A new Early Mesolithic burial site: Preliminary notes on the radiocarbon dates from the human bone from Cannington Park Quarry Cave (UBSS Proceedings v.28(3))

Abstract: Human remains were found in a cave in the 1960s during quarrying activity and collected along with the animal bone which was also exposed. The cave, located just outside of the town of Cannington, was later briefly investigated by the local caving club. The bones were examined and reported on by Philip Rahtz as part of the above ground and adjacent Roman to post Roman cemetery (Cannington Cemetery). The cave bones had been thought to either belong to the cemetery, or from an earlier period, but were not radiocarbon dated at the time. Work by Cotswold Archaeology on the Cannington Bypass and Hinkley C project provided an opportunity to re-examine the cemetery archive and ignited the curiosity to resolve the actual date of the cave remains. Grant funding from BABAO paid for two radiocarbon dates, which demonstrated that both human bones were from the early Mesolithic. These results suggest that the cave in Cannington Quarry is a Mesolithic burial site, which had previously been unknown.