The latest edition of the BCRA’s Cave and Karst Science contains four main papers.

Lee Knight, Nataša Mori and Anton Brancelj have carried out a pilot study of the biota of percolating cave waters in Britain which they believe can act as a proxy for the epikarst aquifer. Dripping water habitats within caves (drips or adjacent drip-fed pools) were investigated as a surrogate for sampling the epikarst aquifer. This was conducted in three geographically dispersed caves in Britain – Ogof Draenen in South Wales, Swildon’s Hole in the Mendips and Baker’s Pit in Devon. Trays were placed at four locations in each cave to collect and filter water dripping from above over a period of six years (2016–2022), as well as periodic sampling of nearby drip-fed pools. Glacial scouring of the land surface is likely to have resulted in relatively poor development of the epikarst above Ogof Draenen, in comparison to the unglaciated regions in which Swildon’s Hole and Baker’s Pit are located, enabling some comparisons to be made. Swildon’s Hole and Ogof Draenen had previously been the subject of systematic surveys of their aquatic fauna in vadose streams and pools, whereas ephemeral streams in Baker’s Pit were sampled for the first time during the course of this study.

A variety of Ostracoda, Copepoda, Isopoda and Amphipoda species, some of which can be classified as either stygophilic (occur in groundwater habitats but also known from surface aquatic habitats) or stygobitic (obligate groundwater inhabitants), were found in the water drips and drip-fed pools. There was significant overlap in species composition of the biota collected in trays filtering dripping water, nearby drip-fed pools and vadose streams in the three caves. However, several species found exclusively in the trays and pools do not appear to occur regularly in vadose aquatic habitats within the three caves, suggesting they are potential epikarst inhabitants. These include the cyclopoid copepods Graeteriella unisetigera (E. Grater, 1908), Diacyclops languidoides (Lilljeborg, 1901) and D. bisetosus (Rehberg, 1880); the harpacticoid copepods Bryocamptus echinatus (Mrázek, 1893), B. zschokkei (Schmeil, 1893), B. pygmaeus (G.O. Sars, 1863), B. typhlops (Mrázek, 1893), Altheyella crassa (G.O. Sars, 1863) and Parastenocaris sp. and the ostracods Fabaeformiscandona breuili (Paris, 1920) and F. wegelini (Petkovski, 1962).

Two stygobitic Ostracoda species Fabaeformiscandona breuili and F. wegelini, connected with the epikarst environment, were for the first time confirmed from Britain in this study. A potentially exclusive new inhabitant of the epikarst is a not yet determined representative of the genus Parastenocaris (Copepoda) from Baker’s Pit.

This study demonstrates that wider investigations would have great potential for making new discoveries and developing a better understanding of the British epikarst biota.

Kostas Trimmis gives an account of the career of Erato Angelopoulou, one of the first Greek female speleologists. Erato Angelopoulou (or Aggelopoulou) was an extraordinary woman, remembered by many for her skill with the traditional Greek horizontal loom and her knowledge of the related techniques of creating loom-made textiles. Less well-known is that Erato, who spent most of her adult life living in France, was one of the pioneers of Greek speleology. In the early 1930s, long before Ioannis Petrocheilos and Anna Petrocheilou established the Hellenic Speleological Society, Erato discovered, visited, and explored numerous caves in mainland Greece, and on the island of Euboea. This paper presents an introduction to Erato’s speleological achievements, which began years before the 1950s and the formative age of Greek speleology.

Frederico Tátá Regala and his co-authors describe the Caves of Inhaminga and the speleological heritage of the Cheringoma Plateau, Mozambique. Speleological expeditions have been conducted in Gorongosa National Park (GNP), Mozambique, under the Paleo‐Primate Project Gorongosa (PPPG) since 2016. The main purpose of this work is to inventory, explore and characterize the karstic caves in the limestone formations, and to assess their archaeological and palaeontological potential.

In 2022 and 2023, expeditions were held to the northern region of the Cheringoma plateau, covering an area located in Inhaminga, Sofala Province (outside the GNP). Following previous bibliographical and documentary research, this karstic area was inspected with the help of local guides, who pointed out the locations of thirteen caves, eight of which were previously undocumented. These caves were explored and described with regard to their general and specific features, including appraisals of sedimentary deposits and related heritage.

Adelle Bricking and Graham Mullan present new radiocarbon dates from Fishmonger’s Swallet, Alveston, South Gloucestershire. The new dates from disarticulated human (3) and dog (3) bones from this cave, increase the total to 17 dated specimens from the site. The findings suggest a relatively concentrated period of use as a mortuary site during the Late Iron Age, with overlapping deposition episodes for humans and dogs, and evidence that might indicate an earlier onset of internment of dog remains.

The issue rounds up with an interesting brief note from Stephen Donovan on the importance of notebooks and some correspondence from Tony Waltham, Bill Quinton and Chris Howes on the use of Chinese terms in cave and karst science.

Cave and Karst Science is published three times a year. The publication contains a wealth of information and represents excellent value for money for anyone with an interest in the science of caves. It is well-presented throughout, with a clear, attractive layout and numerous high-quality illustrations. As stated in their previous issue, access to the online version of Cave and Karst Science is wholly open, at no cost to authors and with no requirement for readers to either join BCRA or to register. Details may be found here.