Aveline's Hole

Aveline's Hole is a cave at Burrington Combe in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England [1]. The earliest scientifically dated cemetery in Britain, 10,200 and 10,400 years old, was found at Aveline's Hole, constituting the largest assemblage of Mesolithic human remains found in Britain [1]. Much of the collection has been lost due to pillaging, poorly recorded investigation and war, and although more than fifty individuals are represented, there are only two complete skeletons [1]. Perforated animal teeth, red ochre and seven pieces of fossil ammonite, suggest that some of the bodies were adorned [1]. The cave was rediscovered in 1797 by two men digging for a rabbit [1]. The cave was excavated and the entrance enlarged in 1860 by William Boyd Dawkins who named it after his mentor William Talbot Aveline [1].