NGR: SO 5458 1558
NMR: SO 51 NW 7
SMR: 902
SAM: H & W 26, 143
CCR: F125
FOD: 174
Excavation: W.S. Symonds, 1871; H. Taylor, 1926-27; R.N.E. Barton, 1994.
Curation: Cheltenham Museum; Gloucester Museum; Natural History Museum, London; University of Bristol Spelaeological Society.
Burials: MNI: 1+
Finds: Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic flint and chert artefacts; Bronze Age, Romano-British and Mediaeval pottery; Mesolithic perforated shells, animal bones.
Date: Neolithic (1)
14C: 4670 bp (OxA-5863) on human bone, 3440 bp (OxA-V-3138-28C) on human bone.
Bibliography:
Apsimon, A.P. (1994) Archaeological note: King Arthur's Cave, King Arthur's Hall, and the giant's skeleton. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 20 (1): 75-76.
Apsimon, A.P. et al. (1992) King Arthur's Cave, Whitchurch: a reassessment of a Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Beaker site. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 19 (2): 183-239.
ApSimon,A.M., & Jacobi,R.M., 2004. Getting It Right: No Middle Palaeolithic at King Arthur's Cave. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 23 (1): 17-26.
Barton, R.N.E. (1995) Third interim report on the survey and excavations in the Wye Valley, 1995. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 20 (2): 153-159.
Barton, R.N.E. (1996) Fourth interim report on the survey and excavations in the Wye Valley, 1996. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 20 (3): 263-273.
Barton, R.N.E. (1997) Fifth interim report on the survey and excavations in the Wye Valley, 1997 and new AMS radiocarbon dating results from Madawg Rockshelter. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 21 (1): 99-108.
Barton, R.N.E. et al. (1997) Wye Valley caves Project: recent investigations at King Arthur's Cave and Madawg Rock Shelter. In Lewis, S.G. and Maddy, D. (eds) The Quaternary of the South Midlands and the Welsh Marches. Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association, London.
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.
Hedges, R.E.M. et al. (1997) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 24. Archaeometry 39: 445-471.
Hewer, T.F. (1925) Second report on excavations in the Wye Valley. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 2 (3): 216-228.
Reade, H., Holloran, F., Tripp, J.A., Charlton, S., Jourdan, A-L. & Stevens, R.E. (2020) Late glacial palaeoclimate investigations at King Arthur’s Cave and Sun Hole Cave. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 28 (2): 221-238.
Stevens, R.E., Frémondeau, D. & Reade, H. (2023) Radiocarbon dating and ZooMS species identification of fragmentary bone at the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic site of King Arthur's Cave. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 29 (2): 121-135.
Symonds, W.S. (1871) On the contents of a hyaena's den on the Great Doward, Whitchurch, Ross. Geological Magazine 8: 433-438.
Taylor, H. (1927) King Arthur's Cave, near Whitchurch, Ross-on-Wye. Second report: excavations in 1926 and 1927. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society 3 (2): 59-83.