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Gough's Cave

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Lat/Long:
51.28, -2.76
Country:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Gough's Cave ( GOF) is located in Cheddar Gorge on the Mendip Hills, in Cheddar, Somerset, England. The cave is 115 m (377 ft) deep and is 3.405 km (2.12 mi) long, and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations. It contains the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground river system in Britain.

The cave contained skeletal remains of animals and humans dated by ultra-filtration carbon dating to around the end of the Last Glacial Maximum some 14,700 years ago. These show cut marks and breakage consistent with de-fleshing and eating. Skull fragments represent from 5 to 7 humans, including a young child of about 3 years and two adolescents. The brain cases appear to have been prepared as drinking cups or containers, a tradition found in other Magdalenian sites across Europe.

The remains currently reside in the Natural History Museum in London, with a replica in the Cheddar Man and the Cannibals museum in the Gorge. Other human remains have also been found in the cave.