Cave O' Flakes | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Hob Sep 1, 2005 23:31:05

Re:
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/39638
and
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/39646

Some pretty interesting pics and words for the cave on Pike O'Stickle. When first I looked at the pictures of the flakes inside the cave, I thought 'Wayhey! Evidence of axery!' But as is astutely pointed out in TE's fieldnotes, this could just be evidence of the working of the cave walls.

What are the chances that any of those flakes are axe related? I'm taking it as read that the cave itself must have some connection with axe production. It seems too coincidental.

Either way, Mistargh 'ternal, you're a brave fella for venturing into such a precipitous site.

Respectings to you,

Hob

fitzcoraldo Sep 2, 2005 08:41:27

Replying to Hob

I'm working from memory and so may not be 100% correct but I think the cave was thought to be contemporary with the axe production because of the flake scars on the walls and debris found on the excavated floor. This implies that the cave was worked using the same methods as the axes - stone hammers as opposed to metal tools.

There's a couple of photos in Bradley & Edmonds book that show the cave, one was taken by Clare Fell (I think) during her original survey in the late 40's the other was a photograph taken by Bradley. The Fell photo shows the top of the cave just poking up over the scree, the second photo shows the fully exposed cave. What the photos illustrate are the amount of material that has been disturbed/removed by scree runners and 'treasure seekers' during the intervening time. It's really quite disturbing to think of all of the material that has been lost over a relatively short period of time.

The Eternal Sep 2, 2005 20:41:41

Replying to Hob

>Either way, Mistargh 'ternal, you're a brave fella for venturing into such a precipitous site.

You should've seen the sheep on the ledges above. "Sheep of Doooooom"? (see your Mickleden posts). More like "Doooooomed Sheep".
As for the cave, it was a bit damp and dank. "Cave o' Flakes"? More like "Cave o' Gloom".

Regardingly,
The Eternalaceous. (;^>)