Worms Head cave is located on the Western tip of Worms Head on the Gower Peninsula. This site has been known from the 16th century and has experienced three periods of excavation between 1910 and 1990. These excavations produced archaeological finds from the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras of human prehistory.

The cave interior consists of an entrance passage which leads into a first chamber which itself branches into a short passageway connecting to a rear chamber. The passages and first chamber all produced surface finds of worked flint, but these remain undated. Excavation efforts focused primarily on the rear chamber which had four layers of accrued sediment, named here from deepest to surface level: (4) Bedrock, (3) Pleistocene Bones Layer, (2) Stone Clay (c.0.2m thick) and (1) Clay Floor (c.0.3m thick). Layer (3) contained remains of Pleistocene fauna including bear, badger, wolf, dog, wild cat, mammoth and reindeer bones and Layer (2) contained an Upper Palaeolithic rhyolite blade. Layer (1) contained the bulk of discovered artefacts and is considered contemporary to the Neolithic. These finds included several human bones (all possibly from one individual), flint artefacts, an undetermined ‘crystal article’ and a quartz slingstone.

These finds show that Worm’s head cave was a site of hominid occupation from at least the Early Upper Palaeolithic (38,000-27,000 years ago) through to the Welsh Neolithic (4,400-2,300 years ago). The presence of worked flint tools and animal bones might suggest this was a cave used for practical habitation purposes. However, the Neolithic human bone remains, if all from the same person, might suggest Worms Head cave also served a ritual purpose as a burial site.

The first excavation at Worm’s Head cave was conducted sometime prior to 1917, though the exact date is unknown. It was headed by a man named E.C. Cunnington and little is known about this excavation as it was not recorded in detail.

The second excavation was in 1923 and focused on the South arm of the cave. Riches and Northwood, the excavators, recorded scattered finds all at a consistent depth in a clay layer later identified as layer (1). This excavation produced a human jawbone and teeth alongside worked flint, the unknown ‘crystal article’ and the quartz slingstone.

The final excavation period was by M. Davies and lasted between the 1980s -1990s. This focused mainly on the Southern arm again and worked to excavate and identify the extent of the previous 1923 excavation. This excavation produced the rest of the known finds and standardised the sediment layers of the cave as previously described. Davies also found undated surface finds in the entrance and first chamber. An additional 1966 excavation was also conducted by Cooper but turned up only additional animal and human bone fragments from layer (1).

Worked flint has been recently discovered on the surface of the cave floor, showing that this site could benefit from future excavation and archaeological work to find any remaining artefacts and further develop our understanding of human activity throughout prehistory at this site.

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:

Cooper, G. (2004) Worm’s Head Cave: a report on the finds made in 1966. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20061211081242/http://capra.group.shef.ac.uk/6/wormshead.pdf (Accessed: 3 March 2023).

Davies, M. (1981) Worms Head Cave. Archaeology in Wales 21: 25.

Glamorgen Gwent Archaeological Trust HER PRN 00108w https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=GGAT00108w

Worm’s Head Cave, Rhossili, Swansea, Gazetteer of Caves, Fissures and Rock Shelters in Britain Containing Human Remains. Available at: http://caveburial.ubss.org.uk/wales/wormsheadcave.htm (Accessed: 4 March 2023).

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).

Cofnod Safle

Worm's Head Cave