A heritage group are battling for a warrior skeleton to be returned 200 miles home from Oxford University – after it’s spent two centuries away from the cave it was found.
The ‘Red Lady’ of Paviland was discovered in a Gower cave in 1823 and has been on display at Oxford University for the past 200 years.
Geology professor William Buckland found the skeleton and immediately transported the historic discovery to the Oxford University museum.
But now Gower Unearthed, a community interest company, have been campaigning for the warrior remains to be repatriated back to Wales.Â
The skeleton covered in red ochre – a naturally occurring iron oxide – was called The Red ‘Lady’ by Prof Buckland who presumed it was a Roman prostitute, or witch.
But further investigation revealed that ‘she’ was a ‘he’ and was a male Ice Age hunter from around 33,000 years ago.
The ‘Red Lady’ of Paviland was discovered in a Gower cave in 1823 and has been on display at Oxford University for the past 200 years
The skeleton covered in red ochre – a naturally occurring iron oxide – was called The Red ‘Lady’ by Prof Buckland who presumed it was a Roman prostitute, or witch
Geology professor William Buckland found the skeleton and immediately transported the historic discovery to the Oxford University museum
The burial site, which also had a mammoth skull, is the earliest known ceremonial grave in Northern Europe.
Andrew Price, of Gower Unearthed, said ‘His tribe, the people who buried that man on Gower, buried him here because this was the place he died and a significant place to them.’
‘He was buried with a purpose – they wanted him to remain on Gower and that was the place they had chosen to burry him,’ he added.
‘I feel that the bones (should) be as close as possible to Paviland, which would hopefully mean Swansea itself.’
To raise awareness of their campaign to bring the warrior back to Wales, best friends Helen Nicholas, 49, founder of Gower Unearthed, and Sally Munro will run from Oxford University Museum to Goat Hole Cave, Paviland – where the skeleton was found.
The ‘Red Lady’ of Paviland was discovered in a Gower cave (pictured) in 1823
The burial site, which also had a mammoth skull, is the earliest known ceremonial grave in Northern Europe
Gower Unearthed, a community interest company, have been campaigning for the warrior remains to be repatriated back to Wales
The remains of the warrior skeleton
Further investigation revealed that the skeleton was a ‘he’ and was a male Ice Age hunter from around 33,000 years ago
The Pelvis & Femur of ‘The Red Lady of Paviland’
The skeleton is on loan to the National Museum of Wales from Oxford University
Their 200-mile journey will encompasses approximately a marathon a day, on average, for six days.
Helen said: ‘This run isn’t just about us – it’s about coming together as a community to celebrate and honour this incredible part of our heritage.’
They began their mammoth run today(Sunday, October 20) hoping to finish next weekend.
