When Bears Roamed the ElwyValley
The Elwy Valley and surrounding country has been well known internationally for many years for its ancient limestone caves, some of which have yielded human and animal remains, some from before the last Ice Age. Some caves were excavated by Victorian naturalists such as W Boyd Dawkins. They found animal bones from various species long since extinct in this country, such as hyena, wolf, bison, bear, wild horse, and the strangely named glutton or wolverine.
In 1991 a local amateur cave explorer decided to explore one of the caves first excavated in the 1860s and again in the 1930s. He unexpectedly uncovered a collection of old looking bones buried beneath a boulder in silt in the cave. This suggested the possibility that they had been washed into the cave, probably during the last Ice Age as the ice retreated. Despite the possible importance of his find, he was unable to interest either archaeologists or museum staff at the time and stored the collection in a cupboard where they might have lain forgotten and then been discarded. Fortunately, he decided recently to pass them on to the St Asaph Archaeology Society for safe keeping.
Our archivist, Beverly Webber, excited by the collection, contacted local professional archaeologists Fiona Gale and Sarah Peverly, Elizabeth Walker of the museum service at Cardiff, and others, who all showed great interest. They identified the bones as ancient and from several animal species, including half of a lower jaw bone, thought possibly to be from a bear.
Some of the bones were very difficult to identify and special expertise was needed to confirm their probable identity and age, and so further expert help was sought. On advice, the top national expert, Andy Currant, Curator of mammal fossils at the Natural History Museum in London was approached. He responded enthusiastically and agreed to help and the collection, believed now to be nationally important, was duly delivered to him in London by Fiona Gale. We awaited his findings with great excitement.
He confirmed that indeed the bones were Pleistocene (Ice Age) and therefore at least 10 thousand years old. They included bones or fragments of bone from wild horse, reindeer and bear. Further study of bone fragments may yet reveal evidence of other species.
The next step is to attempt to date the bones, a highly specialist and expensive process. Andy Current has agreed to get radio-carbon dating done at Oxford, world experts in the field. Because the collection is so important, Andy Currant has even agreed to arrange funding.
The bone collection has emphasised again the wonders that lie here on our doorstep and the long history of the area surrounding St Asaph.
For information on meetings of the St Asaph Archaeology Society see City Times Diary of Events or www.stasapharchaeologysociety.org.uk
David Casemore, Chair, SAAS