Outlook Cave
PRN 24331
This cave, whose entrance was artificially enlarged, lies high on the western side of the gorge, not far from Tower Rock. The creep enters a small chamber, with a pit in the floor dropping to a lower passage heading back towards the surface. It was dug in 1907 and the following years, and apparently some time later. (Wells Museum has flints marked �Outlook Cave, Ebbor. 6.11.07�, and a fragmented bone held together by tape, with the date 1943). An iron bucket, possibly used in the course of the digs, is still to be seen at the bottom of the cave.
The most outstanding find was a large arrow-head of translucent flint in the creep, about a foot beneath the surface. They also found human remains, some highly mineralised and others clearly of more recent date (Balch 1910). The human bones in the museum include a �gnawed human clavicle�, humerus, vertebrae, femur, tibia, many hand or foot bones, as well as a jaw. Balch also records a bone needle and part of an axe-like implement made from local grit.
The fauna represented are reindeer, bear, badger, dog or wolf, goat, ox and forest horse, while the sherds found are of a beaker and Romano-British ware. The museum also has a number of large fragments of charcoal and calcined bones.
The proximal phalange of reindeer has a radiocarbon date of 10,375 � 55 (OxA-15168). |
