Red Lady of Paviland

Red Lady of Paviland is the name of an almost complete  skeleton, which was found in a cave about  from Swansea, in 1823. It was the first time, there was a scientific publication on the find of an anatomically modern man.William Buckland: Reliquiæ Diluvianæ; or, observations on the organic remains contained in caves, fissures, and diluvial gravel, and on other geological phenomena, attesting the action of an universal deluge. John Murray, London 1823, S. 82–98. The skeleton turned out to be 33.000 years old, and was probably among the first people on the British Isles.Ewen Callaway: Archaeology: Date with history. In: Nature, Vol.485, 2012, pp. 27–29, doi:10.1038/485027a

The skeleton was painted with red ochre.  As pearls and ivory was found nearby, the skeleton was first thought to be that of a woman. William Buckland who found it, thought that it must have been that of a witch or a prosititute during the Roman Era Britain. In 1968, radiocarbo dating was done, and the skeleton was found to be about 22.000 years old.Kenneth P. Oakley: The date of the „Red Lady“ of Paviland. In: Antiquity. volume 42, Nr. 168, 1968, pp. 306–307, . The man had been bout 21, at the time of his death. The age of 22.000 years was problematic though: it meant that the British Isles would have been settled during a time when it was very cold. Another dating was done in 1989; it found an age of 33.000 years. Another dating, done in 2008, gave an age of 33.000 years. 33.000 years ago, there was one of the warmer periods of the ice age. 

Today , the skeleton is kept at the Oxford Museum of Natural History.

 Other websites 
 Great Sites: Paviland Cave.  In: archaeologyuk.org, accessed 29th May 2016
 The oldest known buried remains in Britain. (with illustrations) In: bradshawfoundation. com, accessed 3rd September 2015

 References 

Category:Archaeological sites in Wales