Oreston Third Bone Cave, Plymouth, Devon


NGR: SX 5018 5384

NMR: SX 55 SW 17

SMR: -

SAM: -

DCCR: 430

Excavation: J. Whidbey, 1822.

Curation: Royal College of Surgeons (collection destroyed); Bristol City Museum; British Geological Survey, Keyworth; Oxford University Museum; Natural History Museum, London.

Burials: MNI: 1

Finds: Faunal remains.

Date: ?Mesolithic (1)

14C: 8615 bp (OxA-4777) on human bone (possibly contaminated).

Bibliography:

Bronk Ramsey, C., et al. (2002) Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 31. Archaeometry 44. 3. (S1): 1-149.

Buckland, W. (1823) Reliquiae Diluvianae. Murray, London.

Chamberlain, A.T. (1996) More dating evidence for human remains in British caves. Antiquity 70: 950-953.

Chamberlain, A.T. & Ray, K. (1994) A Catalogue of Quaternary Fossil Bearing Cave Sites in the Plymouth Area. Plymouth City Council, Plymouth.

Pengelly, W. (1872) The literature of the Oreston Caves near Plymouth. Transactions of the Devonshire Association 5: 249-361.

Whidbey, J. & Clift, W. (1823) On some fossil bones discovered in caverns in the limestone quarries of Oreston. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 113: 78-90.

Worth, R.N. (1879) The bone caves of the Plymouth district. Transactions of the Plymouth Institution 7: 87-117.

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