Three Holes Cave
Excavation
J.L. Widger, 1865-1880; A. Rosenfeld, 1955-1961; A. Roberts, 1990-1992.
Curation
British Museum and Natural History Museum, London.
Burials
MNI: 1+
Finds
Upper Palaeolithic flint artefacts; Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery, polished stone axe, leaf-shaped arrowheads, animal bones.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Roman | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
11,970 bp (OxA-1499), 12,350 bp (OxA-1500), 11,520 bp (OxA-1501) on animal bone; 4450 bp (I-549) on charcoal; 1540 bp (OxA-3210) on human bone.
External References
| National Monuments Record | SX 86 NW 8 |
| Sites and Monument Record | DV 8579 |
| Devon and Cornwall Cave Registry | 553 |
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.
Barton, R.N.E. & Roberts, A.J. (2015) Marine shell beads from three inland Later Mesolithic sites in western Britain. In Ashton, N. and Harris, C. (eds) No Stone Unturned: Papers in Honour of Roger Jacobi. London, Lithic Studies Society, 191-207.
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. (1989) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 9. Archaeometry 31: 207-234.
Hedges, R.E.M. et al. (1996) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system. Archaeometry datelist 22. Archaeometry 38: 391-419.
Jacobi, R. & Roberts, A. (1994) A new variant on the Creswellian angle-backed blade. Lithics 13: 33-39.
Roberts, A. (1993) Excavations in the Torbryan Valley, Devon. Unpublished MS, Department of Prehistoric and Romano-British Antiquities, British Museum, London.
Rosenfeld, A. (1961) Recent excavations at the Torbryan caves. Transactions of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain 6: 19-29.
Rosenfeld, A. (1964) Excavations in the Torbryan Caves, Devonshire. II. Three Holes Cave. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Exploration Society 22: 3-26.
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.
Article Author Graham Mullan