“Creswell Crags”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The caves contain occupation layers with evidence of flint tools from the Mousterian, proto-Solutrean, Creswellian and Maglemosian cultures. They were seasonally occupied by nomadic groups of people during the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. Evidence of Neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman and post-medieval activity has also been found there. There is evidence of Neanderthal occupation 50,000–60,000 years ago, a brief Gravettian occupation around 32,000 years ago and use of all the main caves during the Magdalenian around 14,000 years ago.^[2] The site is open to the public and has a visitor centre with a small museum of objects associated with the caves, including a stuffed cave hyena.

As a result of its unique features, Creswell Crags has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).^[3] It has also been put forward as a potential World Heritage Site.

The site was the subject of the BBC Radio 4 documentaries Unearthing Mysteries and Nature and featured in the 2005 BBC Two television programme Seven Natural Wonders, as one of the wonders of the Midlands.

In 2006–07, the B6042 road was re-routed from its path through the gorge, by approximately {{convert|150|m|yd}} to the north, to minimise traffic impact on the site.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Neanderthal and Upper Paleolithic occupation

The gorge has been visited by Neanderthals, and people from the Gravettian and Magdalenian periods.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Caves

Finds

A bone engraved with a horse's head and other worked bone items along with the remains of a variety of prehistoric animals have been found in excavations since 1876, including hyenas and hippopotami. The "Ochre Horse" was found on 29 June 1876 at the back of the western chamber in the Robin Hood Cave.^[5]

In 2003, the Ochre Horse was estimated to be between 11,000 and 13,000 years old.^[6]

Cave art

In April 2003, engravings and bas-reliefs were found on the walls and ceilings of some of the caves, an important find as it had previously been thought that no British cave art existed. The discoveries, made by Paul Bahn, Sergio Rippoll and Paul Pettitt, included an animal figure at first thought to be an ibex but later identified as a stag. Later finds included carvings on the ceiling of Church Hole Cave, the rarity of which made the site one of international importance.^[7]

To this day the finds at Creswell Crags represent the most northerly finds in Europe. Their subject matter includes representations of animals including bison and, arguably, several different bird species. Some workers, however, consider that the "bird" figures are more likely to be female anthropomorphs. The engravers seem to have made use of the naturally uneven cave surface in their carvings and it is likely that they relied on the early-morning sunlight entering the caves to illuminate the art.

Thin layers of calcium carbonate flowstone overlaying some of the engravings were dated using the uranium-series disequilibrium method, which showed the oldest of these flowstones to have formed at least 12,800 years ago.^[6] This provides a minimum age for the underlying engraving. The scientists and archaeologists concluded that it was most likely the engravings were contemporary with evidence for occupation at the site during the late glacial interstadial around 13,000–15,000 years ago. Most of the engravings are found in Church Hole Cave on the Nottinghamshire side of the gorge. Since this discovery, however, an engraved reindeer from a cave on the Gower peninsula has yielded two minimum dates (through uranium-series dating) of 12,572 years BP and 14,505 years BP.^[8]

Not all of the figures identified as prehistoric art are in fact human made. An example given by archaeologists Paul Bahn and Paul Pettitt is the 'horse-head', Which they say is ""highly visible and resembles a heavily maned horse-head... lacks any trace of work: it is a combination of erosion, black stains for the head, and natural burrow cast reliefs for the mane." Others are a 'bison-head' which they think may be natural and a 'bear' image which "lacks any evidence of human work." Notwithstanding they believe that more figures may be discovered in the future.^[9]

World Heritage Site nomination

Creswell Crags first applied for World Heritage Site status in 1986, but was unsuccessful. Since then further research and development has been carried out and, in 2011, it was again put forward for consideration.^[10] In 2012 it was added to the United Kingdom's 'tentative list' – an essential prerequisite to formal nomination, evaluation and potential inscription as a World Heritage Site.^[1]^[11] The Tentative List identifies the universal outstanding value of Creswell Crags as being:

In addition, Creswell Crags' significance has been enhanced by the discovery of a number of pieces of portable art made of engraved bone – the UK's only known figurative Ice Age art – as well as assemblages of bone, stone and ivory tools.^[1]

See also

References

1. ^¹²³{{cite web|title=Creswell Crags|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5671/ |publisher=UNESCO|accessdate=9 February 2017|date=27 January 2012}}
2. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/?mode=project&id=639|publisher=Durham University|title=Palaeolithic art and archaeology of Creswell Crags, UK|accessdate=22 August 2013}} The dates given in the source are 28,000 14C years ago for the Gravettian and 12,500 to 12,200 14C years ago for the Magdalenian. The 14C years have been adjusted to give calendar ('real') years. {{cite web|url=http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc14C.html|title=The Radiocarbon age scale vs the 'real' (calibrated) years age scale.|publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory|accessdate=30 January 2013}}
3. ^{{cite web |url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1003950 |title=Creswell Crags SSSI |publisher=Natural England |accessdate=14 August 2017}}
4. ^The museum's exhibit label says "Leaf-points were probably spear tips. They are one of the earliest recognisable objects made by fully modern humans in Britain. This is a particularly good example. c. 38–35,000 years old"
5. ^{{cite web |title=Horse Engraving |url=http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/explore/exhibition-objects/86/Horse-engraving |publisher=Creswell Crags Museum & Heritage Centre |accessdate=17 May 2013 |date=11 July 2009}}
6. ^¹{{cite news |last=Hammond |first=Norman |title=Cave paintings reveal Ice Age artists |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article749449.ece |accessdate=18 December 2010 |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=7 December 2005}}
7. ^Bahn, P. and Pettit, P., 2009, Britain's Oldest Art: The Ice Age Cave Art of Creswell Crags, London: English Heritage, {{ISBN|1-848-0202-52}}, {{ISBN|978-1848-0202-52}}
8. ^{{cite web | url = http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2012/8606.html | title = U-series dating suggests Welsh reindeer is Britain's oldest rock art | date = 29 June 2012 | accessdate = 10 July 2012 | publisher = University of Bristol }}
9. ^{{cite book|last1=Bahn|first1=Paul|last2=Pettitt|first2=Paul|title=Britain's Oldest Art: The Ice Age Cave Art of Cresswell Crags: The Ice Age Cave Art of Creswell Crags|date=2009|publisher=English Heritage|isbn=978-1848020252|page=85}}
10. ^{{cite web|title=Creswell Crags on world heritage shortlist|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-12816962| publisher=BBC|accessdate=9 February 2017|date=22 March 2011}}
11. ^{{cite web|title=World Heritage List Nominations|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/nominations/ |publisher=UNESCO|accessdate=9 February 2017}}