Did you know the first 3 geological periods of the Phanerozoic are named after Wales?
Cambrian = "Welsh" in Latin,
Ordovician = A pre-Roman tribe in mid/northern Wales,
Silurian = A pre-Roman tribe in southern Wales.
The Cambrian Explosion was a time when life on earth went crazy and loads of new animals appeared. This important time in history is named after Cymru.
Also, Cambrian Explosion would make an amazing Welsh metal band name.
The furthest north-westerly point of Neanderthal range is known to be Wales!
Part of a Neanderthal jaw-bone and 2 teeth of an 11-year-old boy were found in Bontnewydd Palaeolithic Site, with teeth from at least 4 other Neanderthals.
The presence of a wolf was discovered in the same cave at around the same time.
No way of knowing for sure, but wouldn't it be lovely to imagine a boy and his dog living in the cave together?
Can't believe I forgot about our Welsh dinosaur friends!
All dinosaurs discovered in Wales are found in the Vale of Glamorgan. The rocks in the rest of the country are OLDER THAN DINOSAURS!
Will Hayward wrote a great article in 2018. Link below.
These dinos are between 200 and 250 million years old, and new species and fossils are still being found today!
Have you ever found a fossil anywhere?
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dinosaurs-found-wales-mapped-14533246
In a cave near Talacharn (Laugharne), archaeologists found bones and teeth from hyenas, woolly rhinoceros and mammoths.
In the same cave, known as Coygan Cave, they also found hand axes made and used by Neanderthals around 35,000 years ago.
Mammoths, rhinoceros and hyenas in Cymru?!
Sadly, the cave was destroyed by quarrying. But the fantastic finds are preserved at the National Museum of Wales.
In another amazing first, Cymru boasts the oldest evidence of modern human settlement!
Near Rhossili, archaeologists found the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe.
The individual became known as the Red Lady of Paviland, due to the red ochre pigment used in the burial.
Modern analysis shows that it is actually the body of a young male.
Why this ceremony? What kind of beliefs did he and his family have?
Staying on Gower, excavations at a cave very close to Paviland Cave showed evidence of human settlement.
Stone tools, remains of cave hyena, reindeer, mammoth, wild horse, woolly rhino, and elephant were all found in Long Hole Cave.
Given their proximity, and they were occupied around the same time, could this have been where the Red "Lady" of Paviland lived before he was ceremonially buried in another cave nearby?
Today, we leave behind the #Palaeolithic, with its caves, rudimentary stone tools and remains of animals long extinct from #Wales.
The last Ice Age is an important time in Wales. Humans abandoned Wales.
However, this was the time when the land was shaped. Between 27000 and 17000 years ago, most of Wales was covered in ice.
In this 10,000 year span, Eryri (Snowdonia) was carved and Wales's other mountain ranges were shaped!
It is fascinating that there are no human finds or evidence of humans in Wales between the time of Paviland and Long Hole Cave until 10000 years later. TEN THOUSAND! An unfathomable amount of time!
Cathole Cave, also on Gower, is a fantastic example.
Stone points were discovered there and dated to around 26000BC, but the art drawn on the rocks dates to 14500BC.
Palaeolithic settlers lived there, then over 11000 years later, people returned!
Must be something to do with that.
1 star:
"Too much ice" 😂
As @DafSmith points out, the 'Red lady of Paviland' was discovered in a cave on the Gower coast, in fact just round the corner from where I took the pictures of punk sheep.
It is an exposed location, and the sheep there are a tough and hardy bunch.
Nobody knows what happened to the 'Red Lady', but I suspect it was the sheep wot done him in.
Further to this, here is an article from the National Museum of Wales about fossils found near Llandrindod Wells that date back 460 MILLION YEARS!
https://museum.wales/blog/2465/Unusual-new-fossils-from-ancient-rocks-in-Wales/
#WelshHistoryThread #Supplement #Fossils #Wales #Cymru #History #Palaeontology
No problem! A new one everyday until I forget.
Still lots of prehistory to post about!
Daf Smith 4 
🐘☑️
billheywood
Maria De Agosto
Martyn Lewis
jaz 
La Dama Bruja 🇪🇸🇪🇺#GTTO #FBPE
Angela, Lady Ffosfelin