On Saturday, 9th November 2019, the University of Bristol Speleological Society brought the public facing part of their centenary year to an end with a superb symposium, and attracted a good number of cavers to enjoy a day of fascinating talks on a wide range of cave science subjects. It was early afternoon on a…
The BCRA’s 30th annual science symposium took place at Keyworth,hosted by the British Geological Survey. I attended the Saturday session and was impressed by the depth and variety of scientific work being undertaken by British cavers. The morning session kicked off with a description of palaeokarst features found in the Pielkhlieng Pouk-Krem Sakwa system in…
Identifying geological features in a densely vegetated, steep, and rough terrain can be almost impossible. Imagery like LiDAR can help researchers see through the tree cover, but subtle landforms can often be missed by the human eye.
Scientists, studying evidence preserved in speleothems in a coastal cave, illustrate that more than three million years ago — a time in which the Earth was two to three degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial era — sea level was as much as 16 …
Researchers from four international universities have returned from an expedition to a remote area of north-east Greenland where they broke two records. The team, comprised of researchers from the Universities of Innsbruck, Akron, Oxford, and Sheffield, documented and explored more than 30 caves that had never previously been visited. In doing so, they broke their…
New samples taken for DNA analysis from human bone from Aveline’s Hole by Natural History Museum researchers have thrown up surprising results. Graham Mullan reports on their findings. Aveline’s Hole, Burrington Combe, Mendip, contained the largest assemblage of Mesolithic human remains yet found anywhere in Britain. The cave was excavated in the 1920s by the…
An international team, led by an archaeologist from the University of Southampton and the University of Bordeaux, has revealed the first example of Palaeolithic figurative cave art found in the Balkan Peninsula. Dr Aitor Ruiz-Redondo worked with researchers from the universities of Cantabria (Spain), Newfoundland (Canada), Zagreb (Croatia) and the Archaeological Museum of Istria (Croatia)…
Pete Buckley and Ali Moody assisted by a band of Wessex diggers have had more success recently at their dig at Bagpit, on the south side of Mendip above Draycott. The site, a low cliff on the east edge of a closed basin with the same name, has three potential entrances. By excavating Pit 1,…
Thanks to Gina Moseley we have some more dates on speleothems sampled from Hallowe’en Rift. 230TH Age (yr BP) Corrected HR1-T 215,221 +/- 2476 HR1-B 219,378 +/- 2429 correlates with MIS7 HR2-T 125,341 +/- 1532 HR2-B 126,834 +/- 2197 correlates with…
Students interested in undertaking a cave-related dissertation will get the chance to talk to experts on in-cave monitoring next month. The BCRA (British Cave Research Association), in conjunction with CHECC (Council of Higher Education Caving Clubs), are holding a workshop on in-cave monitoring on 16th February 2019 at the British Cave Monitoring Centre, Poole’s Cavern,…
The December 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 3 carries six articles. The first is a report on the distribution of deposits of cool freshwater tufa, which are ubiquitous on the calcareous island of Lismore in Loch Linnhe, Argyll. Tufa deposits are rare in Scotland but at this…
For the first time, curious chalk inscriptions on the walls of an ancient stone quarry in Surrey are being systematically recorded, as part of a wider research project to better understand the long and hitherto hidden history of this important source of stone for London. Many of the chalk inscriptions have been identified as ritual protection marks (RPM).
Linda Wilson picked up some intriguing tips at the British Cave Research Association’s 29th cave science symposium as well as drinking plenty of tea … If you wanted to find out how to annoy our cross-channel neighbours, which caves you might want to avoid if spiders aren’t your thing and why you might soon be…
With Dr Gina Moseley, Dr Marc Luetscher and Roz, we were later
joined by Ray Deasy.
Gina and Marc are Palaeo-climatologists, with a specific focus on
cave sites, and had accepted an invitation to visit Hallowe’en Rift and comment
on the processes …
Camera expert Sid Perou looks back over a career of often dramatic and sometimes risky filming adventures, including the risk of foot fungus, and explosions under his stairs. It is one of so many magical times that I will always remember … Lindsay Dodd and I were stood on the relatively flat top of a huge…
The August 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 2 carries five main articles; the first being a subjective summary of the history, activities, publications and some of the characters of the former CRG and BCRA Hydrology Groups (1964–1999) written by John Wilcock. John hopes that current BCRA members…
The result is astonishing: Denisova 11 comes from an individual who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.
Creswell Crags is an Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The beautiful limestone gorge cuts through an area of higher topographic relief that contains a series of horizontal caves that are perpendicular to the gorge itself. Several caves were first used by Neanderthals 50,000–60,000 years ago age followed by…
Dr Gina Moseley from the Innsbruck Quaternary Research Group will receive one of this year’s prestigious Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) START prizes. The START programme is an Austrian initiative to support and strengthen outstanding research projects in science and humanities. Gina, a member of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society and current Symposium Lecture Secretary…
The April 2018 issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 45, Number 1 carries six main articles, starting with an appreciation of Dr Trevor R Shaw, speleo-historian extraordinaire, to celebrate his 90th birthday. There are contributions from many of his friends, including those from the Karst Research Institute in Postojna, Slovenia, with…
Most of the popular coverage of the recent announcements about the possible Neanderthal link to parietal art in Spanish caves has, as usual, been focussing on the old paradigm of their being much less “advanced” or “intelligent” than their H. Sapiens successors in Europe. This is a view that has taken something of a battering…
DNA work carried out by researchers from the Natural History Museum (NHM) and University College London (UCL) has shed new light on Cheddar Man, a skeleton discovered 103 years ago in Gough’s Cave, Somerset. Specialists from the NHM have succeeded in extracting viable DNA from the 10,000 year-old-skeleton, a first for a British individual of…
The December issue of Caves and Karst Science is now available. Volume 44, Number 3 carries four main articles, starting with a paper on Karst conduit complexity by John Gunn, demonstrated by a dye tracing experiment from Rowter Hole, Castleton in Derbyshire, one of the most intensively investigated karst areas in Britain, with over 40…
New research by academics from the University of Leicester and the British Museum, working with colleagues from the British Geological Survey and Cambridge University, outlines the science behind the largest concentration of indigenous pre-Columbian rock art in the Caribbean. Exploration and surveys of around 70 cave systems — part of an interdisciplinary study of past…
To celebrate 50 years of pioneering British cave exploration and scientific research, renowned explorers of the subterranean world will come together to share their discoveries and experiences during 4 days at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
We reported last year that cryogenic cave crystals (CCCs) had been found for the first time in the UK in Wookey Hole in 2015. Gina Moseley and Mark Luetscher from Innsbruck University had been investigating CCCs for some time in the Alps and want to extend the research to the UK, and are calling for…
Hidden Earth are holding a survey salon and competition. The purpose is to promote cave surveying and provide the opportunity for clubs or individuals to display their surveys. In addition to drawn surveys, other surveying-related material can be displayed as part of the salon and competition and could, for example, include 3D models of caves….
The backbone of cave surveying is the data, in other words the numbers. We spend many hours collecting them, and some time building up pictures around the numbers. This means that as computers became a home item, cave surveyors rapidly adopted them to carry the burden of the tedious after-caving task of crunching the numbers….
British Cave Research Association, 28th Cave Science Symposium hosted jointly with the Yorkshire Geological Society and Leeds Geological Association Symposium – Saturday 21st October, 2017 Field-trip(s) – Sunday 22nd October, 2017 School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds SECOND CIRCULAR & CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 1st July, 2017 The British Cave Research Association, Yorkshire Geological…
The bone caves of north Wales have received increased attention from archaeologists in recent years. Excavations have taken place at Llanarmon Cave (Llanarmon-yn-ial) and Ffynnon Bueno Cave (Tremeirchion) by Rob Dinnis, then of the British Museum, and his team. John Blore issued his final report on his fifty years work at Lynx Cave (near Eryrys),…
The British Cave Research Association, Yorkshire Geological Society, and Leeds Geological Association are pleased to announce details of the 28th Annual Cave Science Symposium and associated field-trip. The Symposium will be hosted by Prof. Simon Bottrell and Dr. Phillip Murphy of the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, on Saturday 21st October, 2017….
In November 2015, the University of Bristol unveiled the brand new Bristol Radiocarbon Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (BRAMS). This instrument is based on one of the new generation of ultra-compact high-precision AMS instruments and will be used for 14C analysis in environmental, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research. The term ultra-compact is relative, as the instrument weighs 4.5 metric…
Muons, once used to explore the inside of pyramids and volcanoes alike, are enabling researchers to see deep underground with a technological breakthrough.
27th British Cave Research Association Cave Science Symposium, Saturday 22nd October, 2016 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford Call for Abstracts The response to the first call for abstracts has been very positive and it already looks like we will have a fascinating collection of talks on archaeology, biospeleology and hydrology. We still welcome…
As part of the Wilderness Lectures series, cave scientist Gina Moseley talks about a ground-breaking expedition to the caves of North East Greenland. The talk is being held in Bristol on 17 February at 7.30pm. For further details, visit The Wilderness Lectures site here. Thanks to Dick Willis for providing these details.
Special calcite crystals that form when water freezes to ice in a cave have been discovered in Wookey Hole. Now the researchers would like your help to know if they exist elsewhere in the UK. During September, 2015, Tom Chapman, Robbie Shone and Gina Moseley visited both the new show cave extensions in Wookey Hole…
