Fieldwork in advance of sea defence construction from Brean Down towards Burnham provided the opportunity to examine deposits below the beach levels. Limited trenching and extensive sampling enabled the archaeological significance of these deposits to be established and this estuarine sequence to be related to the well-known archaeological sites and sequence within the terrestrial deposits exposed in the sand cliff. The research provided an opportunity for investigation of the wetland margin of the previously investigated, largely dryland, sand cliff environment. The results contribute to an understanding of the resources exploited from the prehistoric and Romano-British sites and has produced evidence of Romano-British drainage and agricultural activity on the levels.

Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at Brean Down, Somerset, England, span the period from the beginning of the Devensian, the last glacial stage, to the present day. The paper discusses additional evidence for the interpretation of the Pleistocene deposits, correlated now with Oxygen Isotope Stages 4 to 2. Supposed bone artifacts are discussed and concluded to be wholly naturally modified, not artifacts. The interpretation of the Maritime-style Bell Beaker find is discussed and it is concluded that the associated radiocarbon date cannot safely be used to date it. Additional information and finds bearing on the Bronze Age and later deposits are also presented.

An erosionally isolated fragment of cave passage at Poulsallagh, on the west coast of the Burren, contains a sediment sequence dominated by coarse clastics exceptionally rich in exotic (non-Carboniferous) lithologies, particularly quartz. Analysis suggests that these clasts were derived from granitic and metamorphic outcrops on the north side of Galway Bay and in Connemara, indicating transport distances of more than 50 km for some. It is deduced that these exotic sediments were reworked from till deposited by ice moving across the Burren from the north-west. Subsequent ice movement from the north-east has erased virtually all surface traces of this earlier glaciation other than a scattering of reworked erratics. The former extent of this north-westerly derived till cover is indicated by the presence of similar assemblages of exotic clasts in several other caves, including the Fergus River Cave 20 km further to the east-south-east. The age of the sediments, and the till from which they were derived, remains uncertain but they are considered to be post-Gortian (Stage 11 or 9) and pre-Holocene (Stage 1). The most parsimonious chronology would have the earlier till emplaced on the surface during Stage 4, with clasts fluvially reworked into the cave during the interstadial of Stage 3, followed by till emplacement from the north-east during Stage 2.

Exploration in this cave between 1997 and 2000 has trebled its length. The discovery of a bypass to Sump1 and a further 2 km of stream passage beyond the sumps is described. A tentative reconstruction of the geomorphic history of the cave suggests that it has had a long history, in that it was active prior to the glacial processes which truncated the overlying plateau at its southern end, producing the Oughtdarra basin and cliffs. Subsequent rejuvenation has begun to deepen the cave at its downstream end by headward erosion.