Broken Cavern
Excavation
J.L. Widger, 1865-1880; A. Roberts, 1990-1992.
Curation
Torquay Museum; British Museum and Natural History Museum, London.
Burials
MNI: 6+ (3 adults, 3 children)
Finds
Early Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery, stone axes, leaf-shaped arrowheads, flints, antler and bone awl, Romano-British artefacts, animal bones.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Neolithic | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
4885 bp (OxA-3206) on human tooth.
External References
| National Monuments Record | SX 86 NW 8 |
| Sites and Monument Record | DV 8580 |
| Devon and Cornwall Cave Registry | 127 |
Bibliography
Barton, R.N.E. & Roberts, A.J. (1996) Reviewing the British Late Upper Palaeolithic: new evidence for chronological patterning in the Lateglacial record. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 15: 245-265.
Green, H.S. (1980) The Flint Arrowheads of the British Isles. B.A.R. British Series 75. B.A.R., Oxford.
Hedges, R.E.M. et al. (1996) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 22. Archaeometry 38: 391-419.
Hedges, R.E.M. et al. (1998) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 26. Archaeometry 40: 437-455.
Lee, J.E. (1880) Letter. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 8: 247-249.
McComb, P. (1989) Upper Palaeolithic Artefacts from Britain and Belgium. An Inventory and Technological Description. British Archaeological Reports International Series 481. B.A.R., Oxford.
Price, C.R. (2003) Late Pleistocene and EarlyHolocene Small Mammals in South West Britain. BAR British Series 347. B.A.R., Oxford.
Walker, H.H. & Sutcliffe, A.J. (1967) James Lyon Widger (1823-92) and the Torbryan Caves. Reports and Transactions of the Devonshire Association 99: 49-110.
Widger, J.L. (1880) Letter. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 8: 249-250.
Widger, J.L. (1892) The Torbryan Caves. Torquay Directory, 15th June.
Article Author Graham Mullan