Kirkdale Cave

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Kirkdale Cave
Location Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, England
Coordinates 54°15′40″N 0°57′37″W / 54.26111, -0.96028
Discovery 1821
Access Entrance is in face of old quarry

Kirkdale Cave is a cave located in Kirkdale near Kirkbymoorside in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, England. The cave was discovered by workmen in 1821, and was found to contain bones of elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, hyenas, bison, giant deer, smaller mammals and birds.[1] This is the furthest north in the world that hippopotamus remains have been found.[2]

Hippotamus - Kirkdale Cave is the furthest north its remains have been found
Hippotamus - Kirkdale Cave is the furthest north its remains have been found

William Buckland studied the bones and in 1823 published his Reliquiae Diluvianae; or, Observations on the organic remains contained in caves, fissures, and diluvial gravel, and on other geological phenomena, attesting the action of an universal deluge, challenging the belief that the bones were brought to the cave by Noah's flood and concluding that hyenas had lived in the cave and brought bones of their prey into the cave.[3] The specimens were an original part of the archaeology collection of the Yorkshire Museum and it said that "the scientific interest aroused founded the Yorkshire Philosophical Society".[4]

The cave is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Geological Conservation Review site.

The Saxon St Gregory's Minster with its unusual sundial is nearby.

[edit] References

  1. ^ MY learning: Learning with Museums, Libraries and Archives in Yorkshire. Ideas and Evidence in Science: The Kirkdale Cave: Discovery of the cave. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  2. ^ Natural England. SSSI citation details for Kirkdale cave. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  3. ^ Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Learning more:William Buckland. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  4. ^ MY learning: Learning with Museums, Libraries and Archives in Yorkshire. Ideas and Evidence in Science: The Kirkdale Cave: Book that changed the world. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.

[edit] External links

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