The Red "Lady" of Paviland (Welsh: "Dynes" Goch Pafiland) is a partial male skeleton covered in red ochre. It was buried in Wales about 34,000 years ago, around 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 a Roman-era female. Later, in 1912, William Solace examined Goat's Cave Paviland. There, he found flint arrowheads and tools and correctly identified the skeleton as a male hunter-gatherer or warrior from the last Ice Age.

Goat's Hole Cave was used by people throughout prehistory. Artifacts found there are mostly from the Aurignacian period, but also include items from the earlier Mousterian (Neanderthal) and Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician periods, as well as later Gravettian and Creswellian periods. 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 the tusk of a mammoth. The Talbot family of Penrice Castle was informed 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 spent a week there. Later that year, Buckland wrote about his findings in his book Reliquiae Diluvianae (Remains or Relics of the Flood). He described the skeleton as being covered in a red substance called ruddle (a type of ochre), which stained the bones and the surrounding soil. Near the thigh bone, he found two handfuls of Nerita littoralis (periwinkle shells). Close to the ribs, he discovered forty to fifty pieces of ivory rods and some small ivory rings. These items, along with the shells, were also stained red and found in the same red substance covering the bones.

Buckland made mistakes about the skeleton's age and sex. He believed human remains could not be older than the Biblical Great Flood, so he thought the remains were from the Roman era. He assumed the skeleton was female because it was found with decorative items, such as perforated seashell necklaces and jewelry made from what he thought was elephant ivory, though it 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 past century, the estimated age of the remains has changed from the Mesolithic period (4,000–10,000 BCE) to the Palaeolithic era (35,000–10,000 BCE). Before radiocarbon dating was developed in the 1950s, scientists had no way to accurately determine the age of prehistoric remains.

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

At the time of burial, the cave was located about 110 km (70 miles) inland, overlooking a plain. When the remains were first dated to about 26,000 years ago, it was believed the "Red Lady" lived during the Devensian Glaciation, when an ice sheet was advancing toward the site. The weather would have been similar to present-day Siberia, with summer temperatures around 10°C and winter temperatures as low as −20°C, and tundra vegetation. New dating shows the individual lived during a warmer period.

Bone protein analysis suggests the person ate between 15% and 20% fish. This, combined with the distance from the sea, indicates the people may have been semi-nomadic or that the body was transported from a coastal area for burial.

When the skeleton was discovered, Wales had no museum to display it, so it was moved to Oxford University, where Buckland was a professor. The bones are now on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. In December 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.

Analysis of evidence from two excavations at Long Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula, including sediment, pollen, and stone tools, has identified Long Hole as an Aurignacian site. This site is contemporary with and related to Paviland Cave, providing some of 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. It was soon taken to Oxford. Later, some other items were sent back to their original places. This led to a long effort lasting over 200 years to return the Red "Lady" to Wales.

In January 2023, the artefact was given the name "Welsh Elgin Marbles," similar to a set of ancient sculptures from Greece that are also being asked to return to their home country. The Red Lady is now shown in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Oxford. It is said to be in good condition and properly protected.

Academics from Cardiff University have said that if the Red Lady were returned to Wales, it would improve the country's collection of historical items and increase interest in its ancient caves and archaeological sites.

Professor George Nash from the University of Liverpool and Coimbra University in Portugal said that some people have wrongly claimed the remains are those of an ancient Welsh ancestor. He called this idea "clear nonsense." He explained that 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 said that the Red Lady is an important part of Welsh history. He added that if the remains could be safely returned to Wales, that would be the correct choice.