Stephen Aldhouse-Green (ed.) Paviland Cave and the 'Red Lady': a definitive report.

Stephen Aldhouse-Green (ed.) Paviland Cave and the 'Red Lady': a definitive report. STEPHEN ALDHOUSE-GREEN (ed.) Paviland Cave and the 'RedLady': a definitive report. xli+314 pages, 132 figures, 122 tables.2000. Bristol: Western Academic & Specialist Press; 0-9535418-1-9hardback 40 [pounds sterling]. The investigations and recording undertaken by the author in 1997at Goat's Hole (Paviland) Cave, Foxhole and Hound's HoleCaves, on the Gower Peninsular, south Wales South Walessouth n → sud m du Pays de Galles, provide the introduction tothese sites. The main meat of the publication, however, addresses theanalysis and interpretation of the archaeological remains removed fromthe site over the past 180 years. It is this history of the explorationof Goat's Hole Cave and the collection of material which providesan insight, not only into the first ever published excavation of aPalaeolithic cave site by the Rev. William Buckland William Buckland (Axminster, 12 March, 1784 - 14 August, 1856) was an English geologist and palaeontologist, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur. He was a proponent of Old Earth creationism and Flood geology, who later became convinced by the glaciation theory of , in 1832, but alsointo the fascinating history of the discipline and the study ofPalaeolithic archaeology. Exhaustive research has identified over 23separate investigations or collecting episodes that have been undertakenby a variety of prominent local figures, amateurs and experiencedarchaeologists. Sadly, much of this collected material was inadequatelydocumented and can no longer be located. For this most recent study, Professor Erik Trinkhaus set the ballrolling with an approach to Stephen Aldhouse-Green at the NationalMuseum of Wales to publish a definitive study of the skeleton of the'Red Lady' of Paviland. As set out in the introduction to hisdescription and analysis of the human remains, Trinkhaus states that itis ironic that, despite having been known to the scientific world since1832, the skeletal remains of the 'Red Lady' had yet to bedescribed by twentieth century standards. Indeed, they proved to be theremains of an 'otherwise health),' young man. Not only hadBuckland misidentified the sex of the remains but his research quest wasto prove archaeologically that the earth was of no greater age than asset out in the Book of Genesis Noun 1. Book of Genesis - the first book of the Old Testament: tells of Creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothersGenesis although he later changed his mind. Heconsidered that the burial was intrusive, that the mammoth skull was theremains of a Roman legionary elephant and that the human skeleton,coloured red with ochre, was that of a Roman whore or witch. As a resultof this interpretation, Wales lost its opportunity to be at theforefront of Palaeolithic studies, which shifted to a European focuswith the work of P.-C. Schmerling on caves near Liege liegeIn European feudal society, an unconditional bond between a man and his overlord. Thus, if a tenant held estates from various overlords, his obligations to his liege lord, to whom he had paid “liege homage,” were greater than his obligations to the other some ten yearslater. Each chapter is authored by the relevant individual or group ofspecialists who have undertaken that particular part of the study andincludes analysis of all aspects of the caves and their associatedarchaeology. They cover the geological setting and development of thecaves (D.J. Lowe) and the cave sediments (R. Mourne & D. Case and P.Bull), dating, diet and DNA DNA:see nucleic acid. DNAor deoxyribonucleic acidOne of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. (D.Q. Bowen, P.B. Pettitt, M. Richards, B.C.Sykes, M. Ivanovich, A. Latham, N. Debenham), the artefacts (S.Swainston and S. Aldhouse-Green), the fauna (A. Turner), the ochre (T.Young) and the human remains (E. Trinkhaus, T. Holliday). The re-analysis of the collections and reassessment of theiroriginal context has enabled the re-interpretation of the culturalassociations of the 'Red Lady'. The skeleton has been dated to26 000 BP and further [sup.14]C dating of the historically collectedassemblages has indicated that Goat's Hole was occupied at numeroustimes in the period 29 000--21 000 BP. Although there is a mixed lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" assemblage, including Mousterian and the Fontrobertian facies facies/fa��ci��es/ (fa��she-ez) pl. fa��cies ? [L.]1. the face.2. surface; the outer aspect of a body part or organ.3. expression (1). of theGravettian, the dominant element of the assemblage are the Aurignacianartefacts which include a specific tool type special to the site. Aldhouse-Green compares the ceremonial burial with other Gravettianburials of Europe, including those at sites such as Brno and DolniVestonice in the Czech Republic and the child burial at Abrigo do LagarVelho The Lagar Velho site is a rock-shelter in the Lapedo valley, a limestone canyon ca. 140km north of Lisbon, in the District of Leiria, central Portugal. A 24,000 years old hominid child burial known as The Lapedo child was discovered here. , Portugal. He considers the 'Red Lady' to be an earlyexample in the same tradition, comparable in date to the Dolni Vestonicetriple burial. The site and burial is also considered in relation tospiritual and shamanic practice within a European social context. Thefinal chapter provides an interesting comparative study, considering thePaviland evidence from an Australian perspective. Rhys Jones not onlyprovides an ethnographic insight into the burial evidence at Pavilandthrough Australian Aboriginal ideas of 'place, ochre anddeath' but also provides a further historical perspective on thepart that Palaeolithic archaeology has played in developing ideas ofsocial evolution and engendering a sense of cultural superiority. This report represents the first application of multidisciplinaryscientific methods to the early human evidence in South Wales which hasbeen important for so long in our understanding of British Palaeolithicarchaeology. LOUISE AUSTIN Cambria Archaeology, Shire Hall, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, UK.