This gazetteer contains a summary of information about caves, fissures and rock-shelters in Great Britain that have contained human remains of possible or proven prehistoric date. The gazetteer is organised into regions of the country, shown below on the map. For individual caves, select the specific area, to display the records which are listed alphabetically. Definitions of the categories used in the records are given in the first, index, part of each section.
The first version of this document was compiled and produced by Andrew T. Chamberlain, Jim Williams and Erika Strenski in 1999 and hosted on the website of the University of Sheffield, where it was updated in 2001. This fully updated version was compiled by Andrew T. Chamberlain in 2014 and is now hosted by courtesy of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society.
This gazetteer has been compiled as the original publications, in the online journal CAPRA, are no longer hosted and can no longer be updated. However, archive copies can be found. For more details, including an index to articles published in CAPRA, please go to this page.
If you know the name of the site in which you are interested it is quickest, as described above, to find it in the alphabetical lists under each area. It is also possible to search the site more generally with a javascript enabled browser (most are) using the box below. Results come from some of the more popular search engines.
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It is hoped that we can actively keep the information both accurate and up to date. If you know of any data that is missing or out of date, please contact either the compiler, Prof. Andrew Chamberlain or the editor Graham Mullan. For technical problems, broken links etc. please contact the editor..
The background image on this site is a copy of the Upper Palaeolithic engraving of a possible cervid discovered in Cathole Cave, Gower, South Wales by Dr. George Nash, in 2010, and reproduced with his permission.
Updated March 2025