazetteer of sites containing human remains, omit Beaker Shelter and instead give as �?1+� the number of individuals found at Bridged Pot Shelter, when in fact no human remains have been recorded there.
