King Arthur’s Cave (Wye Valley) contains a late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary sequence, with evidence of Late Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and later occupations. It currently provides the earliest dates for a human presence in the British Isles after the Last Glacial Maximum. Here we revisit the faunal material from the University of Bristol Speleological Society 1920s and 1950s excavations to further clarify the chronology of the stratigraphic sequence on the platform outside the cave mouth. The results of six new ultrafiltered radiocarbon dates confirm that fauna date to before the Last Glacial Maximum and to the Late Glacial, and that some post depositional stratigraphic mixing has occurred. We undertook peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) of fragmentary bones from the platform archaeological levels to provide further insights into the fauna during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The ZooMS species identification indicate the fragmentary bone assemblage mirrors the species present in the morphologically identifiable bone assemblage. Although dominated by red deer, the presence of “mammoth steppe” fauna such as woolly rhino and spotted hyaena, alongside temperate species and domesticated animals (e.g. sheep) further confirm post depositional stratigraphic mixing. Amongst the fragments identified is a human bone which, based on its provenance, could be Late Glacial or early Holocene in age and relate to the Late Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic activity at the site. The specimen is currently being radiocarbon dated.

In 1947, fragments of human bone were discovered in Stoke Lane Slocker, Somerset. Most of the finds were removed from the cave in 1949/50 and deposited in Frome Museum. They are now curated at Frome Heritage Museum and at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton. Recent analysis shows that there were at least two adult and three juvenile individuals present. Radiocarbon dating indicates that they are Early Bronze Age in date.

Holy Austin Rock (South Staffordshire) is the only domestic rock-cut building in Britain which has been restored and opened to the public. It has been the subject of earlier investigations and the enigmatic rock-cut houses have been thought to be 18th century in origin, as this is when they were first mentioned in the historical record. This paper presents the results of a new survey and analysis of the site. As part of this study the fabric and archaeology were reinterpreted based on the current understanding of similar sites elsewhere. The paper establishes a mediaeval origin for many of the rock-cut buildings and details fragmentary but surviving diagnostic features such as inscribed crosses, medieval fireplaces, doors and moulding. Repeated later phases of re-use and abandonment of the site have confused the picture, but a much earlier origin than previously thought is demonstrated. The paper also explores the possible origin of the name Holy Austin and how this may relate to nearby sites with the same name.

This report gives details of the Coolagh River Cave, Co. Clare, and the ongoing work to re-survey it conducted by members of the society in September 2022. Surveys and descriptions of the North Entrance and Branch to the Main Drain, the Flooded Bedding Cave and additional bedding cave extensions were produced or built upon. This continues work conducted in 2015 (Gregg and Podesta, 2016) and 2020 (Gregg and Woodford, 2021), and facilitates future, further work in this cave.

Details are given of new discoveries and previously unnoticed older sources for caves in the areas covered by the Society’s two books Caves of Mid-West Ireland (Mullan, 2019) and Caves of southern Ireland (Mullan, 2022).

This article considers an area of carboniferous limestone north of Bristol. It sets out the known sites of speleological interest, considers the sinkholes and swallets, summarises previously described cave passages and identifies other features typical of a karst landscape.