On 18th January 1823 William Buckland, a geology professor at Oxford University, entered Goat's Hole Cave at Paviland and started excavating what he thought was a woman's burial from the time of the Romans, alongside carved elephant ivory rods and rings. In this podcast Kim Biddulph traces the history of the skeleton's interpretation, to the one that is currently held now, a Palaeolithic man dating back to 33,000 years ago, buried with mammoth ivory artefacts.
References
- Aldhouse-Green, S, 2000. Paviland Cave and the 'Red Lady': A definitive report. Bristol, Western Academic and Specialist Press.
- Barton, N 2005 (2nd edn). Ice Age Britain. London, B.T. Batsford.
- Jacobi, R.M, & Higham, T.F.G, 2008. The 'Red Lady' ages gracefully: new ultrafiltration AMS determinations from Paviland. Journal of Human Evolution, Vol 55, Issue 5, pp898-907
Link
- Jacobi & Higham article
- Red Lady of Paviland page on the Bradshaw Foundation's website
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History
- Explore Gower webpage about Goat's Hole Cave
- BBC article about the redating of the Red Lady
- Nature article about the updated radiocarbon technique for the redating
- BBC article about bringing the skeleton back to Wales