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Summary

Kent's cavern. The cave of inscriptions. The area near the westernmost entrance was excavated. The cave earth yielded the usual teeth, burnt bone, and a quantity of coprolitic matter. The following specimens of flint and chert were also found:-.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1010745: Kent's Cavern, Torquay

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX96SW/4/37

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAVE DEPOSIT (Palaeolithic - 698000 BC to 8001 BC (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV316858.

Kent's cavern. The cave of inscriptions. The area near the westernmost entrance was excavated. The cave earth yielded the usual teeth, burnt bone, and a quantity of coprolitic matter. The following specimens of flint and chert were also found:-a. A mottled grey, angular flake of chert. It was very concave on the inner face, and several flakes had been struck off the outer face. There was little evidence of its having been used. It was found with elephant's molars, bear teeth, gnawed bones, one burnt bone, and five lumps of coprolite in the first foot level of cave earth in march 1874. B. A small grey flint flake or chip with a bulb of percussion strongly marked. It was found with the teeth of bear and eleven balls of coprolite in the first foot level beneath a cake of stalagmite in march 1874. C. A rudely lanceolate flake of grey flint. It was slightly concave on the inner face, reduced to an edge on both lateral margins, and having two ridges extending its entire length on the outer face. It was little, if at all, used. It was found with bear teeth, bone fragments, and a coprolite in the first foot level of cave earth in march 1874. D. A small flint flake. It was slightly concave in both directions on the inner face, strongly carinated on the other, sharply truncated at each end, and reduced to an edge on the lateral margins, one of which was broken or jagged. It was of a light drab colour on the surface, retaining its original black colour at the centre. It was found with the tooth of bear, two fragments of burnt bone, and four lumps of coprolite in the first foot level of cave earth in march 1874. E. A nearly white flint of fine texture. It was sharply truncated at the butt end, round-pointed and blunt at the other. It was sharp and unworn at the lateral margins, longitudinally concave on the inner face with a strong central ridge on the other, extending from the butt end nearly two thirds of its length where it bifurcated in consequence of the dislodgement of a small flake. A portion of the original surface was retained on one of the slopes at the butt end, and the bulb of percussion was well developed near the point. It was found with two bone fragments and coprolite in the first foot level of cave earth on april 1st 1874. F. A grey flake. It was sharply truncated at one end, round-pointed and blunt at the other, which had a bulb of percussion. It may have been used as a scraper. On its outer face it had, near the middle of its length, a central ridge which bifurcated towards each end. It was found in the first foot level in may 1874. Nothing was found in the crystalline stalagmite. The breccia yielded the remains of cave bear and the following specimens of flint and chert:-g. A large rude flake of a very rough flint nodule. It was rudely quad- rilateral with the angles rounded off. The inner face displayed the bulb of percussion near the truncated butt end, and there was a tendency to flatness elsewhere. The outer face retained a large portion of the original surface of the nodule. It was found in the fourth level of the breccia with bear teeth and a flint pebble in march 1874. H. A bluish-grey flint of somewhat coarse texture. It was truncated at the butt end, and pointed at the other. It was slightly concave on one face, and very strongly ridged on the other. It was found with the teeth and bones of bear in the second foot level in march 1874. I. An irregularly shaped flake or chip of pinkish drab chert. It was found in the third foot level in march 1874. J. A sub-triangular flake of coarse chert. It was nearly flat on one face, with a strong curvilineal ridge on the other. It was found with bone fragments in the first foot level in march 1874. K. A small specimen of chert. It was broken in excavation. It was found in the fourth foot level in june 1874.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV316859.

Pengelly, w. /tda/16(1884)362-367/the literature of kent's cavern, part 5.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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