Heights Cave

Heights Cave lies on private land south of Malham Moor Lane, west of Grassington in North Yorkshire. Known also as Calf Hole or Elland Cave, it opens beneath a rock face split into two arches by a supporting pillar. Excavated in 1893, the cave yielded a mesolithic tool made from reindeer antler and boar tusk. Lower levels produced bones of bison, reindeer and bear, while explorers added a low drystone wall to stabilise the floor. The finds mark one of Yorkshire’s earliest recorded cave occupations. The antler-and-tusk implement shows how hunter-gatherers shaped tools more than ten thousand years ago. Bison and bear bones suggest the cave served as both shelter and butchery site during seasonal hunts. The drystone wall remains a visible trace of early archaeological practice. Beyond the entrance, the cave extends into a single low chamber just wide enough to stand upright. Outside, the moorland around Grassington holds other prehistoric sites such as the Druid’s Altar stone circle and the Yarnbury henge. Cove Hole, another cave, lies nearby, completing a cluster of ancient landmarks on the limestone uplands.