You should be standing in front of Thor’s Cave. Just around the corner from this impressive location is a smaller cave known as Thor’s Fissure, which was excavated between 1927 and 1933 by the Peakland Archaeological Society under the direction of Rev. GH Wilson.
Discoveries of animal bone are not uncommon in cave excavations, but imagine the surprise when three pieces of dolphin bone were discovered – a shoulder blade (scapula), piece of backbone (vertebrae), and part of the chest (sternum).
From the layers in which they were found it’s estimated the bones were placed in the cave between 4,000 and 3,000 years ago during the bronze age. At this time, the shape of the landscape was much the same as today, so the ocean was many, many miles away. So how did these bones get here?
We’ll probably never know the true story, but its likely that people traded or transported the bones from the coast. Did they have religious or symbolic significance, or were they an early souvenir of a seaside holiday?! Bone was also an important material for making tools, so alternatively it’s possible that the bones were traded for manufacturing.