We Homo sapiens haven’t always had the landscape to ourselves – we once rubbed shoulders with other hominids. On such cousin on the evolutionary tree were Neanderthals, who thrived throughout Europe and Asia for around 200,000 years.
An object found nearby in the limestone crags that overlook Ravensdale suggests they were even living here in what would become the Peak District.
This flint scraper was discovered in Ravencliffe Cave in the early 1900s. The 9cm long tool was knapped from a flake of blueish-grey flint. Archaeologists identified the flint knapping technique as Mousterian – a style closely associated with Neanderthals. The scraper is thought to date to around 40,000 years old, during the Middle Palaeolithic.
Neanderthals living in Derbyshire at this time were probably following herds of migrating animals. The bones of mammoth, woolly rhino and reindeer were also discovered at the cave – all potentially providing food, skins, bone and antler for Neanderthal hunters.