Gough's Cave

Skull that potentially shows signs of cannibalism

The cave contained skeletal remains of animals and of humans dated by ultra-filtration carbon dating to around the end of the Last Glacial Maximum some 14,700 years ago. These show cut-marks and breakage consistent with de-fleshing and eating. Skull fragments represent from 5 to 7 humans, including a young child of about 3 years and two adolescents. The brain cases appear to have been prepared as drinking cups or containers, a tradition found in other Magdalenian sites across Europe.[7]

The remains currently reside in the Natural History Museum in London, with a replica in the Cheddar Man and the Cannibals museum in the Gorge. Other human remains have also been found in the cave.

Skull of Gough's Cave

In 2022 nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from a female found in the cave was analysed. Like human remains from other Magdalenian sites, her genome shares most drift with the individuals belonging to the ~19,000–14,000-year-old Goyet Q2 genetic cluster.[8]

Isotopic analysis on the remains showed a diet consisting of terrestrial herbivores such as red deer, aurochs and horses.[8]

3D microscopy showed that the flesh had been removed from the bones using the same tools and techniques used on animal bones.[9] The human skulls of the same date found at the cave around 1987,[10] may have been deliberately fashioned into ritual drinking cups or bowls.[11] These de-fleshing marks and secondary treatment of human material at Gough's Cave, also found at other Magdalenian culture sites such as Brillenhöhle and Hohle Fels in Germany and Maszycka Cave in Poland, has been taken as evidence of cannibalism.[12]

A perforated baton, made of reindeer antler, was found in Gough's Cave. Like other similar artifacts, it has been interpreted as being a device for making rope. Grooves around each hole would have held plant fibres in place. The existence of these tools at different locations indicates rope-making had already become an important human activity by the Upper Paleolithic age. "These devices were called batons and were originally thought to have been carried by chiefs as badges of rank. However, they had holes with spirals round them and we now realise they must have been used to make or manipulate ropes." The ropes could then have been used to construct fishing nets, snares and traps, bows and arrows, clothing and containers for carrying food. Heavy objects, such as sleds, could now be hauled on ropes while spear points could be lashed to poles.[13][14]

A Palaeolithic individual from the non-Magdalenian burial site in Kendrick's Cave on the coast of North Wales, who lived at approximately the same time as the Magdalenian humans in Gough's Cave,[8] shares most drift with the individuals belonging to the ~14,000–7,000-year-old Villabruna genetic cluster.[8] His diet included a large element of fish-eating mammals such as seals. This suggests that at least two different human groups, with different genetic affinities and different dietary and cultural behaviours, were present in Britain during the Late Glacial Interstadial.[8]

Centuries after the Magdalenian use of Gough's Cave, the Younger Dryas cold period made the area of the current British Isles unsuitable for human life.

In 1903 the remains of a human male, since named Cheddar Man, were found a short distance inside Gough's Cave. He is Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, having been dated to approximately 7150 BC.[15] His genetic markers suggested (based on their associations in modern populations whose phenotypes are known) that he probably had green eyes, lactose intolerance, dark curly or wavy hair, and, less certainly,[16] dark to very dark skin.[17][18] Further genetic analysis shows that he is part of the Western Hunter-Gatherer population, and not closely related to the much earlier Magdalenian individuals found in the same cave. About 85% of his ancestry can be modelled as coming from the ~14,000–7,000-year-old Villabruna genetic cluster, and only c. 15% from the Goyet Q2 cave cluster which is associated with Magdalenian culture.[8]

Alladdin's Cave, a chamber and mirror pool inside Gough's Cave

Cheddar cheese maturing in the cave

Gough's cave contains long stretches of completely flooded river passage. From a point relatively close to the areas of the cave open to the public, the cave-divers' descent into Sump 1a begins through a tight passage known as Dire Straits. The bottom of that passage opens into the river passage, which is several metres across. This has been explored for 335 m (1,099 ft) downstream, whilst upstream a dive of 150 m (490 ft) brings the diver out in a 20 m (66 ft) long chamber named Lloyd Hall (which can now also be reached by an alternative, dry, route).[5][19]

Another dive of 140 m (460 ft) through Sump 1b, finishing with an ascent through a rising passage, leads to another chamber, 60 m (197 ft) long and 25 m (82 ft) wide at its widest point, and full of large boulders, called Bishop's Palace. This chamber is the largest chamber currently found in the Cheddar caves. Further on, three sump pools (named the Duck Ponds) lead to Sump 2 which is about 27 m (89 ft) deep at its lowest point and 150 m (492 ft) long.[5][19]

Air is again reached at Sheppard's Crook, which is followed by Sump 3. This sump is 55 m (180 ft) deep and at its bottommost point is about 30 m (98 ft) below sea level. Following Sump 3, a wide ascending passage continues for 370 m (1,214 ft) before reaching an impassable blockage, still below the water's surface.[5][19]