Cove Hole 2009 | Cave Archaeology Group

Cove Hole excavation 2009

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This collaborative excavation between archaeologists from the University of Bradford and local cavers combined exploration of a blocked phreatic tube, situated in in an area of intense surface archaeology, with a reinvestigation of archaeological potential, first recognised after the discovery of human skeletal material in 1934. Arthur Raistrick considered such material to belong to a set of Iron Age burials typical of a zone extending westward to Giggleswick scar. Caves in that area have recently been revisited, as a result of which early Neolithic dates have been attained from bone samples. It appeared likely that previously discovered human bone from the cave (now lost) could belong to the earliest farmers in the Grassington area and that any new bone suitable for high-precision AMS Radiocarbon dating, along with palaeoenvironmental data, might be recoverable to confirm or refute this. Using techniques and methodology developed recently by archaeologists in the local geographical area, it was hoped that recovery of high-resolution palaeo-environmental and palaeoclimatological data may also be possible. These photographs tell some of the story of the excavation in the cave itself and the surface site above the cave.