King Arthur's Cave, Whitchurch, Herefordshire: Reassessment of a Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Beaker site (UBSS Proceedings v.19(2))

Abstract: King Arthur's Cave was first excavated in 1870-1, when Palaeolithic artefacts were found in association with remains of extinct Pleistocene mammals, and again again in the 1920s when the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society discovered stratified Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic lithic industries. This paper presents new evidence for the formation of the cave and its deposits, including soil micromorphology and mammal faunas, and for their dating; and it reassesses the excavations in the light of further investigations since 1952. A visit by Middle Palaeolithic Hunters in the early Devensian was followed by further visits by earlier Upper Palaeolithic Lincombian and Aurignacian hunters in a mid-Devensian interstadial. Two successive Later Upper Palaeolithic 'Creswellian' phases, ascribed to the 'Shouldered Point' and 'Backed Point' complexes, are attributed to the late-Devensian Windermere Interstadial and there were also Later Mesolithic and Beaker occupation.