A Pleistocene horse from Upper Canada Cave, West Mendip, UK, and the Lost Cave of Hutton

Excavations at Upper Canada Cave, West Mendip, UK, have yielded bones of a Pleistocene horse, a radiocarbon date on the collagen returning 21,170 ±70 rcyBP (25,498 ±219 cal BP) which overlaps the Last Glacial Maximum in Britain. This date, some 8 kyr younger than previous finds, adds to the data on horses in Britain after the Last Interglacial. The confused history of the lost bone caves of Hutton Hill is reviewed on the basis of these Pleistocene remains, the morphology of the cave, and evidence of 18th century mining. Also, the timing and nature of the Hutton Hill cave faunal deposits are re-interpreted.