Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, England has been a popular tourist attraction since 1838. In their time, the ancient caves have been used to mature the local, world famous Cheddar Cheese. They were also home to 10,000-year-old Cheddar Man, the name given to the oldest known, complete human remains in Britain. Cheddar Man, however, did not belong to the first group of people to settle Cheddar Gorge. For archaeologists have proven that the caves have been home to humans for over 40,000 years. Nor was he amongst the first people to resettle Cheddar after the Ice Age. For they arrived 14,700 years ago.
Known as the Horse People of Cheddar Gorge, these early Britains led a subsistence existence, gathering from the land and hunting the local wildlife- notably horses- that they drove off cliffs before eating. Horses, however, were not the only things these people ate. For grizzly remains found in Gough’s Cave- the very cave where archaeologists uncovered Cheddar Man- proves these early re-settlers were cannibals. However, curious features on the bones suggest that sustenance may not have been the only reason for these grizzly Paleolithic feasts. So why did the Horse people of Cheddar Gorge dine on the dead?
The Horse Hunters of Gough’s Cave
24,000 years ago, a vast ice sheet covered much of North Western Europe. Some areas, such as northern France and southern Britain escaped the ice. However, they were polar deserts, and their climates were too extreme to support life. As a result, for over 9000 years, a substantial part of Europe remained barren and uninhabited. Human groups were confined to ice-free zones in the south of France and the Iberian Peninsula. Then suddenly, 14, 700 years ago, things changed.
Danish scientists examining ice cores in Green land and lake sediments from Germany have found that in less than three years, temperatures rose by 6-7 degrees. The cause of this is still unclear. But what is known is, the ice sheet began to retreat, freeing up more inhabitable land in the previously polar regions of northern Europe. Plants began to grow, and as a result, herds of animals started to move north. Amongst them were herds of horses that were a significant source of food for Paleolithic hunter-gathers. So, as a consequence, people began to move too. Following the horse herds, they expanded into northern France and crossed Doggerland, the land bridge that once linked Britain to the rest of Europe.
A few years later, a group of these Horse Hunters settled in the area of Cheddar Gorge and made their home in Gough’s Cave. They only remained for a generation or two. Then all evidence of their presence stopped. Experts believed this was because birch forests were beginning to take root in the area due to the rising temperatures. However, woodland was not an attractive habitat for horses. So when the herds moved on again, the Horse Hunters of Gough’s cave followed them.
The descendants of these Horse Hunters were driven out of Britain during the Younger Dryas period that occurred between 12900- 11700 when icy conditions temporarily returned to northwestern climes. However, around 2000 years later, people were back in Britain again for good- and once again they were settling in Gough’s Cave. Cheddar man is a relic of this final resettlement of Britain. However, unbeknown to these Mesolithic Britains, a quiet corner of Gough’s Cave was hiding the remains of their predecessors.
Between 1986 and 1992 a team from Britain’s Natural History Museum uncovered a collection of human bones that dated from 14,700 years ago. Analysis showed that disarticulated remains belonged to five people: a 2-3-year-old child, two adolescents, a young adult, and an older individual. The bones were mixed in with animal bones, flint remains, and small mobile pieces of art carved from antler and ivory. However, closer examination showed these human bones were hiding a grizzly secret.