Gop Cave
Excavation
W.B. Dawkins, 1886; J.H. Morris, 1909-14; W.H. Stead et al., 1958.
Curation
Manchester Museum; Chester Museum; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff (19.252, 19.259, 20.339, 36.632/1-9, 47.101/26-39, 61.381, 92.230H).
Burials
MNI: 14
Finds
Peterborough Ware pottery, flint knife, leaf-shaped arrowhead, Craig Lwyd stone axe, jet artefacts, animal bones.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Neolithic | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
4840 bp (OxA-10645, redated 4414 bp, OxA-22991); 4570 bp (OxA-10646, redated 4381 bp, OxA-22992); 4350 bp (OxA-10644, redated 4357 bp, OxA-22990) on human bone.
External References
| Royal Commission CARN Database | 306726 |
| Sites and Monument Record | 102261, 102262, 102263, 102264 |
| Scheduled Ancient Monuments | Fl 067 |
| Cambrian Caving Council Record | 912 |
Bibliography
Davies, E. (1949) The Prehistoric and Roman Remains of Flintshire. Cardiff.
Dawkins, W.B. (1901) On the cairn and sepulchral cave at Gop, near Prestatyn. Archaeological Journal 58: 322-341.
Dawkins, W.B. (1912) Certain fixed points in the prehistory of Wales. Archaeologia Cambrensis 6: 61-108.
Gibson, A. (1995) First impressions: a review of Peterborough Ware in Wales. In Kinnes, I. & Varndell, G. (eds) ‘Unbaked Urns of Rudely Shape’: Essays on British and Irish Pottery. Oxbow Monograph 55. Oxbow, Oxford, pp. 23-39.
Glenn, T.A. (1913) Distribution of Neolithic implements in northern Flintshire. Archaeologia Cambrensis 13: 181-190.
Glenn, T.A. & Piggott, S. (1935) Distribution of the Graig Lwyd axe and its associated cultures. Archaeologia Cambrensis 90: 194-216.
Green, H.S. (1980) The Flint Arrowheads of the British Isles. B.A.R. British Series 75. B.A.R., Oxford.
Jackson, J.W. (1913) On the occurrence of the lynx in North Wales and Derbyshire. Geological Magazine 10: 259-262.
Lynch, F. (1969) Flint arrowheads from Minera, Wrexham. Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions 18: 173.
McInnes, I. (1968) Jet sliders in Late Neolithic Britain. In Coles, J.M. & Simpson, D.D.A. (eds) Studies in Ancient Europe. Leicester University Press, Leicester, pp. 137-144.
Piggott, S. (1954) Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Schulting, R.J. (2020) Claddedigaethau mewn ogofâu: Prehistoric human remains (mainly) from the caves of Wales. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society 28 (2) : 185-219.
Schulting, R. & Gonzalez, S. (2007) ‘Prestatyn Woman’ reconsidered. In M. Bell (ed.) Prehistoric and Coastal Communities: The Mesolithic in western Britain. Council for British Archaeology, pp. 303-305.
Walker, E. (1993) History of excavations at Gop Cave. Clwyd Archaeological News p. 3
Article Author Graham Mullan