Contents.
The Exploration of Chamber A.
The Exploration of Chamber B
Relation of these Deposits to those in other Caves at Cresswell.
Notes on Pleistocene Mammalia.
Classificatory Value of Hippopotamus and Leptorhine Rhinoceros.
Prehistoric and Historic Mammalia. No Evidence of Palæolithic Interments in Caves of Britain or the Continent.
General Conclusions.
Introduction.
When the exploration of the Robin-Hood and Church-Hole Caves at Cresswell Crags was brought to a close, in 1876, one of the lesser caves remained for further examination, known under the name of Mother Grundy's Parlour, from a certain old gipsy who is said to have chosen it for her home. It had evidently been disturbed by previous diggings, some of which are said to have been carried on by a resident at Cresswell in search of treasure revealed to his wife in a dream; and this fact, coupled with an unsuccessful trial which we made down as far as the unfossiliferous sand of the other caves, discouraged us from digging it out at that time. We have to thank Mr. John Young for calling our attention to the fact that there still remained in the Cresswell Crags an undiscovered chapter in the history of the cave-fauna of the district. He had purchased a tooth of Hippopotamus in London, which had been obtained from the Cresswell Crags by Messrs. Duffy and Gain, of Tuxford; and as this animal had not been met with in our previous explorations, we resolved to dig out Mother Grundy's Parlour without further delay. Accordingly in November last the exploration was begun, under the careful supervision of Mr. Knight, of Owens College, while we visited the place from time to time to direct the work.
Mother Grundy's Parlour is a shallow semicircular chamber (plan, fig. 1), in a low crag at the eastern extremity of the ravine and on its northern side: it might almost be described as a shallow rock-shelter, being 35 feet deep by 22 feet wide. On its eastern side, near the back (see fig. 1), was a small cavity about 4 feet wide by 2 feet 6 inches high, blocked up to the roof with fragments of rock and earth; this proved ultimately to be the mouth of chamber B of the ground-plan.
We began the exploration by cutting a trench in the floor on the eastern side of the cavern, and after penetrating through the disturbed soil found that the underlying beds were in situ, and contained bones and teeth in considerable abundance.
