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Cave or grotto

Kirkdale Cave

Near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire

A hyena den that changed how scientists saw the past.

In 1821 quarrymen found a cave full of bones near Kirkbymoorside. The geologist William Buckland showed it had been a den of hyenas, which had dragged in the bones of elephants, rhinos and hippos.

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When
Found 1821
Where
54.2630, -0.9620
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

Beside a minor road, near St Gregory's Minster, Kirkdale.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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