By all accounts goats/sheep were introduced to this part of the world by the first Neolithic farmers. It’s said that the goats that roam in the Cheviot Hills today are possibly directly related to them.
Another point to note and ask about if anyone should visit the Crags is why aren’t the engraved vertical lines next to the ‘vulva’ in Robin Hood Cave acknowledged in any of the researchers publications? The ‘vulva’ engraving can also be interpreted as the ‘mark of Bride’ an Iron Age goddess who incidentally used to ‘hang out’ with a goat...The mark of Bride or Bridgit looks like the imprint of a birds foot. Tenous, but is there a link between the flowstone and milk? I encourage the reader to look into Bride and her associations. Spring, birth, milk...For those that aren’t aware the flowstone in the caves has a milky appearance.
Also if you should visit RHC just before you go down the small passage to what’s known as the central chamber look up and to your left above head height ..you may notice a series of eight vertical lines deeply carved into the cave wall...Why were these of no interest to the researchers? They certainly aren’t recent.
Going back to CHC two of the engravings found are very simple line drawings thought to depict a horse and a bovid. In both instances the lines ‘appear’ to disappear under flowstone deposits. Do they? For arguments sake let’s say I was someone feeling mischievous...maybe even L A... I would engrave next to flowstone so as to give the impression the lines disappear underneath to give the appearance of great age? Just a thought...Removing the flowstone would be a challenge but it would rule such a scenario out. These engravings look to be exicuted by a different hand than the goat/stag and birds. No direct dating has been done on them but they appear in the researchers publications as palaeolithic.
If one should be lucky enough to see the birds first hand turn 180 degrees there’s a feature on the opposite side of the passage which I think is significant and possibly the reason for the engraving being where it is. It’s a phreatic tune that to me looks like an eye....I find this the most intriguing of all the engravings. I did wonder if it had anything to do with ‘The Bull and Three Cranes’ Horn like feature and long necked birds? Again I encourage the reader to research this should it be of interest.
Let’s not forget that the Crags have evidence of activity in every age and yet the focus is always on the palaeolithic. As for the story of the research team about to leave without even looking in Church Hole Cave because little evidence of occupation had been found...?? (In ‘Britain’s Oldest Art’English Heritiage publication] What about the long standing hearth in section on the left near the entrance with flints and bones poking out of it! Story telling folks...Plus it gave a little weight to their theory that this Cave was a ‘ritual space’ and less visited perhaps.You don’t go to the trouble of organising a visit and not look in one of the largest caves at the site...
I’m playing devils advocate here and again would encourage anyone to visit and judge for themselves.

‘It’s far easier to be fooled than to acknowledge you’ve been fooled’