Rooke Pennington

“ Outside the cave and in the layer above the stalagmite, where it existed (the results from below the stalagmite being included in those already given) were bones of the Celtic short-horn, bones of a young dog, and bones of hogs. All these were broken.
There were also perfect bones of the fox, badger, and goat. Direct traces of man appeared in a human fibula, and a base of red-deer antler, half sawn through and then broken off; some other fragments of antlers were also present. A flint was the only other manufactured article discovered. ”

“ Could the rock have been quarried away, it is highly probable that more bones would have been discovered in hidden fissures behind; that such existed was plain from the fact that the smoke of the fire lighted to boil our kettle at the mouth of a cave some 5 or 6 yards away found an exit in our cave, although no visible passage or communication existed.
Windy-Knoll Fissure.—In October 1870 I was in the Windy-Knoll quarry, in the Mountain-limestone near Castleton, when I noticed a large bone (a tibia) projecting from some of the angular debris which clothed the rock and filled the fissures. ”

“ Lower down, the bones were much better-preserved. Lowest of all, near to the encircling rocks, the bones were incrusted with stalagmite, and sometimes welded together into a mass by it. This was particularly the case in the fissure and near the walls of the basin; further from the rock no such bones appeared.
This stalagmite confirms my opinion that the place was filled from the subaerial disintegration of the limestone alone, as it could only have arisen from water dripping from the rocks above and charged with carbonate of lime. The limestone rises just to the south ”

“ Gelly or Hartle Dale.—In this dale are three or four small caves or rock shelters, one to be presently mentioned.
It is one of the little glens in the Mountain-limestone to the south of Castleton.
In one of these caves, which was dug out in 1872, we found but little of the ordinary cave-earth, or of the yellowish subsoil ("fox-earth") . The floor consisted principally of blackish mould, containing a few limestone fragments and pieces of chert. It Contained some bones, of which a portion were broken as though by man. They were bones of goat and pig, with those of the fox and rabbit. ”

“ Of implements &c, there was a tooled piece of Stag-horn, an iron spike (or what seemed to be such) , 2 flints (one very good) , a piece of jet, part of a bone comb, and a magnificent bronze celt of a type I believe to be unusual, bearing marks of usage, but in a splendid state of preservation. ”