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334:. He described the rhinoceros skeleton to have included a head, ten molar teeth, one complete half of the lower jaw, and damaged fragments of the other half. Two cervical vertebrae, several dorsal and two caudal vertebrae and various ribs, sacrum and pelvis were also retrieved, as well as the long bones of all four limbs. All were well preserved and from a nearly full-grown animal. No additional rhinoceros bones were found to suggest a second animal had died there, although bones from other large mammal species were also found. These included horse, ox and deer. Mr Gell subsequently donated these specimens to Oxford Museum. Later research has suggested that they first entered Buckland's own private collections at
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280:, and overlooking woodland. This entrance is a deep and steep-sided natural fissure within the limestone, and is in fields pockmarked by former lead-mining activity. Dream Cave lies at an altitude of approximately 240 metres (790 ft) and is about 15 metres (49 ft) deep, with cavities running in a west-north-west to east-south-easterly direction. Although originally completely infilled with loose material, almost all has since been removed, and what little remains is so disturbed that it shows none of the original stratigraphy.
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centre of the collapsing mass, the miners found numerous bones and what was probably at the time a complete skeleton of a large mammal before the collapsing sediments caused the bones to separate. In removing the infill, the miners had uncovered what, on expert examination, turned out to be the nearly complete skeleton of a rhinoceros. This was subsequently confirmed to be a woolly rhinoceros (
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The discovery of Dream Cave and its faunal remains is of historical importance as it came just as
William Buckland was developing his theories and preparing to publish a major work about cave palaeontology and on the origins of extinct fossil vertebrates and their association with the Biblical flood;
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Initially, there was no evidence that the cavern had been connected to the surface. As the sinking of the mine shaft progressed, and as collapsing material was removed, a depression began to form in the field above. Eventually, as more collapsing infill was taken away, the connecting void that slowly
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of 45,083 – 48,613 BP. The team concluded that
Buckland was correct in his original interpretation that the complete woolly rhinoceros skeleton resulted, not from a direct fall into the cavern, but by inwashing from an extreme flood event. Whereas Buckland stated this was "a carcase that was drifted
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Although the whereabouts of the rhinoceros bones from Dream Cave were still remembered in the 1880s, one hundred and twenty years later they had become forgotten, and believed by some to have been lost to science. Thus, by the end of the 20th century, the precise species of rhinoceros found in Dream
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earth and rock fragments. According to a detailed contemporary account, as they excavated this material to continue their downward progress, the loose infill began to shift and collapse around them. The act of removing this loose material eventually exposed the roof of the cave itself. Close to the
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material collected by
Buckland, and assumed to have immediately overlain the mammalian bones gave a date of 36,450 years before present (plus/minus 1,260 years). This suggested the woolly rhinoceros and other animals had fallen into Dream Cave just over 37,000 years
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arrived to inspect the finds at Dream Cave. By this time many of the bones had been removed on the command of the landowner, Philip Gell. Buckland's detailed account of his inspection of Dream Cave and its remains was subsequently published in his
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Although only large mammal remains were retrieved and retained, it is highly probable that microfaunal remains were also present, though not preserved. This reflects collection preferences at that early time, but in correspondence to
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Reliquiae
Diluvianae; 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. By the Rev. William Buckland,
400:), modern science interprets this as in-washing from a high-volume flood event, resulting from a sudden spring thaw after a cold winter period, which were typical of the glacial-period climate in that region at that time.
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before later being transferred to Oxford Museum after its founding in 1860. By 1861 the larger bones were on display at Oxford Museum, although by 1874 some of the smaller specimens had been moved into storage.
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The bones and associated material removed from Dream Cave by
Buckland had not been lost, as had previously been assumed, but had remained in Oxford Museum, including specimens labelled by him as
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The reliquary; A depository for precious relics-legendary, biographical and historical, Illustrative of the habits, customs and pursuits of our forefathers: Edited by
Llewellynn Jewitt
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Dream Cave was discovered by lead miners in
December 1822, during work to sink a new shaft 60 feet (18 m) down into a hillside above Wirksworth to reach productive veins of
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within Dream Mine. In doing so, the miners unexpectedly penetrated a large natural cavern within the hillside which had become completely infilled with a loose material of
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In 2016 it was reported that Dream Cave had suffered from the dumping of agricultural debris and by partial in-filling. It is not protected by statutory designation as a
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The near-complete woolly rhinoceros from Dream Cave is an unusual example of a species rarely found in the UK, especially as it shows no signs of having been eaten by
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446:, Philip Gell wrote in 1823: "The Rhinoceros appears to have occupied the centre of the Cave, the Ox and Deer one end, and the smaller animals the other end."
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747:"A Middle Devensian woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from Whitemoor Haye Quarry, Staffordshire (UK): palaeoenvironmental context and significance"
276:. The entrance to Dream Cave (known to cavers as Dream Hole) is on a grass-covered mound, on a hillside to the west of the town of Wirksworth, east of
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for the woolly rhinoceros). Further curation and detailed studies then began around the turn of the century. In 2000, indirect
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In 2016 some of the original research team resurveyed Dream Cave and also made direct radiocarbon dating of
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838:"The Lead Legacy: An Updated Inventory of Important Metal and Gangue Mining Sites in the Peak District"
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Reliquiæ Diluvianæ, or, Observations on the
Organic Remains attesting the Action of a Universal Deluge
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Cross-section of Dream Cave showing miners in 1822 working towards animal remains. From a sketch by
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587:"A new radiometric date and assessment of the Last Glacial megafauna of Dream Cave, Derbyshire, UK"
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opened up was found to be approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) broad and 50 feet (15 m) deep.
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Mcfarlane, Donald A.; Lundberg, Joyce; Van
Rentergem, Guy; Howlett, Eliza (December 2016).
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Signs of former lead-mining activity on wooded hillside containing entrance to Dream Cave
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An
Updated Inventory of Important Metal and Gangue Mining Sites in the Peak District
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the cave was described in considerable detail and illustrated in his 1823 treatise,
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miners in 1822 and was found to contain the almost complete skeletal remains of a
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One month later, in January 1823, the eminent Oxford geologist the Reverend
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and other large mammal bones. These remains were acquired by the geologist
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Mining History: The Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society
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The following species from Dream Cave are now housed in Oxford Museum:
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Mcfarlane, Donald A.; Lundberg, Joyce; Ford, Derek C. (January 2000).
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This article is about the cavern in England. For the music album, see
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Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society
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716:"Pleistocene deposits of Derbyshire and its immediate vicinity"
685:"The Age of the Woolly Rhino from Dream Cave, Derbyshire, UK"
659:. John Russell Smith. Derby: Bemrose & sons. p. 226
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in entire at the same time with the diluvial detritus" (i.e.
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bones found alongside the woolly rhinoceros. This yielded
804:"The Growth of Geological Knowledge in the Peak District"
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Barnatt, J.; Huston, K.; Mallon, D.; Newman, R. (2013).
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745:Schreve, Danielle; et al. (25 February 2013).
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504:"Dream Hole – DCA Cave Registry Site Details"
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630:John Murray, Albemarle-street. pp.
537:"The Secret of Wirksworth's Dream Cave"
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476:Site of Special Scientific Interest
343:Cave was not known with certainty.
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228:, England. It was discovered by
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260:Dream Cave formed as a natural
714:Heath, Thomas (January 1882).
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754:Journal of Quaternary Science
543:. Archant Community Media Ltd
535:Vahed, Karim (January 2019).
421:Bos primigenius/Bison priscus
40:Dream Hole, Dream Mine
23:. For the mine in Utah, see
653:Jewitt, Llewellynn (1861).
372:(BP). This correlates with
272:limestone rocks called the
16:Cave in Derbyshire, England
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623:Buckland, William (1824).
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248:Location and description
917:History of paleontology
414:Coelodonta antiquitatis
311:Coelodonta antiquitatis
160:Carboniferous limestone
689:Cave and Karst Science
591:Cave and Karst Science
508:registry.thedca.org.uk
419:Aurochs/steppe bison (
353:Rhinoceros tichorhinus
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266:vein of mineralisation
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240:and are now housed in
927:Lead mines in England
802:Ford, Trevor (1999).
347:21st-century research
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274:Monsal Dale Formation
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888:at Wikimedia Commons
374:Marine isotope stage
336:Christchurch College
278:Carsington Reservoir
912:Caves of Derbyshire
902:Mines in Derbyshire
858:on 3 September 2017
851:(6). Archived from
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412:Woolly rhinoceros (
270:Lower Carboniferous
268:within a series of
199:1823; 2016 (in
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457:Reliquiæ Diluvianæ
361:radiometric dating
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212:(sometimes called
117:53.0735°N 1.5910°W
884:Media related to
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428:Rangifer tarandus
321:Mammalian remains
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416:) – 74 bones
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404:Species list
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96:Coordinates
937:Coelodonta
922:Wirksworth
896:Categories
886:Dream Cave
862:22 October
821:22 October
787:23 October
760:(2): 121.
730:22 October
699:22 October
663:22 October
638:22 October
601:22 October
547:21 October
513:22 October
486:References
426:Reindeer (
226:Derbyshire
222:Wirksworth
218:Dream Mine
214:Dream Hole
210:Dream Cave
185:Quaternary
165:Difficulty
105:53°04′25″N
75:Derbyshire
35:Dream Cave
25:Dream Mine
365:flowstone
284:Discovery
188:megafauna
149:Discovery
141:Elevation
108:1°35′28″W
77:, England
817:(4): 164
782:54874495
302:lead ore
264:along a
224:in
181:Features
89:SK275530
71:Location
762:Bibcode
470:Threats
464:hyaenas
433:Horse (
385:aurochs
357:synonym
201:COMPASS
176:private
157:Geology
83:OS grid
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173:Access
856:(PDF)
841:(PDF)
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778:S2CID
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435:Equus
389:bison
133:Depth
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