Aveline’s Hole is the largest known Early Mesolithic cemetery in Britain, previously thought to have no evidence for subsequent burial activity. Thus, it came as some surprise when the results of a recent ancient human DNA study found that, of four individuals from the site yielding genomic data, two showed high levels of ancestry from Early Neolithic Aegean farmers. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that these two individuals were indeed British Early Neolithic in date, while the other two had the expected ‘Western Hunter-Gatherer’ ancestry genomic signatures, with the two groups separated in time by nearly five millennia. Moreover, the two Neolithic samples were both crania, while the two Mesolithic samples were long bones. Given the absence of Neolithic dates in the previous sizeable dating programme combined with the difficult history of the collection, i.e., the WWII bombing of its Bristol repository, this raised the question of whether the crania might in fact be from another site. As we show in this paper, a very strong case can be made that the crania do in fact originate from Aveline’s Hole. Additional radiocarbon dating (14 in total, including the above mentioned four) suggests that about half the cranial elements from the site fall within the Early Neolithic, though there is still no evidence for the deposition of post-cranial remains at this time, nor is there any burial evidence in the long intervening period between the Early Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic. Intriguingly, craniometric analyses of legacy data including three crania lost in the bombing suggest that one, Aveline’s Hole ‘A’, may be Upper Palaeolithic in date. As part of this re-investigation of the human remains from the site, we present new stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses that differ significantly from those originally reported for the Early Mesolithic, with the new results more in keeping with other isotopic data for this period. We also present new stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results on human remains from the nearby Early Mesolithic sites of Badger Hole and Greylake, and report new Early Mesolithic radiocarbon dates and isotopic data from Cannington Park Quarry. Clear isotopic differences between the Early Mesolithic and the Neolithic remains can be seen, but these are argued to relate primarily to shifts in the underlying ecological baselines, rather than to differences in types of foods consumed (with the caveat that terrestrial wild and domesticated foods will be isotopically similar). The genetic data are summarised, giving evidence not only of the ancestry of Mesolithic and Neolithic individuals from Aveline’s Hole, but also suggesting something of their physical appearance. The degree of population replacement now indicated by ancient DNA suggests that there was a substantial migration of farmers into Britain at the start of the Neolithic. This new information demonstrates the archaeological importance of Aveline’s Hole for both the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.

Denny’s Hole is a short multi-chambered cave, the largest of several on the lower slopes of Crook Peak. It is developed in the Clifton Down Limestone, which is here splintery, partially dolomitised and cut by a number of calcite/haematite and iron ochre mineral veins with some silicification. The base level for cave development is determined by the position of the marl facies in the Triassic Mercia Mudstone as indicated by the current outlet at Dunnet’s Springs at the south-east end of the ridge. The cave is predominantly controlled by the bedding, with anastomosing tube networks floored by platy breccia (’terrace breccias’) extending out from the First Chamber. The chambers are dome shaped, have blank up-dip terminations, walls with facets, phreatic pocketing, rock steps and unusual secondary carbonate accumulations, and appear to be incised into the bedding tube network. The links between the chambers are breached partitions with very small tubular passages and bridges. With the exception of material entering from the present entrance, there are no allogenic sediments in any of the caves, and there is an absence of typical vadose stream forms. The chambers are floored by a breccia also found in Unit 6 Picken’s Hole and Sandy Hole, which is characterised by a significant degree of calcite cementation and by the presence of iron-oxyhydroxides, terminated by banded flowstone (some of which is aragonite) and popcorn. The main phase of calcite cementation comprises pond deposits and includes unusual festoon panels of rhombohedral calcite growing from a central iron-oxyhydroxide layer, which is very similar to present deposits in Thornton’s Cave, an estavelle in west-central Florida (Florea, et al, 2011). The breccia has been formed by breakdown of secondary carbonates deposited on the wall and roof, and indicates a fluctuating environment with both vadose and sub-aqueous deposition, but the earlier parts of the sequence are not present in the cements of the terrace breccias. The features of the cave indicate a hypogene origin most probably by thermal waters rising from depth beneath the Triassic cover and mixing with more oxygenated local meteoric water. Cooling caused undersaturation and dissolution in an initial bedding tube network, with contemporaneous deposition of subaqueous calcite in the near surface zone of active degassing in Unit 6 of Picken’s Hole. The cave chambers were then incised into the bedding network as a result of near- surface condensation corrosion above a thermal pool in a closed cave environment with elevated PCO2 as base level fell. Reflooding and pond calcite deposition occurred when base level rose during interglacial conditions. Correlation with uranium series dated base level changes for the Cheddar Caves suggests that the higher parts of the system (Foxes Hole and Picken’s Hole) were active during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9, with re-flooding during MIS 7, and abandonment prior to MIS 5 the last interglacial.

Acid treated sediment samples collected from Pickens Hole during excavations in 1965 are predominantly silt sized but are poorly sorted. The sample from Unit 6 is significantly coarser than those from the other units. The latter are similar in grain size distribution to non-acid treated samples from the base of the Pleistocene sediments at Brean Down. The grain size data suggest that these sediments are either directly derived from loess, or more likely derived by colluviation from pre-existing soils developed on a loessic parent material. The significant clay content may be derived by weathering of unstable minerals such as feldspar and chlorite and supports the suggestion for a period of pedogenesis prior to redeposition in the cave. This loessial origin is supported by the morphology of quartz in the silt size fraction which differs significantly from that of acid insoluble residue from the Carboniferous Limestone, but is comparable to that of quartz from Mendip soils which are thought to be aeolian in origin. More generally heavy mineral data for Mendip soils have been suggested to indicate derivation from the east, although a more local origin for the high chlorite and mica may also be considered, either locally from the Mercia Mudstone or from the braid plain of the River Severn to the west. A westerly source is also indicated by heavy mineral data from coversands in the area and also more widely in the UK. Soil parent materials mapped by Findlay (1995) in the Mendip area are coarser to the west than the east. The coarser materials are confined to lowlands and slope base situations, whereas extensive and thick fine deposits have accumulated on the Mendip plateau, especially to the east. This evidence also strongly suggests a derivation of aeolian material from the west and confirms the results from heavy mineral data. This suggestion is however contrary to the generally accepted model of Catt (1978) for an easterly North Sea source.

A bone assemblage containing human remains was discovered at the base of a scree slope in Ham Woods, Croscombe by local diggers trying to locate caves of speleological, rather than archaeological, potential. It is noted that the bone assemblage was not recovered by systematic or controlled excavation, therefore, no contextual information is available regarding these remains. The human bone recovered from the site are suggested to represent three articulated inhumation burials – an infant, a seven/eight-year old child and a mature adult. The fact that three individuals have been recovered suggests that this site might contain multiple human burials. A suitable bone sample was submitted for radiocarbon dating, the result suggests an Early Iron Age date for the human remains sampled.

During January 2019, cave divers conducting line-laying training recovered two vessels, one complete and intact, the other was fragmented but mostly complete. An intact single-handed flagon, the form is of late third to fourth century date, broadly similar to New Forest grey ware products. The second vessel, an Oxford Red-slipped Colour Coat flask with a globular body, tall, narrow neck and plain rounded rim with a shallow groove below the lip, dating to the fourth century. Although unstratified, it is highly probable that the two vessels are derived from disturbed late Roman inhumation burials within the Fourth Chamber.

Barrow T5 was originally excavated by the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society during the 1920s. This work was unsatisfactory and the site was reexcavted, this time carefully and completely by H. Taylor between 1949 and 1957. No final report was reproduced. This paper gives the background to the work and gives details of the non-flint worked stone implements, almost all of Ol;d red Sandstone (Portishead Formation) recovered from the site. The finds include polishers and one broken mould which indicate metalworking at the site, or nearby and two crude knives, one of sandstone and one of limestone.

The plateau surface of the central Burren is pitted with numerous enclosed depressions with internal drainage, of which that centred on Carran is the largest. The water sinking at the southern end of the depression had previously been traced to springs in the valley of the River Fergus to the south. The discovery in 2009, of a major, vertical cave (Poll Gonzo) near the northwestern extremity of the enclosed basin, stimulated new research in the area which is described in this paper. Positive water tracings from Poll Gonzo to submarine springs in Galway Bay and from the Castletown sink to the River Fergus valley springs show that the Carran depression lies on the divide for north and south draining groundwaters. The Carran enclosed depression is a complex karstic landform composed of seven sub-basins. Based on its morphology and hydrology it is suggested that the enclosed depression can be regarded as a small polje, an uncommon karst landform in temperate climates.