Heaning Wood Bone Cave

Heaning Wood Bone Cave is a cave of major archaeological importance in Great Urswick, Cumbria, England, first excavated by Holland in 1958. Excavations since 2016 by local archaeologist Martin Stables uncovered human remains radiocarbon-dated to approximately 11,000 years ago, making them the earliest found in northern Britain. The cave saw at least three distinct periods of burial: Early Mesolithic (~11,000 BP), Early Neolithic (~5,500 BP), and Early Bronze Age (~4,000 BP). Evidence suggests at least eight individuals were deliberately interred alongside stone tools, pottery, and perforated periwinkle shell beads. DNA analysis by the Francis Crick Institute identified one Mesolithic individual, nicknamed the "Ossick Lass," as a young girl aged two to three years.