Foxhole Slade Cave is located on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. The cave is accessible from both a coastal footpath and local public footpath. This site has been excavated multiple times from 1997 and has produced an assemblage of finds including Pleistocene fauna, Mesolithic flint tools and human remains.

Foxhole Slade cave’s entrance measures 3m high by 6m wide and is 4m deep but leads into a passage that extends for 20m. The cave appears to have suffered a rockfall, due to the boulder-strewn nature of the sediment. Excavation has revealed 3 distinct layers of sediment at the site, listed here in descending order: (1) Modern Topsoil, (2) Humic Scree, (3) Soliflucted Scree. It should be noted that the stratigraphy of the site has been disturbed by an ancient badger set along the northern wall. Layers (1) and (2) have produced Mesolithic finds including worked flint, faunal bones, micro-fauna, mollusc, and human remains. At the base of layer (2) a possible hearth was also found. Layer (3) appears to be earlier and contains Pleistocene faunal remains including red deer, reindeer, and bison. 16 Mesolithic struck flints, including 2 fragmented obliquely backed points, were discovered in a 1997 excavation and 16 more were produced in the most recent 2010 excavation. Of these latter finds there was a small late Mesolithic crescent microlith, 2 narrow bladelets, a longer/broader bladelet, a small flint, small burin and a possible small microblade core fragment. Around 850 rodent teeth, jaw fragments and limbs, alongside collared lemming remains, were also recovered from glacial layers in the 2010 excavation.

A series of human remains were also recovered during the most recent excavations. These included 3 molars identified to 3 different individuals. An unworn molar attributed to a 6-year-old, a moderately worn 3rd molar to a middle-aged adult and a highly worn second molar to an older adult. Additionally, 2 vertebrae, a metatarsal fragment, cranial fragment and 2 ankle bones (all adult) were discovered alongside an unfused proximal epiphysis of a child’s tibia. All these remains were relatively well preserved with no subaerial weathering or animal gnawing with no indication of cultural selection for certain bones. From this assemblage 10 human bone and dentine samples were sent for radiocarbon dating at the University of Oxford. Discounting 2 failures and further outliers, 6 of the results fall within the Late Mesolithic to Early Neolithic, dated between c.6096-5921 BC and c.3761-3637 BC. Some samples from the animal assemblage were also tested and ranged between c.34,563-32,988 BC to c.10,867-10,618 BC.

The site was first assessed in 1993 by M. Davies and who found no previous record of research at Foxhole Slade Cave. The site was then excavated in 1997 by Aldhouse-Green as part of the ‘Paviland Project’. Aldhouse-Green aimed to determine the potential of the site and excavated a single trench spanning the middle of the cave entrance, measuring 2.5m by 1.5m with a maximum depth of 0.85m. Finds included the aforementioned 16 lithics, late glacial fauna and a small amount of human remains. The conclusion, based on these discoveries, was that Foxhole Slade contained a useful but limited archaeological assemblage.

Excavations between 2008-2010, conducted by R. Schulting and cohort, first located and re-excavated the 1997 trench and extended the excavation further into the narrow opening. Reportedly the cave sediment, consisting of heavy clay intermixed with boulders, increased excavation difficulty but managed to increase excavation depth to 2m. This excavation was responsible for the remaining finds and radiocarbon dates.

Foxhole Slade Cave has already proved its significance as a prehistoric site through its discoveries of Pleistocene animal bones, Mesolithic flint tools and human remains dating to both the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. However, the excavation has so far only occurred in the entrance chamber and largely ignored the 20m passage. This is important to consider as only fragments of human bone have so far been recovered and it is believed that these may be indicators of full inhumations yet to be discovered. Foxhole Slade’s proximity to the famous ‘Red Lady of Paviland’ site at Goat’s Hole Cave (NPRN 300251) adds further credence to this theory. Undisturbed Holocene and Pleistocene deposits are also theorised to be contained here. This site would benefit from further research to fully reveal its use history and further our understanding of the Gower throughout prehistory.

Context: Welsh Palaeolithic

The Palaeolithic, also known as the ‘Old Stone Age’ is an era defined by the advent and use of lithic technology by hominids. This period sits within the Pleistocene or ‘Ice Age’ global epoch which lasted from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years before present and contained multiple dramatic climate shifts. Mainland Europe’s Palaeolithic occurred around 1.4 million to 10,000 years ago, but as an era defined by hominin behaviours and presence, the span of the Palaeolithic differs between locations.

The earliest evidence of Welsh hominins comes from Neanderthal remains dated to around 230,000 years ago. However, due to climactic changes in this period, Wales was only occupied intermittently. The first modern human remains found in Wales, known as ‘the Red Lady of Paviland’, date to between 33,000 – 34,000 years ago but the area would later be abandoned between 21,000 to 13,000 years ago. This includes artefacts from one of the last phases of the era, the Early Upper Palaeolithic (38,000-27,000 years before present). Humans in this period continued to rely on lithic technologies and operated in mobile hunter-gatherer social units which were capable of cultural complexities such as ritual burials and art.

Sources include:

Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust HER PRN 04798w https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=GGAT04798w

Goat's Hole Cave, Hound's Hole Cave and Foxhole Slade Cave - paviland cliff, Gower (no date) MNA132642 | National Trust Heritage Records. Available at: https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA132642

Schulting, R. et al. (2013) “Mesolithic and neolithic human remains from Foxhole Cave, Gower, South Wales,” The Antiquaries Journal, 93, pp. 1–23.

Sites of archaeological importance (2021) Gower Bone Caves. Available at: https://www.gowerbonecaves.org.uk/gazetteer

Trilobyte, B.M. (no date) South Gower Coast Caves, Caves of South Wales. Available at: http://www.ogof.org.uk/areas/south-gower-coast-caves.html

B. Irvine, April 2023

This record was enhanced by B. Irvine (University of Southampton) as part of an MA/MSc work placement with RCAHMW (January to May 2023).

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