Welsh Journals

AN ACCOUNT OF EXCAVATIONS IN THE CAVE IN BIG COVERT, MAESHAFN, LLANFERRES By G. E. Hun=. In 1948 Mr. R. A. Wyke and the author commenced work in this cave, and in October, 1949, archaeologically interesting de- posits were discovered. Some of the discoveries have been described in other journals1,8,3. The excavations are by no means com- pleted the purpose of this paper is to give an account of the work and finds to date. The cave was roughly surveyed in 1949; Fig. 1 shews it in plan and section. The cave enters with the strike of the carboniferous limestone rocks, and then swings eastwards to fall more or less with the dip of the strata. The entrance is a natural arch, and the cave shows many features typical of one which owes much of its character and possibly its origin to vadose water. There is a loose limestone rubble floor in the entrance passage to the top of the fall with the dip, containing much soil. The greater part of the cave has a dry rubble floor without soil. Thus the true cave floor is masked by overlaying material for the whole of its known length. Beyond the fifty-yard chamber (about fifty yards in) the cave was sealed until 1948 by rubble. The point of closure is marked old rubble seal on the drawings. From the fifty-yard chamber a man-made level has been driven at some date along the direction of a vein of spar which may be seen in the chamber roof. This level has been timbered in places, and shews tool marks on the rock. It ends shortly after the water is reached. (See Fig. 1). Probably it was a trial level for lead ore, and the rubble from this venture was disposed of in the simpliest possible manner-it was thrown down the natural cave, thus sealing the latter off. Evidence for this is three- fold (a) We have found a few pieces of galena bearing rock in the rubble floor of the fifty yard chamber. (b) The rubble which blocked the cave was often found to bear well defined tool marks in the larger pieces. (c) A few inscriptions on the cave walls and of seventeenth century date were found just below rubble level a few feet beyond the fifty-yard chamber. We are thus inclined to believe that the level was driven in the seventeenth i. Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, XIV, (2), 1951, pp. 114-5. (An account by H. N. Savory of the 1950 finds). 2. Ellis Davies Archaeological News Letter, 1950, July, p. 29. (Notice of the discovery of the fish Brooch). 3. Ellis Davies "Cave Exploration at Maes Hafn, Llanferres," Trans. Denbigh Hist. Soc., 1953.