CHAPTER IV - THE LONG HOLE A ROMANO-BRITISH CAVE DWELLING

Abstract

This chapter explores Romano–British cave dwelling in the Long Hole. Above the mouth of the great cave and some 150 feet high in the cliff lies the entrance to an ancient retreat, to which a considerable number of Roman–Britons might have fled for refuge at times of danger and took possessions that they could carry such as their money, their weapons, and much of their pottery. The chapter discusses what happened at Cheddar in latter part of the 4th century A.D.—the period of Valens, Valentinian I, and Gratian. Coins of these three emperors with those of Valentinian II are the most abundant in Mendip. Other discoveries such as iron weapons, broken human bones, large number of coins stretching over 300 years, bones of the animals used for food that occurred in quantity, and broken pottery vessels that formed the domestic utensils of that time were also discovered in the cave.