probably of a Roman prostitute or witch. It was later discovered
that they were the remains of a man, but the name "Red Lady of Paviland" is
still used. In 1823, the first recorded discovery of fossil human remains took place
at Goat’s Hole Cave in Paviland on the Gower peninsula of South Wales. The
excavator, Rev. William Buckland initially thought that it was the remains of a
woman,
probably of a Roman prostitute or witch. It was later discovered
that they were the remains of a man, but the name "Red Lady of Paviland" is
still used.
The remains were discovered buried in red clay in the cave. It was the
first evidence of a ritual burial where a young man was buried and covered in
red ochre and accompanied by grave goods mad out of bone, antler, and ivory.
The remains date back to about 26,000 b.p. Paviland is the richest Early Upper
Paleolithic site in the British Isles and is the only ceremonial burial of the
Aurignacian age. This site, with over 40 radiocarbon dates, holds
our understanding of the chronology of human activity
and settlement from about 30,000 - 21,000 years ago.
The Red Lady of Paviland was buried with ivory ornaments and perforated sea-shell necklaces among other items.
Sources
Stephen Aldhouse-Green and Paul Pettitt, "Paviland Cave: Contextualizing the ‘Red Lady." Antiquity,
http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/spk/tourwales/prehist.shtml