Editing Wookey Hole Caves (section)

===Cave archaeology===
Archaeological investigations were undertaken from 1859 to 1874 by [[William Boyd Dawkins]], who moved to [[Somerset]] to study classics with the vicar of [[Wookey]]. On hearing of the discovery of bones by local workmen, he led excavations in the area of the hyena den. His work led to the discovery of the first evidence for the use by Paleolithic humans in the caves of the Mendip Hills.{{sfn|Ramsay|1878|p=474}} [[Middle Paleolithic]] tools thought to have been created by [[Neanderthals]] been found in the cave. These are thought to date to [[Marine Isotope Stage]] 3 (around 57-29,000 years ago).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holloran |first=Fiona |last2=Frémondeau |first2=Delphine |last3=Wilson |first3=Linda |last4=Martin |first4=Louise |last5=Stevens |first5=Rhiannon E. |date=2024-11-13 |title=Integrating Morphology and ZooMS-Identified Fauna Provides Insights Into Species Diversity and Neanderthal - Carnivores Interactions in Shared Landscapes: Evidence from Picken's Hole, Britain |url=https://paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/article/view/1194 |journal=PaleoAnthropology |language=en |pages=335–360 Pages |doi=10.48738/2024.ISS2.1194}}</ref> Most Neanderthal artifacts at Wookey Hole have been found in the Hyena Den, generally near the entrance, which shows evidence of on-site [[knapping]].<ref>White, M., & Pettitt, P. (2011). [https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/152474/7/9014.pdf The British Late Middle Palaeolithic: An Interpretative Synthesis of Neanderthal Occupation at the Northwestern Edge of the Pleistocene World]. ''Journal of World Prehistory'', 24(1), 25-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-011-9043-9</ref> An incised red deer tooth found in association with these tools has a [[Radiocarbon dating#Calibration|radiocarbon age]] of around 40,400±1600 years (though this age is [[Radiocarbon calibration|uncalibrated]] and thus not true calendar years).<ref>{{cite web|last=Jacobi |first=Roger |title=The Late Pleistocene archaeology of Somerset |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_8.pdf |publisher=Somerset Heritage |access-date=3 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303171014/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_8.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

[[Herbert E. Balch]] continued the work from 1904 to 1914,<ref>{{Cite web| title=A Potted History of H. E. Balch 1869–1958 | work=Bristol Exploration Club | url=http://www.bec-cave.org.uk/index.php/publications-mainmenu-32/belfry-bulletin-mainmenu-33/533-belfry-bulletin-no-493-october-1997?showall=&start=9 | access-date=29 December 2013}}</ref> when he led excavations of the entrance passage (1904–1915), Witch's Kitchen (the first chamber) and Hell's Ladder (1926–1927) and the Badger Hole (1938–1954), where Roman coins from the 3rd century were discovered along with [[Aurignacian]] flint implements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24354|title=Badger Hole cave, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref> Rhinoceros Hole was scheduled as an [[ancient monument]] in 1992.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1010292 |desc=Rhinoceros Hole, Wookey|access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref> The 1911 work found {{convert|4|to(-)|7|ft}} of stratification, mostly dating from the [[Iron Age]] and sealed into place by Romano-British artefacts. Finds included a silver coin of [[Marcia (gens)|Marcia]] (124&nbsp;BC), pottery, weapons and tools, bronze ornaments, and Roman coins from [[Vespasian]] to [[Valentinian II]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24355|title=Wookey Hole Cave, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref> (1st to 4th centuries).

The work was continued, first by E. J. Mason from 1946 to 1949, and then by G. R. Morgan in 1972.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hyena Cave, Wookey Hole |work=Hominid bearing caves in the south west |url=http://capra.group.shef.ac.uk/1/swest.html#Hyaena%20Den |access-date=23 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204160157/http://capra.group.shef.ac.uk/1/swest.html |archive-date= 4 February 2012}}</ref> Later work led by Edgar Kingsley Tratman explored the human occupation of Rhinoceros Hole,{{sfn|White|Pettitt|2011|pp=25–97}} and showed that the fourth chamber of the great cave was a Romano-British cemetery.{{sfn|Hawkes|Rogers|Tratman|1979|pp=23–52}}{{sfn|Proctor|Collcutt|Currant|Hawkes|1996|pp=237–262}} During excavations in 1954–1957 at Hole Ground, just outside the entrance to the cave, the foundations of a 1st-century hut and Iron Age pottery were seen. These were covered by the foundations of Roman buildings, dating from the 1st to the late 4th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24440|title=Prehistoric and Roman occupation, Hole Ground, Wookey Hole|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>