LOCATION MAP CAVES & CAVE DWELLERS Manchester The Hamps A5004 A6 The caves of the Manifold Valley are of exceptional Buxton Sheffield N A6 interest because, in addition to the stalactites and A515 stalagmites so typical of show caves, they contain a and Manifold A619 Bakewell treasure-trove of archaeological and fossil remains. B5055 Bones and artefacts reveal a history of human occupation dating back over 10,000 years, to the end A53 A6 Geotrail B5053 Chesterfield of the last Ice Age. At various times, these cave dwellers co-existed in the landscape alongside mammoth, woolly Human skull Hartington Macclesfield Matlock Alfreton B5054 rhinoceros, giant deer, arctic fox, lemmings, hippopotamus, auroch, A523 Hulme End A5012 Cromford wild boar and fierce predators such as wolf, cave bear, brown bear, A Tale of Disappearing Rivers, hyaena, cave lion and lynx. Leek B5053 Nottingham Wetton Mineral Riches and Ice Age Beasts A53 A523 The early cave occupants Stoke-on-Trent A515 had flint and reindeer- Ilam B5035 bone tools, lit fires Waterhouses A52 and hunted big Stoke-on-Trent Ashbourne game such as Brown bear A517 0 6 km reindeer, bison and GEOTRAIL Uttoxeter Derby horse. Barbed arrowheads, pots and pot boilers, beads, other personal A project managed by Patrick Cossey on behalf of the Staffordshire RIGS adornments and early coinage Group with financial support from Staffordshire Aggregates Levy Grant suggest that Scheme 2006. Text by Patrick Cossey, John Reynolds and Richard later cave Waller. Design by Rosie Duncan. Photos by Patrick Cossey unless occupants or otherwise stated. visitors were more sophisticated! The Staffordshire RIGS Group acknowledge the support of: Hyaena • Staffordshire Wildlife Trust • North Staffordshire Group of the G A • The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery • BTCV • National Trust • Staffordshire Geodiversity Action LAND USE & CONSERVATION • British Geological Survey Plan Partnership • Natural England • Staffordshire County Council • Natural History Museum, London (NHM) • Staffordshire Moorlands DC The valleys have a long history of • Geological Society of London (GS) • Peak District National Park Authority agriculture, mining and quarrying. Early • Derbyshire CC, Buxton Museum (DBM) • Moorlands Community Partnership man hunted, but later grazed animals • National Farmers’ Union • Moorland Publishing Co. Ltd. (MP) and ploughed strip lynchets to grow crops. In Monastic times sheep and cattle A member of UKRIGS, the Staffordshire RIGS Group is a voluntary organisation were important. In the early 20th century involved in the conservation of regionally important geological and geomorphological milk was carried along the old railway sites in Staffordshire. For more information contact: to Leek. Staffordshire RIGS - www.staffs-rigs.org.uk North Staffordshire Group Geologists' Association - www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga Staffordshire Wildlife Trust - www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk Remember to follow the country code and please do not hammer the rock surfaces. Be safe, plan ahead and follow any signs; leave gates and property DBM as you find them; protect plants and animals and take your litter home. Agriculture, tourism and outdoor Keep dogs under close control and consider other people pursuits are important today. Most of Printed by MC Print Services Tel: 01782 370080 Cover photograph: Thor’s Cave the land is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological and biological features. Much is owned and managed by the National Trust and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, conserving the landscape for future generations..