Archived Web Site
The Cave Archaeology Group web pages are not currently being maintained, but they remain online as an archived BCRA resource. If you would like to volunteer to take on the active maintenance of this site, please contact the BCRA webmaster – see BCRA Contact Page. This page, styled-4/styled-5/index.html was last modified on 08-Mar-2017. (This notice dated 05-Jul-2023 [amended with webmaster address 24-Jan-2024]).

Cave Archaeology Group

BCRA Special Interest Group

Further information and links

Please help enhance this page by sending details and web addresses to the link at the bottom of the page

As a BCRA member, you can get a grant to support a cave archaeology research project? You can find more info on grants and awards at the page linked below. Also, please be aware that the editors of Cave and Karst Science are keen to consider papers relating to cave archaeology for publication in the magazine. Once again, more information can be found on the BCRA website.

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Grant Aid - BCRA Information http://bcra.org.uk/info.html#grant_aid
The BCRA is a registered charity whose object is to promote the study of caves.

CAG Member Websites

Steve Warren
has created a fascinating website with content on caves, mines, fossils, geology, personal stories and anecdotes.
http://www.mudinmyhair.co.uk

Vince Simmonds has put together "An Overview of the Archaeology of the Mendips Caves and Karst". This is freely available in the archaeology section of the Mendip Cave Register and Archive at www.mcra.org.uk or on his website at http://www.mendipgeoarch.net


Societies

British Cave Research Association (BCRA) Homepage
British Caving Library http://caving-library.org.uk/catalogue/j/ta/archaeology,UK
University of Bristol Spelaeological Society http://www.ubss.org.uk/

Caves (General)

The Eli Simpson Archive
(British Geological Survey - National Environment Research Council): The Eli Simpson Archive is an extensive collection of material covering caves and caving in Yorkshire and Derbyshire. It was compiled by Eli Simpson (1884–1962), the founder of the British Speleological Association (now the British Cave Research Association (BCRA), with contributions from other members.
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringgeology/geologyofbritain/archives/elisimpson/home.html

The Archaeology Of Grotta Scaloria: Ritual In Neolithic Southeast Italy
http://www.ioa.ucla.edu/press/scaloria

Caves of North Wales - an information resource, by Chris Ebbs
https://sites.google.com/site/cavesofnorthwales/

Cave Archaeology

Creswell Crags
 
http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/

High Pasture Cave
 
http://www.high-pasture-cave.org/

William Pengelly Trust

 
http://www.pengellytrust.org/museum/archaeology.htm

Chris Ebbs (Welsh caves and mining papers; Pdf downloads)
 http://independent.academia.edu/CrisEbbs

Lynx Cave Excavations, Denbighshire
http://lynxcave.webs.com/

William Pengelly Trust
 
http://www.pengellytrust.org/museum/archaeology.htm

Smoo Cave, Nr, Durness. North coast of Scotland
http://www.smoocave.org/index.htm
 
Cave Biology
The BCRA Cave Biology Homepage

Cavelife Homepage.

The Manchester Museum Cave Fossil collection
The Manchester Museum has a large collection of over 13,000 cave fossil specimens. The fossils are primarily from Creswell Crags and Windy Knoll in Derbyshire. William Boyd Dawkins collected most of the early specimens, with major additions by A. L. Armstrong and J. W. Kitching. A range of European and international sites are represented in the collection. The Type and Figured cave fossils are available on-line here.

The Manchester Museum are currently looking to develop their Pleistocene mammal collection so that it better meets the needs of researchers. The museum has a small amount of room to expand the collection and would like to link in with more research programs. Please contact them if you would like to see the collection or discuss research. Contact
David Gelsthorpe, Curator of Palaeontology. Tel: (0161) 3061601. E-mail here.

Cave Conservation
Northern cave monitoring Homepage.
 
Karst Geomorphology

British Geological Survey (BGS) Homepage

National Karst Database
Homepage

Mendips Karst on the BGS website
Homepage

University departments

Quaternary Environments and Geoarchaeology Research Group at The University of Manchester Homepage

Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University
Homepage

University of Bradford Department of Archaeological Sciences Homepage


The Portable Antiquities Scheme
The Portable Antiquities scheme is a DCMS funded project to encourage the voluntary recording of archaeological objects found by the public in England and Wales. Every year many thousands of objects are discovered, many of these by metal detectorists, but also by people while out walking, gardening or going about their daily work. Such discoveries offer an important source for understanding our past. This website provides background information on the Portable Antiquities Scheme, news articles, events listings and access the PAS database of objects and images. http://finds.org.uk

Council of Northern Caving Clubs
http://cncc.org.uk/

Northern SSSI Cave Conservationn Monitoring Scheme
http://www.northerncavemonitoring.org.uk/

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB)
A three-phase project to investigate ancient humans from Palaeolithic and Mesolithic northern Europe, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
http://www.ahobproject.org/

The Mendip Cave Registry and Archive (MRCA)
A constantly expending resource of data for covers and those interested in the subterranean world which relates primarily to caves and mines in the area of Bristol, Somerset, Bath and Wiltshire. This website provides access to electronic versions of the Cave Registry, the Bibliography and a growing collection of material within the archive, including photographs, films and logbooks.
http://www.mcra.org.uk

Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group:
Archaeological research projects in Wharfedale, Yorkshire Dales.
http://www.uwhg.org.uk/index.html

Lower Winskill (Thomas. C. Lord): Farming, conservation, education, heritage and research in the Yorkshire Dales. Cave archaeology, palaeontology, karst research and other publications.
http://www.lowerwinskill.co.uk/research.htm

Out of Oblivion - a landscape through time. This site is based on the Historic Environment Record (HER) maintained by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk/default.asp

Derbyshire Heritage: A list of published works on the archaeology and heritage of Derbyshire.
http://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/bibliography.php

Caving News: Online news digest, for cavers, by cavers! Discoveries, archaeology, excavations, conservation and more.
http://cavingnews.com/discovery

Matienzo Caves, Spain
http://geography.lancs.ac.uk/matienzo/page1.htm

Karst Worlds: Technical articles, news and trip reports covering climbing, caving, mountaineering and hiking. http://www.karstworlds.com/