The Red "Lady" of Paviland (Welsh: "Dynes" Goch Pafiland) is a partial male skeleton from the Upper Paleolithic period, covered in red ochre, and buried in Wales about 34,000 years ago (approximately 32,000 BCE). The bones were discovered in 1823 by William Buckland during an archaeological dig at Goat's Hole Cave (Paviland Cave). This limestone cave is located between Port Eynon and Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula, near Swansea in south Wales. Buckland initially believed the skeleton was from the Roman era and belonged to a female. Later, in 1912, William Solace studied Goat's Cave Paviland. He found flint arrowheads and tools, which led him to correctly identify the skeleton as a male hunter-gatherer or warrior from the last Ice Age.

Goat's Hole Cave was used by people throughout prehistoric times. Most artifacts found there are from the Aurignacian period. Others are from earlier Mousterian (Neanderthal) times and later periods, such as Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician, Gravettian, and Creswellian. The site is the oldest known ceremonial burial in Western Europe.

There have been calls to return the red skeleton of Paviland to Wales, where it was discovered, and specifically to Swansea.

History

In 1822, Daniel Davies and the Rev. John Davies discovered animal bones, including a mammoth tusk. The Talbot family at Penrice Castle was told about the find and found "bones of elephants" on December 27, 1822. William Buckland, a professor of geology at Oxford University, arrived at the site, Goat's Hole, on January 18, 1823, and studied the area for a week. Later that year, in his book Reliquiae Diluvianae (Remains of the Flood), Buckland described the skeleton as covered in a red substance called ochre. He also noted that near the thigh bone were two handfuls of periwinkle shells and, near the ribs, fragments of ivory rods and rings. All these items were stained with red ochre.

Buckland incorrectly guessed the skeleton's age and sex. He believed the remains could not be older than the Biblical Great Flood and thought they dated to the Roman era. He assumed the skeleton was female because it was found with decorative items, such as seashell necklaces and jewelry made from what he thought was elephant ivory, but is now known to be from a mammoth tusk.

In 1912, William Solace explored Goat's Cave Paviland and found flint arrowheads and tools. He correctly concluded the skeleton belonged to a male hunter-gatherer or warrior from the last Ice Age. Over the next 100 years, the estimated age of the remains shifted from the Mesolithic period (4,000–10,000 years ago) to the Palaeolithic era (35,000–10,000 years ago). Before radiocarbon dating was developed in the 1950s, scientists had no way to accurately determine the age of ancient remains.

In the 1960s, Kenneth Oakley used radiocarbon dating to estimate the skeleton’s age as 18,460 ± 340 years. Later studies in 1989 and 1995 suggested the individual lived about 26,350 ± 550 years ago, during the Upper Paleolithic era. A 2007 study by Thomas Higham and Roger Jacobi estimated the age as 29,000 years. A 2009 recalibration suggested 33,000 years, and a 2010 study revised this to about 34,000 years.

At the time of burial, the cave was located about 110 km (70 miles) inland, overlooking a plain. Earlier dating suggested the "Red Lady" lived during the Devensian Glaciation, when ice sheets covered the British Isles and the climate was similar to Siberia today, with cold temperatures. New dating shows the person lived during a warmer period.

Bone protein analysis shows the individual ate 15% to 20% fish, suggesting the group may have been semi-nomadic or transported the body from a coastal area for burial.

When the skeleton was found, Wales had no museum to display it, so it was sent to Oxford University, where Buckland worked. The bones are now on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. In 2007, the skeleton was loaned to the National Museum Cardiff for one year. Later excavations uncovered over 4,000 flints, teeth, bones, needles, and bracelets, which are displayed at Swansea Museum and the National Museum in Cardiff.

Studies of the Long Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula, including sediment, pollen, and tools, show it was an Aurignacian site, similar to Paviland, and among the earliest evidence of modern humans in Britain.

Proposed return to Wales

The Red "Lady" of Paviland was found in 1823 by William Buckland, a geology professor at Oxford University. After its discovery, it was sent to Oxford (some other items were later returned to their original places). This event led to a two-hundred-year effort to return the remains to Wales.

In January 2023, the artefact was given the nickname "Welsh Elgin Marbles," named after a famous group of ancient sculptures from Greece that are also being discussed for return to their homeland. The Red Lady is now displayed at the University of Oxford’s Museum of Natural History, where it is described as being "well cared for." Academics from Cardiff University have stated that if the remains were returned to Wales, it would strengthen the country’s collection of historical items and highlight its archaeological and cave sites.

Prof. George Nash from the University of Liverpool and Coimbra University in Portugal said, "Some people have claimed the remains are connected to ancient Welsh ancestors, but this is clearly incorrect. The person was likely from Africa or Arabia, leaving their home due to conflict or overcrowding. After the short warm period of the Palaeolithic era, Wales was isolated for thousands of years, so there is no connection between these remains and modern Welsh people." However, he also noted that the Red Lady is an important part of Welsh history and that returning the remains to Wales, if done safely, would be the right choice.