THE WELSH RED MAN ©
by Carolanne Kennedy, FS, S.G.B.
Goat’s Hole/Paviland Cave, Wales, is one of the most famous caves in the world. It was there that an extremely significant archaeological find occurred during the 1800s.
The pear-shaped cave is found within the limestone cliffs of Paviland. The cave was formed when sea levels were up to 24 feet higher than today's levels. Paviland is in the southernmost part of Wales and was probably not covered in ice in the following millennia. The cave is now in a steep cliff above the sea. It would have overlooked the valley of the Severn in the far colder climate of 29,000 BCE. The vegetation would have resembled that of the present day tundra of northern Siberia. It is the best-known site in Wales predating the Neolithic Age and is on the southern coast of the Gower peninsula.
"Goat's Hole was first excavated in 1822 by Mr. L W Dillwyn and Miss Talbot of Penrice Castle. Interested by the discoveries made here, Reverend William Buckley re-excavated the cave the following year. It was during this secondary and more substantial exploration that one of the World's most important archaeological finds was uncovered. At the time, however, the discovery was completely misidentified. Buckley was the first Professor of Geology at Oxford at the time and was later to become Dean of Westminster. He was also a devout Christian and it was this latter fact that led Buckley into not recognizing the full importance of his find.
Buckley believed that no human remains could be dated earlier than the Great Flood that is recorded in the Bible. Misguided by this preconception, his dating of the skeleton was wildly off the mark. And another misconception of the age also guided him into misjudging the sex of the skeleton as well." (Gower pg1)
Buckley discovered an adult skeleton covered with red ochre and buried with goods made from bone, antler, and ivory. A large Mammoth's skull was also uncovered at the site and marked the site as that of a ritual burial. Perforated seashell necklaces were found with the body, these decorative items that led Buckley into identifying the skeleton as that of a female. This was a misidentification of the skeleton. Buckley's title of "The Red Lady of Paviland" still holds to this day, I have chosen to give him a name more suiting to who he really was, The Red Man.
Goat's Hole, Paviland, was re excavated and examined in 1912 by a Professor Sollas.(Gower pg1) He had a more open minded approach and scientific means of dating for identifying the remains. The Red Lady was proved to be a Red Man, a young man that lived 29,000 years ago, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period.
His are the oldest human remains found within the United Kingdom, and it is the oldest ceremonial burial site in Western Europe. Until his death at 21 years of age he had been a rather healthy person. It is possible that those living around Paviland at the time of the burial - a people with an Upper Paleolithic or Later Old Stone Age culture - are among the ancestors of the present population of Wales.
The skeleton is recognized as belonging to one of the earliest orders of modern human. His bones offer an example of the biology and behaviour of our ancestors. Britain, which was still attached to the rest of Europe and of course had a different climate then it does today. It may have been similar to the Scandinavia of today. The Bristol Channel was just a shallow river and there was a very rich hunting ground at Paviland. The Red Man more then likely fished to supplement his diet. The addition of fish in the diet marks modern humans apart from Neanderthals who did not vary their diet from meat and grain.
Paviland is an exceptional archaeological site. The "Red Man" must have been a very important man amongst his people or it just may have been their habit to honour their dead and he is the only surviving evidence to date.
Ivory ornaments and perforated seashell necklaces were found with the Red Man’s remains.
Over 4000 worked flints, animal teeth, necklace bones, stone needles and mammoth-ivory bracelets were found in the Goat’s Hole Cave site. This indicates that the cave was in use over a process of time, as time would have been needed to produce these many artist and crafted items. It also indicates that highly evolved Humans were in existence many thousands of years before it was at one time thought. Take into consideration that the land masses were closer together at this time and have since been divided and parted by rising seawater. How many more such sites are lost in the oceans forever? Knowledge of our lost ancestors is always unfolding, the future years may hold some amazing surprises for us.
Allow me to take you back in time. Travel with me from the academic to the imaginative arena of the human soul.
You stand in the Stone Age culture of The Red Man of Wales. You are standing on a plane of green tundra overlooking the reeds and low lying river of what is now the Bristol Channel. You are holding some stone tools and a basket of seashells you collected two suns ago. It is thirteen moons since your grandmother passed to the land of the Ancestors and you are about to carve a seashell necklace to place in the high cave with her bones. It will be your gift to honour her and it will take three suns to complete. Although it is the season for fishing and you will lose valuable harvesting time for your winter food supply you are at peace and feel blessed to be doing what the members of your tribe have done for as long as anyone can remember. The sun has just risen; it feels warm on your skin. You lay a mat on the tundra, it is dry and warm. You sit down and begin to carve the holes in the seashells to make the necklace. As each shell passes through your hands you remember your grandmother. You see her face, you hear her voice, and you feel she is sitting near you. Worries and fears fade away. When the sun fades and the full moon glows over the river below, you gather your things and head back to your village for a night of restful sleep. It has been a good day. You are at peace.
Now, you are sitting in your chair reading this paper. Think upon some one who has passed over, whom you loved. Someone older than you, in whose presence you felt peaceful, maybe even special. How have you honoured them since they have passed? In our society it may not even be possible for you to visit their gravesite. Time and distance and cultural changes may make this impossible. Do you have a photo of them you could have restored and hung on a wall in your home? Do you have a garden you could plant a tree or shrub or climbing rose bush in their name and every year enjoy the green folks presence and think upon what a blessing your loved one was to you?
It is all about having an honouring spirit and feeling connected to those who went before us. The descendents of the Red Man of Wales knew how very important this was. Have we become less spiritual, less aware, less civilized in the last 30,000 years? I pray not.
Stand in your garden. Stand on a riverbank. Stand in the middle of your favourite grove of trees and remember those you come from. Send them a blessing. Ask for their aid and wisdom during these changing times.
The peace will flow.
The blessing will be there.
The connection waits.
The Red Man of Wales teaches us many lessons even today.
Listen to the voice crying from his bones.
Listen to the whisper of his soul, "Look homeward and we will meet you!"
Bibliography
Timelines History – BBC
Neolithic and Bronze Ages
'The Red Lady of Paviland' c.24000 BC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/wales/paviland.shtml
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red Lady of Paviland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lady_of_Paviland
Online Encyclopedia.
Information for everyone
Red Lady of Paviland
http://www.sferahost.com/encyclopedia/r/re/red_lady_of_paviland.html
Minnesota University’s Emuseum
Paviland Cave
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/europe/paviland_cave.html
Explore Gower
Goat's Hole/Paviland Cave
http://www.explore-gower.co.uk/pavilandcave.html
Carolanne Kennedy was born eldest of seven children in a fishing village on the Avalon Peninsula off the Island of Newfoundland. From a young age she experienced a deep connection to the land and sea. She first learned of the Faery Folk from her Grandmother. When she was a teenager her family moved to Ontario.
She completed a diploma in Business in June 2000 and earns her living working in accounting. She received her certificate as a Faery Shaman from Society of Celtic Shamans in July 2000 and has walked with the Ancients ever since. She is also a Certified N.L.P. Practitioner. She is enrolled in studies with the University of Celtic Wisdom.
Throughout the year she holds Celtic Shaman workshops and on occasion does individual counseling sessions. She loves all things Celtic.
Anyone wishing to contact Carolanne can do so at her email address lorracc42@yahoo.com
. Or visit her at: The Wisdom Tree - Celtic Learning Center
The Welsh Red Man copyright © 2005 by Carolanne Kennedy, all
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