The Devon Karst Research Society.
THE CATTEDOWN BONE CAVES,
Cattedown, Plymouth, Devonshire, UK.
Section 6.0.
CATALOGUES OF “THE LEWIS SPARROW COLLECTION”
of the Fossil Bones originating from Excavations in Burnard’s Cattedown Bone Cave located in
Messrs. Sparrow’s Carpenter Rock Quarry, Cattedown.
donated on 06 February 1899 to the Plymouth City Museum by Mr Lewis Sparrow, the Proprietor of the
Carpenter Rock Quarry in which was located Burnard’s Cattedown Bone Cave.
The pages in Section 6. list the surviving fossil bones of the collection donated by Mr Lewis Sparrow to the Plymouth
City Museum on 06 February 1899.
The Museum provided us with 2 lists of this fossil material in 1981 without restrictions as to their use. Both lists
incorporated the Cattedown Fossil material from both the "Lewis Sparrow Collection" (originating from Burnard's
Cattedown Cave) and the "Robert Burnard Collection" (originating from Worth's Cattedown Bone Cave), without
discriminating between the two separate Collections and their separate origins.
Whilst reproducing the lists in the original format as given to us, we have edited out the data relating to the fossil
material originating from the "Robert Burnard Collection" (Worth's Cattedown Bone Cave), ie. Accession Numbers
1272 to 1345 inclusive, for the purposes of enhancing clarity,
The 1st catalogue version (originally 2 pages of A4 paper) is unattributed and undated but the 2nd and more detailed
catalogue version (originally 9 pages of A4 paper) is attributed to a Mrs P.J. Shaw of Sheffield and is dated January
1978. In the 2nd catalogue version, we have added details of the material as recorded in the Museum’s Accession
Card Records. The 2nd catalogue version offers greater details of the fossil specimens than does the 1st version.
The link between the two catalogue lists is with the matching Accession Numbers but beware! .... the 2nd catalogue
version omits the point or dot included in the Accession Numbers of the 1st catalogue version!
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Section 6. CATALOGUE 1. [All accession numbers, descriptions and storage locations have been extracted from the original
typescript catalogue.]
PART CATALOGUE OF BONES ORIGINATING FROM BURNARD'S CATTEDOWN BONE CAVE AND DONATED ON 6th
February 1899 TO THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTE BY Mr. LEWIS SPARROW, THE THEN PROPRIETOR OF MESSRS
SPARROW’S CARPENTER ROCK QUARRY, CATTEDOWN, CONTAINING “BURNARD’S CATTEDOWN BONE CAVE”.
[PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM ACCESSION Nos. 134.6 to 135.6.]
Storage Box
Identification
Accession
Number.
Descripton of
Storage Box Contents
Origin in
Burnard's Excavation.
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HYAENA
Box 1.
134.6
134.7 / 135.6
134.9
10 teeth.
2 pieces of joining jaw.
2 pieces of jawbone.
RHINOCEROS
Box 1.
134.8
2 upper molars
BISON
Box 1.
135.0
5 teeth
135.1
5 x bone fragments of
Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
DEER
Box 1.
Section 6. CATALOGUE 1. (continued) .....
Storage Box
Identification
Accession
Number.
Descripton of
Storage Box Contents
Origin in
Burnard's Excavation.
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HORSE
Box 1.
135.3
135.4
8 fragments of bone
20 teeth
Large Box
135.2
135.5
4 bones, Horse
3 bones, Bison
[end of unattributed and undated Plymouth City Museum List 1.]
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Section 6. CATALOGUE 2. [All Accession Numbers and descriptions are from the original handwritten catalogue. We have
adjusted the presentational layout of the information to provide greater clarity and added additional text on bone description,
wherever possible. In most cases, the Accession Numbers are given in numerical order.]
COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF BONES ORIGINATING FROM BURNARD'S CATTEDOWN BONE CAVE AND DONATED ON 6th
February 1899 TO THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTE BY Mr. LEWIS SPARROW, THE THEN PROPRIETOR OF MESSRS
SPARROW’S CARPENTER ROCK QUARRY, CATTEDOWN, CONTAINING “BURNARD’S CATTEDOWN BONE CAVE”.
KEY :
R = right side.
L = left side.
M = Molar tooth.
DM = Deciduous Molar tooth.
PM = Pre-molar tooth.
I = Incisor Tooth.
C = Canine tooth.
The protocol for annotating the position, type and the number of the tooth in the upper or lower jaw is given in the Section providing
a Glossary of Terminology.
[PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM ACCESSION. Nos. 1346 to 1356.]
Species
Identification.
Accession
Number.
Shaw's Descripton of / Notes about
the Fossil Bone or Other Material.
Species / Bone Identification
according to Accession Card.
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BOVID
1346
Tooth, L. PM3.
HYAENA
1346
1346
1346
Teeth, Canine, point of, unerrupted x 3.
Tooth, L. PM2, unerrupted.
Tooth, L. PM3, unerrupted.
HYAENA
HYAENA
1346
1346
Tooth, L. PM3, unerrupted. {different
Tooth, R. PM3, unerrupted. {animals.
1346
1346
Tooth, R. PM4, unerrupted.
Tooth, Incisor, fragment.
1348
1348
Tooth, R. Upper Milk Molar.
Tooth, L. Upper Milk Molar.
HYAENA ??
(error in notes here - not sure what animal may be Hyaena but have no record - sorry!)
Acc No. 1346 = 10 teeth of Cave
Hyaena, [Hyaena spelaea.]
Acc No. 1348 = 3 x Upper Molars
of Rhinoceros,
[Rhinoceros Antiquitatus.]
HYAENA
1349
Mandible, right, fragment + Teeth, DM2.,
DM3. and DM4. and M1. errupting
Acc No. 1349 = Right Mandible
of Cave Hyaena; 2 x pieces;
Young animal. [Hyaena spelaea].
BOVID
1350
1350
1350
1350
Tooth, L.
Tooth, L.
Tooth, R.
Tooth, R.
Acc No. 1350 = 7 x Teeth Ox,
[Bos primigenius.]
1350
Tooth, R. M3.
M1.
M2.
M1.
M2.
{could
{be the
{same
{animal?
(termed Bison, Bos Primigenius!)
RED DEER ?
1351
Astragalus.
RED DEER
1351
1351
1351
Metacarpal, right, proximal.
Radius shaft, left, fragment, gnawed.
Humerus shaft, right, broken.
1352
1352
Metatarsal shaft, fragment.
Radius, right, distal fragment.
RED DEER ?
HORSE
Acc No. 1351 = 5 bones of Red
Deer, [Cervus elaphus.]
Acc No. 1352 = 4 bones of Horse,
[Equus caballus.]
Section 6. CATALOGUE 2. (continued) .....
Species
Identification.
Accession
Number.
Shaw's Descripton of / Notes about
the Fossil Bone or Other Material.
Species / Bone Identification
according to Accession Card.
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HORSE (continued) ...
1352
1352
Metacarpal shaft, fragment.
Metacarpal shaft, right, proximal
fragment, gnawed.
BOVID or CERVID
1353
Metapodial, fragments x 9.
Acc No. 1353 = 8 x fragments of
bones, [Equus caballus.]
HORSE
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
1354
Tooth, L. PM2. (moderately long).
Tooth, L. PM3.
Tooth, L. PM4.
Tooth, L. M2. x 2.
Tooth, L. M2. (very long).
Tooth, L. M3.
Tooth, L. Lower Incisor x 2.
Tooth, L. I1.
Tooth, R. PM2.
Tooth, R. M1.
Tooth, R. M1. (very long).
Tooth, R. M2. (very long).
Tooth, R. M3.
Tooth, R. M3.
Tooth, R. Lower Incisor.
Teeth, Incisors x 3.
Acc No. 1354 = 21 x Teeth of
Horse, [Equus caballus.]
BOVID
1355
1355
1355
Humerus, proximal fragment.
Atlas?
Atlas?
Acc No. 1355 = 3 x bones Ox,
[Bos primigenius.]
HYAENA ?
1347
Maxilla, right + Teeth, DM2 and
Deciduous Canine.
Acc No. 1347 = Right Maxilla
of young Cave Hyaena,
[Hyaena spelaea.]
HYAENA ?
1356
Maxilla, right + Teeth, DM3, DM4 and PM4.
Acc No. 1356 = Maxilla of
of young Cave Hyaena,
[Hyaena spelaea.]
(Accession Nos. 1347 and 1356 are joined.)
[end of Plymouth City Museum List 2. attributed to P J Shaw dated January 1978. ]
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General Notes and Remarks :
1. All Accession Numbers / Fossil Specimens can be accounted for by cross-referencing with Burnard's Excavation details,
found in Section 5.0.
2. MISSING SPECIMENS from the P.J. Shaw List (by Accession No.).
[There are no missing specimens].
3. MISSING SPECIMENS from the Collection in the Pymouth City Museum, as of December 2003.
[To be addressed in the near future].
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MS Word97 doc.Link attachment for Website / Bone Caves of the Plymouth District / Cattedown Bone Caves.
The Devon Karst Research Society, Text revised 23 April 2004.