Caves and Swallets - Gower - page 278

FIG 157. The 'daw pits' in Bishopston Valley, collapsed cave chambers that were once the haunt of jackdaws, as
shown on the 1884 Ordnance Survey Map. (West Glamorgan Archive Service)
CAVE EXPLORATION
The caves of Gower have attracted the attention of naturalists and archaeologists since the beginning of
the nineteenth century. Some of the earliest recorded finds were from Goat's Hole, the location of which
had long been known to local people, and farmers were aware that the cave contained bones. In the sum-
mer of 1822, Gower's first medical practitioner, Daniel Davies, was present at the first recorded discov-
ery of the cave with the Reverend John Davies, who may have been his brother. During their exploration
they discovered mammoth remains, which they reburied in the cave sediments for protection. News of
the Davieses' discovery reached the Talbots of Penrice Castle when John deposited two Roman coins in
the family museum. Lady Cole and her daughters had for some years corresponded with the Reverend
William Buckland, being interested in natural history and geology, and were encouraged in their studies
by Dillwyn, who was a family friend. It is not surprising therefore that Buckland was the first academic
invited to undertake a thorough excavation of the rich deposits in Goat's Hole (Fig. 158). His topic Reli-
quiae Diluvianae; or, Observations on the Organic Remains Contained in Caves, Fissures and Diluvial
Gravel and on Other Geological Phenomena Attesting to the Action of the Universal Deluge , published
immediately after the Gower excavations in 1823, attempted to address the occurrence of extinct fauna
in caves. Buckland argued that the remains of animals found in caves afforded the means of judging of
the inhabitants and character of the earth before the Great Flood recorded in Genesis. The topic sold rap-
idly, and recognition of his achievement was widespread. His conclusions concerning Goat's Hole and
the nearby Hound's Hole centred on the activities of hyenas, and although he considered the 'Red Lady'
burial remarkable he explained it away as intrusive. In the Upper Pleistocene many caves were used as
permanent dens by many different species; the Gower caves are no exception, and as a result were often
referred to as 'bone caves'. Similarly Sir Henry de la Beche followed the 'hyena's den' theory in his ex-
cavations at Spritsail Tor Cave in 1839, with little regard to the presence of human remains.