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Summary

Kent's cavern

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1010745: Kent's Cavern, Torquay

Other References/Statuses

• Torbay HER: MTO9714

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAVE (Lower Palaeolithic to Roman - 500000 BC to 409 AD)

Full description

Torbay HER record (SMR record). SDV361984.

Imported from Torbay HER

Pengelly, W., 1884, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, p.330-56; 426-29 (Article in Serial). SDV362708.

The Long Arcade. Charcoal was found in some of the natural basins;a thin black line of charcoal was found in the granular stalagmitic floor, composed of charred wood and straw with small polished flint pebbles, shells and burnt animal bones embedded in it; other bones and a black flint were found beneath this layer.

The cave earth yielded the bones and teeth of hyena and other animals, and coprolite. In the excavated material discarded by Mcenery were found bones, teeth and eight flint flakes and chips . Twenty-five flint implements in all were recovered from the cave earth. [sic DCC SMR]

The cave earth yielded some animal bones and two flint implements:
1. A mottled white flint of irregular in form, flat on one face and doubly carinated on the other, was found in February 1872 in the first foot-level of cave earth with a portion of grey flint nodule, apparently fractured artificially.

2. A bluish-grey flint, semi-lunar in outline was found on 10 February 1872 with the teeth of hyena and of horse in the third foot-level of cave earth.

3. A well-marked incisor of Machairodus latidens was found in July 1872 in the first foot-level of cave earth.


From the Granular stalagmitic floor there came:
1. A tool of white flint with a hammer-like core, broad at one end and round-pointed at the other, was formed by several flakes having been struck from the original nodule. Found in August 1872 its pointed end showed that it had been used as a hammer.


Further flint implements were found in 1873 [the DCC SMR acount is confused]

1. A light grey flint of lanceolite type, and was found in February 1873. It had a sharp edge all round its perimeter, nearly flat on one side, slightly convex on the other, from which four principal longitudinal flakes had been dislodged.

2. A similar flint but more massive, was found in March 1873; it was abruptly truncated at each end, very concave on the inner face on which a bulb of percussion was well displayed near the point. The outer face was very convex; it had not been used. It was found with a tooth and a gnawed scapula. Seventeen more flint implements were found in the breccia. These were more rudely formed and more massive than those from the cave earth.

3. An angular flint chip was found in the first foot-level of cave earth, with bear teeth and eleven balls of coprolite, in December 1873.

4. A symmetrical tongue-shaped tool of chert was convex on both faces. It was worked to an edge all round the perimeter, except at the butt end where a portion of the original surface remained. It was found in December 1873 in the second foot-level of cave earth, beneath the granular stalagmitic floor.



A number of tools were found in the breccia:-
1. A fine kite-shaped flint tool, convex on one side and flat on the other was found in November 1872. Two principal planes or facets sloped in opposite directions from a transverse ridge about midway in its length. At the butt end of the convex face, much of the original surface was retained.

2. A rudely foot-shaped flint tool, found in December 1872 not far from the entrance to the arcade. It was of a yellowish drab colour with a patina and had undergone a considerable amount of chipping, was very convex on one face and flattish on the other with no portion of the original surface remained.

3. An orange-coloured flint implement, rudely elliptical in outline and very massive was found in the third foot-level of the breccia in February 1873. It was very convex on one face with a tendency to flatness on the other with a great number of facets on each face and portions of the original surface here and there. On the flatter face there was a rugged elliptical hole, nearly central that was clearly structural.

4. A coarse chert tool very convex on both faces and worked to an edge all round was found in May 1873 in the fourth foot-level.

5. A similar variety of chert to (4) was rudely semi-lunar in form and had a thin edge on its rectalineal margin.

6. A rude chert tool, slightly rolled, in the form of a parallelogram and an oval, was slightly and irregularly concave on one face and convex on the other. It was found in the first foot-level.

7. A fine implement of the same form as (1) was flat on one face and very protuberant on the other, and retained a portion of the original surface. Made of a coarse, cherty structure and a dull pinkish colour. Iit was found in June 1873 in the fourth foot-level, a little below (6).

8. A pale-pink, unshapen lump of flint - perhaps a core or implement spoiled in the making, was found in the third foot-level in Jjuly 1873.

9. A chert tool, similar to (5) and (6), thickest at one margin, and sloped thence to an edge at the other, was probably used as a scraper. It was found in August 1873 in the second foot-level.

10. A chert pebble with some chipping was found in the third foot-level in September 1873.

11. A rude flake of flint that retained a portion of the original of a nodule, showing a bulb of percussion was found in the fourth foot-level in September 1873.

12. A chert pebble with some chipping and probably subsequent rolling was found in the second foot-level in September 1873.

13. A chip, apparently artificially struck off a flint nodule, retained its original surface on one face, was found in the third foot-level in September 1873.

14. A piece of coarse chert in the form of a horse-shoe-shaped scraper, was sharply truncated at one end, with a well-developed bulb of percussion near it on the inner face, the margin was a thin edge. It was found in November 1873 in the fourth foot-level.

15. A portion of white flint, probably a core from which flakes had been struck retaining a part of the original surface of the nodule was found near (14) on the same level.

16. A rude flake of chert was found in the third foot-level in December 1873.

17. A coarse chert tool of irregular nondescript form was found in the second foot-level in February 1874 - it had been broken by a workman.

18. A rude flake of coarse chert was rolled but retained much of its original surface. It was, perhaps, not originally intentioned as a tool, but it may have been so used. It was found in the third foot-level in February 1874.

19. An angular chip of flint was found with bear teeth in the fourth-foot level in 1874.



Deeper excavations were undertaken in the Breccia of the Long Arcade between November 1879 and June 1980 from which 19 finds were made:-

1. A flint nodule tool of an oblique triangular pyramid shape with a butt end of an almost flat irregular quadrilateral, was found alone in the eighth-foot level of the breccia in December 1879. Portions of the original surface of the nodule were retained round the butt end.

2. An almost white flint nodule, with no remnant of the original surface was found in the fifth foot-level of the breccia in January 1880. Roughly quadrilateral one face had a tendency to flatness, while the other was convex with one principal longitudinal ridge and two or three minor ones.

3. A small flint chip, of little interest, was found in the fifth foot-level of the breccia in January 1880.

4. The left last upper molar of a bear, a few pieces of bone and a small flint chip were found in the seventh foot-level in January 1880.

5. A large portion of tibia. It was found in the seventh-foot level.

6. The crown of a rhinoceros tooth, was found alone in a pocket of the cave earth in January 1880.

7. A flint nodule tool, with one very convex face less so on the other, had a small patch of the original crust of the nodule at the butt end, the other end being round-pointed, was found alone in the eighth foot-level of the breccia in February 1880. A well-developed bulb of percussion survived in one of the lateral edges

8. A very small flint chip was found alone in the ninth foot-level in February 1880.

9. A piece of bone, was found in the seventh foot level in February 1880.

10. A small polished agate, set in silver, obviously dropped by a visitor after February 1873, was found on the surface in March 1880.

11. A flint flake or chip, retaining a small portion of the original nodule from which it was dislodged, was found alone in the fifth foot-level in March 1880.

12.A flint flake or chip, retaining a considerable portion of the original surface, was found alone in the eighth foot-level in March 1880.

13. A molar tooth of a bear with a piece of bone were found in the seventh foot-level in April 1880.

14. A rounded and unused flint nodule was found alone in the sixth foot-level in April 1880.

15. A small chert chip was found alone in the sixth foot-level in April 1880.

16. a small fragment of a pebble or the internal cast of an orthoceras was found in the ninth foot-level in May 1880.

17. A small flint chip was found alone in the fifth foot-level in May 1880.

18. A four-sided pyramidal flint nodule tool. At the butt end each face was covered with the original crust of the nodule. The apex was not well-formed.

19. A mass of chipped flint retaining a small patch of the original surface. Bruising is indicativeof its use as a hammer-stone. It was found alone in the ninth foot-level in June 1880.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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