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

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

Some people have suggested that the red skeleton of Paviland should be returned 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, in his book Reliquiae Diluvianae (Remains or Relics of the Flood), Buckland described the discovery:

"I found the skeleton covered with a layer of ruddle [ochre], which stained the earth and in some areas extended about half an inch [12 mm] around the bones. Near the thigh bone, there were about two handfuls of Nerita littoralis [periwinkle shells]. At another part of the skeleton, near the ribs, were forty or fifty pieces of ivory rods and some small fragments of rings made from the same ivory. The rods, rings, and shells were stained red and lay in the same red substance that covered the bones."

Buckland's analysis was incorrect about the skeleton's age and sex. He believed human remains could not be older than the Biblical Great Flood and therefore thought the remains dated to the Roman era. He assumed the skeleton was female because it was found with decorative items, including seashell necklaces and jewelry made from what he thought was elephant ivory but was later identified as 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 date of the remains has changed from the Mesolithic period (4–10,000 BCE) to the Paleolithic era (35,000–10,000 BCE). Before radiocarbon dating was developed in the 1950s, no scientific method existed to determine the age of prehistoric remains.

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

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 thought the "Red Lady" lived during the Devensian Glaciation, when an ice sheet would have been advancing toward the site. The weather would have been similar to present-day Siberia, with summer temperatures of about 10°C and winter temperatures as low as −20°C, covered in tundra vegetation. New dating suggests the individual lived during a warmer period.

Bone protein analysis shows the person ate 15% to 20% fish. This, along with the distance from the sea, suggests the group may have been semi-nomadic or transported the body 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, identified Long Hole as an Aurignacian site. This site is contemporary with and related to Paviland Cave, 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 professor of geology at Oxford University. It was soon taken to Oxford (some other items were later sent back to their original places). This led to a long effort over two centuries to return the remains to Wales.

In January 2023, the artefact was given the nickname "Welsh Elgin Marbles," similar to a group of ancient sculptures from Greece that are also being discussed for return to their home country. The Red Lady is now displayed at the University of Oxford’s Museum of Natural History, where it is said to be "well cared for." Academics at Cardiff University have noted that returning the remains could strengthen Wales’s collection of historical items and highlight the region’s archaeological and cave sites.

Professor George Nash from the University of Liverpool and Coimbra University in Portugal stated, "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, fleeing conflict or overcrowding in their homeland. After the short warm period of the Palaeolithic era, Wales was isolated for thousands of years, so there is no genetic or cultural link to modern Welsh people." However, he also said the Red Lady is an important part of Welsh history and that returning the remains to Wales, if done safely, would be the correct choice.