Kirkhead Cave
Excavation
J. Bolton, 1853; J.P. Morris, 1864-5; North Lonsdale Field Club, 1920s; R.H. Wood and P. Ashmead, 1968-70.
Curation
Barrow Museum; Lancaster Museum; Manchester Museum.
Burials
MNI: 2+
Finds
Late Upper Palaeolithic flint tools, Late Bronze Age pottery, bronze artefacts, Romano-British artefacts, animal bones.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Early Medieval | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
1450 bp (SUERC-35296) on human bone.
External References
| National Monuments Record | SD37NE 24 |
| Sites and Monument Record | C 2415 |
| Scheduled Ancient Monuments | 13444 |
| Northern Caves Index | 2099 |
Bibliography
Allshorn, S. & Swire, P. (2017) Northern Caves. The Three Counties System and the North West. High Mead, Leeds.
Ashmead, P. (1969) The origin and development of caves in the Morecambe Bay area. Transactions of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain 11: 201-208.
Ashmead, P. & Wood, R.H. (1974) Second report on the archaeological excavations at Kirkhead Cavern. North West Speleology 2: 24-33.
Barber, H. (1894) Furness and Cartmel Notes. Atkinson, Ulverston.
Bolton, J. & Roberts, G.E. (1864) On the Kirkhead Cave, near Ulverstone. Journal of the Anthropological Society of London 2: 251-254.
Branigan, K. & Dearne, M.J. (1991) A Gazetteer of Romano-British Cave Sites and their Finds. Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield.
Campbell, J.B. (1977) The Upper Palaeolithic of Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Clough, T.H.M. (1969) Bronze Age metalwork from Cumbria. Transactions of the Cumbria and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society 69: 1-39.
Evans, J. (1881) The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland. Longman, Green & Co., London.
Gale, S.J. & Hunt, C.O. (1990) The stratigraphy of Kirkhead Cave, an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern England: discussion. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 56: 51-56.
Gale, S.J. et al. (1984) Kirkhead Cave: biostratigraphy and magneto-stratigraphy. Archaeometry 26: 192-198.
Gale, S.J. et al. (1985) The stratigraphy of Kirkhead Cave, an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 51: 283-304.
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Morris, J.P. (1867) The bone caves of Cartmel. North Lonsdale Magazine and Lake District Miscellany 1: 166-172.
Morris, J.P. (1866) Report of explorations conducted in the Kirkhead Cave at Ulverstone. Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London 2: 358-363.
Morris, J.P. (1868) On the bone caves of Cartmel. Archaeological Journal 25: 324-5.
Morris, J.P. & Smith, H.E. (1865) Limestone caves of Craven and their ancient inhabitants. Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 5: 199-231.
Salisbury, C.R. (1986) Comments on Kirkhead Cave, an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 52: 321-323.
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Smith, H.E. (1865) The limestone caves of Craven and their ancient inhabitants. Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historical Society 17: 225.
Smith, I.R. (2012) Kirkhead Cavern, Kent’s Bank Cavern and Whitton’s Cave near Allithwaite – geology, sediments and archaeology. In O’Regan, H.J. et al. (eds) Cave Archaeology and Karst Geomorphology of North West England. Quaternary Research Association, London, pp. 98-102.
Tipping, R. (1986) The stratigraphy of Kirkhead Cave, an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern England: a comment. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 52: 323-326.
Turnbull, P. (1991) Recording work at Kirkhead Cavern. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society 91: 263.
Wood, R.H., Ashmead, P. & Mellars, P.A. (1970) First report on the archaeological excavations at Kirkhead Cavern. North West Speleology 1: 19-24.
Article Author Graham Mullan