Kents Cavern Ltd, Cavern House, 91 Ilsham Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 2JF
Tel: 01803 215136, Fax: 01803 211034, E-mail: nickpowe@kents-cavern.co.uk
JAWBONE FROM KENTS CAVERN COULD STILL BE FROM
THE FIRST NEANDERTHAL EVER FOUND IN ENGLAND
University research initially fails to find DNA following
analysis of ancient skull fragment but experts still think it
could be Neanderthal and will now do further work
Jawbone – 1
6 December 2007
A piece of ancient jawbone excavated from Kents Cavern in Torquay during
the 1920’s might yet provide evidence that England’s first example of Neanderthal
Man lived in Devon.
Earlier this year, a tooth from the jawbone was extracted and sent to Oxford
University where researchers carried out DNA analysis to see if any traces of
Neanderthal DNA could be detected but they drew a blank initially.
However, further DNA and dating tests are now likely to be carried out
because the experts think that the jawbone may yet be confirmed as Neanderthal.
The research was first initiated when Doctors Roger Jacobi and Tom Higham
obtained new radiocarbon dates for animal bones that were found in cave sediments
directly above and below where the jaw fragment was discovered at Kents Cavern.
These indicated that the layer in which the jawbone was found dates to
between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago and, if the jawbone fragment is of a similar
age, then it would be even more significant than first thought.
The fragment of upper jaw containing three teeth was first unearthed 80 years
ago in 1927 within Kents Cavern during an excavation by the Torquay Natural History
Society.
First identified as coming from a modern human (Cro-Magnon), the fossil had
been at Torquay Museum since the 1920’s, but it was learned last year that the
jawbone was actually strengthened with glue soon after it was excavated, and this
meant that its radiocarbon date could have underestimated its real age.
Originally, the piece was thought to be about 31,000 years old, but the
researchers wondered if the jawbone is actually more ancient, such as from a
Neanderthal.
NOTE TO DESK: See attached pic of Nick Powe, owner of Kents Cavern, holding a
replica with the original Jawbone inserted.
More follows
Jawbone – 2
If the jaw eventually proves to be Neanderthal, then Kents Cavern will not
only be the only place in England where there is direct fossil evidence that
Neanderthals once lived, but this would also be evidence that late Neanderthals
probably made the stone tools known as leaf points, which are found at this time.
The University of Hull’s Centre for Medical Engineering and Technology also
carried out a detailed, high-resolution micro CT scan of the jaw fragment this year to
create a three-dimensional computer model of it and a plastic replica. This has been
used to ascertain whether the jawbone and teeth had been put back together
correctly, as it was originally found in fragments.
Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum said: “We are still
moving forward on the analyses of the jawbone, but we await a re-dating of the
specimen and are considering whether further DNA work on it is justified in the
hope of getting something more definitive.
“We have also passed the recent CT data produced by Hull University to
other experts based in Leipzig, and they are now trying to glean what they can
from it. We think it may well be from a Neanderthal, but have to do more tests.”
Commenting on the research, Kents Cavern’s owner Nick Powe, whose
family have run the caves for five generations, said:
“We are very hopeful that the findings of further scientific research will
confirm that Neanderthals used Kents Cavern.
“Whilst the original jawbone excavated in 1927 is rightly in the
safekeeping of Torquay museum and will return there after examination, we
have a replica of it here which people from all around the world have been keen
to see this year along with various other artefacts found in the caves. It’s been
so popular that we have cast plastic replicas as souvenirs!
“Scientific investigation is an important part of the attraction at Kents
Cavern and the archaeological heritage of the area is of great interest to our
visitors, particularly those from overseas.”
Kents Cavern is Torbay’s oldest visitor attraction and was awarded the
2007/8 best large attraction in South West England. In September, Torbay was
admitted to the UNESCO Global Geopark Network and Kents Cavern is a major
Visitor Centre in the Geopark. As well as the stunning underground caves, visitors
can enjoy local food, a retail shop and views over the Ilsham Valley which the ancient
humans of Kents Cavern once shared with Ice Age animals.
NOTES TO NEWS/PICTURE DESK
For further information and interview or photography/filming requests at Kents Cavern and
contact details for the scientists named in this release, please contact Nick Powe on (01803)
215136 or e-mail: nickpowe@kents-cavern.co.uk or listen to a recent BBC Radio 4 broadcast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/noscript.shtml?/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/jawbone
Press release issued on behalf of Kents Cavern
By Dick Wood of RAW Communications,
Tel (01884) 35453, mobile 07711 552947,
e-mail: DickWood@rawcomms.demon.co.uk