Archaeologists Unearth 34000-Yr-Old Remains of 'Red Lady of Paviland' From a Cave, Stunned to Learn It Belonged to a Man

In the 19th century, geologists excavated a cave in the United Kingdom, that revealed many intriguing remains. The remains were uncovered from Goat’s Hole Cave (also known as Paviland Cave) in South Wales, stated the University of Oxford. Researchers located a partial human skeleton inside the site, which was covered in red ochre and surrounded by shell beads and carved ivory. All of these accompaniments made experts believe that the skeleton was of a woman. Decades later this assertion was proven wrong.

William Buckland, Oxford University's first Reader in Geology, found mammoth remains and a partial human skeleton from Goat's Hole Cave in 1823. Since the skeleton was enveloped in a red ochre, it became known as the 'Red Lady of Paviland.' The various items in the cave also pointed towards the person being ceremonially buried. Buckland speculated the skeleton was from the Roman period, around 2000 years ago. In 2008, scientists examined the skeleton again, and their results indicated that the human remains were older. Past tests on the skeleton in the late 20th century had already proven that the remains were of a man, according to Ancient Origins.

Analysis of the remains revealed that the skeleton was of a young man who had died somewhere between the ages of 21 and 25. Radiocarbon dating in 2008 proved that the skeleton was 34,000 years old, according to the University of Oxford. The age was crucial because this made the human skeleton, one of the oldest specimens of ceremonial burial in Western Europe, discovered by researchers. Experts over the years located stone tools and burnt animal bones at the site, which indicate that the man was a hunter. Data gathered by researchers also suggest that the cave was used for centuries by hunters. Researchers are yet to figure out the cause of this human's death.

Despite the wrong assertion, experts did not blame Buckland as he made his call about the skeleton being of a Roman prostitute based on the items in front of him, stated BBC. "In 1823 the science of archaeology was very much in its infancy," Prof George Nash, of the University of Liverpool and Coimbra University said. "There was no careful stratified removal and recording of artifacts, great quantities of material were just hoiked out of the ground and dumped in a massive jumbled pile by unskilled laborers. There were indications that the skeleton could have been a woman due to the amount of seashell beads and ivory wands discovered around her."

Researchers believe that the young man was part of a group and his burial is an indicator of spirituality having seeped into the social settings. "The Red Lady and his cohorts were most likely tracking herds of mammoth, deer, or bison, and the ritualistic nature of his burial shows one of the earliest examples of spiritualistic thinking in Western Europe," Prof. Nash explained. The remains are in the Oxford University Museum, and for decades there has been an active campaign to bring him back to Welsh.