Abstract

Work took place at Little Hoyle in 1984, 1986 and 1990. Excavation took place in the west facing entrances to the cave and on the platform outside these entrances. There was also excavation around the south entrance, and in the cave interior. The surviving deposits at Little Hoyle span at least 128,000 years. Basal clay deposits accumulated under
cold conditions in the Early and Middle Devensian. There is then evidence for a period of interstadial conditions between 50,000 and 40,000 BP. The succeeding deposits are a series of stony clays and matrix supported breccias which formed slowly under cold conditions after this date and down to at least 14,500 BP. These were in turn succeeded by
Holocene sediments which have largely been disturbed by previous excavations.

Lithic artefacts included part of an Upper Palaeolithic convex-backed point, an Early Mesolithic blade core, and a small Neolithic assemblage. There is a single bone needle from the 19th century excavations at the site. Early Neolithic pottery was recovered from above the cave. Faunal remains include evidence for denning by brown bears in the cave interior, alongside evidence for hyaena, wolf, fox, woolly rhinoceros, horse and reindeer in the wider environment. An assemblage of human remains from earlier excavations within the cave were re-assessed as part of the current project. The minimum number of individuals in the assemblage is 11 and radiocarbon dates on five of these have
provided earlier Neolithic results.