Kent's Cavern material in Bolton Museum and some related excavations data

Abstract

The excavations by William Pengelly between 1865 and 1880 at Kent's Cavern, Torquay, were a well-known episode in British Quaternary bone-cave exploration. Enormous numbers of bones and artefacts were removed from the cave system during the course of these excavations, and many of the finds were lodged in the British Museum and the Torquay Natural History Society Museum. However, some material was dispersed to other UK museums, as mentioned by Tresise (1976) and Hancock et (1976). The exact basis of these dispersals seems poorly documented but Bolton acquired its material in 1903 (Acc.No. 72.03) from W.J. Else, then curator of the Torquay Natural History Society.