Doghole Cave, Haverbrack
J.W. Jackson first excavated this cave, in the limestone of southern Cumbria, in 1912. He recorded a large number of animal bones, especially dog skulls, from the cave shaft. Further excavations were conducted by Don Benson and Keith Bland in the late 1950's, these recovered a range of archaeological material apparently dating back to the late Iron Age or Roman times. A preliminary account of the history of archaeological investigations at this site can be found in Wilkinson et al. (2006).
In the 1980's Tom Clare (then the county archaeologist for Cumbria) was taken down the cave by local cavers and saw human bone material still in situ. This led to the closure of the cave by a metal grill to protect the archaeology.
In the summer of 2003 we (Tom Clare, Hannah O'Regan and Dave Wilkinson) conducted further excavations in the cave. We found that despite the placement of the metal grill most of the archaeology seen by Tom in the 1980's appeared to have been destroyed by subsequent caving activity and we excavated the surviving in situ material. However, subsequent renewed caving activity has revealed more archaeology, which we are examining in collaboration with the local cavers (see photo below).
We have found some of the bones excavated by Jackson at the Natural History Museum, London, although part of that collection is still unaccounted for. We have also located the bones excavated in the 1950's and are now studying both collections. Initial radiocarbon dates (summer 2004) on material from the 1950s excavation have yielded interesting results. The worked red deer antlers at the top of the deposits within the cave are Late Saxon/Early Medieval, a time of Viking settlement in the north-west. Two samples from lower down in the deposits, a red deer metatarsal and a cattle tooth (from the 2003 excavation), could not be dated as they no longer contain enough collagen. The photograph below shows cutmarks on one of the red deer antlers.
In 2005 radiocarbon dates on two well preserved bones were successful. A human humerus gave a Romano-British date, which is consistent with the limited small finds described from the 1950s excavation. A cattle metatarsal gave an Anglo Saxon/Early Medieval date, suggesting that the cave was used for a variety of purposes over a period of several hundred years. Additional key samples were sent for radiocarbon dating in 2006 with funding from Cumbria County Council and confirmed the Romano-British age for the humans and also for a dog jaw. Further work is now being undertaken on the human remains, with additionl radiocarbon dates and a series of X-rays being taken to look for Harris lines (lines of arrested growth) in the long bones. These lines occur during childhood while the bones are still growing and can be caused by a number of things including illness and food shortage. Thus far the distal femora have proved the most successful bones in this analysis, with several yielding a quantity of lines.
We would like to hear from anyone who has any information on the history of the cave, or knows the whereabouts of any other excavated material, including 4 human skulls from the 1950's excavation. (See 'people' for our contact information).
Preliminary results of this work was presented by Hannah O'Regan at the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) Meeting in Mexico in August 2006, travel funded by the British Academy.
Reference
Wilkinson, D.M., O'Regan, H.J. and Clare, T. (2006). A tale of two caves: the history of archaeological exploration at Haverbrack and Helsfell in southern Cumbria. Studies in Speleology 14, 55-57.
