Ice Age bear skulls and elephant tusks: See some of the amazing artefacts found in a Yorkshire Dales cave

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Male brown bear skulls, circular Romano-British brooches and more from a Yorkshire cave are about to be digitised

One afternoon in 1837, just before the accession of the young Queen Victoria, two men were walking in the Yorkshire Dales. Running off ahead, one of their dogs disappeared down what seemed to be a foxhole.

Inching his way into the narrow passage to fetch it, Michael Horner returned with a handful of artefacts. What he’d discovered by accident turned out to be one of the most archaeologically rich caves ever discovered in the UK.

Excavations by the Victorians, and later by a working men’s club in the 1930s, led to some incredible revelations. Now archaeologists from DigVentures are digitising many of them in a database of astonishing finds.

This adult, male brown bear skull dates to 14,100 BP. He would have used one of the small, dry chambers to hibernate and his bone chemistry indicate that plant matter was a surprisingly important part part of his diet.

Some of the animal teeth found at Victoria cave, including hyena, giant deer and bear.

Romano-British soldiers are later thought to have used the cave. This piece of Samian ware has 'Annami' carved on it, which is the first recorded instance of this name in Britain.

This circular Romano-British brooch dates to between 150-200AD, during the Roman occupation of Britain, and is one of many brooches found intentionally deposited in the cave.

This adult female brown bear skull has been dated to 14,600 BP - less than a century after the end of the last Ice Age. She was found near the remains of a cub.

This pierced spoon also dates to the Roman occupation. Dozens have been found in Victoria Cave and each is unique. Their meaning is an enduring mystery.

The tooth of a baby straight-tusked elephant dating to around 125,000 years ago.

Nigel Steel - cave expert and DigVentures' Community Archaeologist - shines his headlight on graffiti left by the cave's original Victorian excavators.

The landscape around Victoria Cave was formed during repeated periods of glaciation. It would once have been much like an African savannah, with hippo, rhino and elephant.

• Visit DigVentures for more.

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Three museums to see finds from Yorkshire in

Weston Park Museum, Sheffield
In 43 AD, Britain was invaded and became a province of the Roman Empire. However trade, population movement and political alliances meant links had been forged before the invasion. The new display, Traces of Empire: Decoration and Design in Roman Britain, looks at the change in decoration and style during this period using significant archaeological finds from Museums Sheffield’s collections. Until October 30 2015.

Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar
Archaeological excavations to the north of Loftus between 1979 and 2004 present a wealth of evidence of how people lived in East Cleveland over the last 5,000 years. The results of the excavations are presented in the current exhibition, Street House before the Saxons. Until November 1 2016.

Hands on History, Hull
The Ancient Egypt gallery at Hands on History displays a genuine Egyptian mummy and an excellent collection of full size replicas of the treasures from the tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamen made by Hull craftsmen for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art540105-ice-age-roman-archaeology-victoria-cave-yorkshire-dales