Priory Farm Cave
Also known as Cat's Hole Cave
Excavation
E.L. Dixon & A. Hurrell Style, 1906-07; R.N.E. Barton, & C.R. Price, 1999.
Curation
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
Burials
MNI: 5+ (4 adult, 1 juvenile).
Finds
Upper Palaeolithic flint artefacts, bronze artefacts, hammerstones, Bronze Age and medieval pottery,worked human bone, animal bones.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Neolithic | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
| Late Bronze Age | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
| Iron Age | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
4950 bp (OxA-10647, redated to 4631 bp, OxA-22988) on human bone; 2814 bp (OxA-12746) on human bone; 2300 bp (OxA-10648, redated to 2133, OxA-22989) on human bone.
External References
| Royal Commission CARN Database | 92727 |
| Sites and Monument Record | 14211 |
| Scheduled Ancient Monuments | Pe 435 |
| Cambrian Caving Council Record | 931 |
Bibliography
Barton, R.N.E. & Price, C.R. (1999) The westernmost Upper Palaeolithic cave site in Britain and probable evidence of a Bronze Age shell midden: new investigations at Priory Farm Cave, Pembrokeshire. Archaeology in Wales 39: 3-9.
David, A. (1991) Late glacial archaeological residues from Wales: a selection. In Barton, N. et al. (eds) The Late Glacial in North West Europe. CBA Research Report 77. Council for British Archaeology, London, pp. 141-159.
Davies, M. (1989) Recent advances in cave archaeology in southwest Wales. In Ford, T.D. (ed.) Limestones and Caves of Wales. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 79-91.
Green, H.S. & Walker, E. (1991) Ice Age Hunters. Neanderthals and Early Modern Hunters in Wales. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
Grimes, W.F. & Cowley, L.F. (1933) Priory Farm Cave, Monkton, Pembrokeshire. Archaeologia Cambrensis 88-100.
Laws, E. (1907) Bronze implements found near Pembroke Castle. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 21: 487-488.
Laws, E. (1908) Bronze implements from the shores of Milford Haven. Archaeologia Cambrensis 8: 114-115.
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.J. & Richards, M.P. (2002) Finding the coastal Mesolithic in southwest Britain: AMS dates and stable isotope results on human remains from Caldey Island, South Wales. Antiquity 76: 1011-1025.
Valdemar, A.E. (1970) A preliminary report on the archaeological and palaeontological caves and rock shelters of Wales. Transactions of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain 12 (2): 113-126.
Article Author Graham Mullan