Similar remains in other Caves in Yorkshire.
The Victoria cave is by no means the only one in the district that has furnished works of art and the remains of animals. The Albert cave ([Fig. 19], c.) close by is, as yet, only explored sufficiently to prove that it contains the same kind of objects; and from that of Kelko, overlooking Giggleswick, they have been obtained by Mr. Jackson;[59] as well as from that of Dowker-bottom between Arncliffe and Kilnsay, by Mr. James Farrer and Mr. Denny.[60] From the last, seven spoon-shaped brooches of bone, and two spindle-whorls of Samian ware of the bottom of a vase, are preserved in the British Museum, as well as a bronze needle, and brooches both harp-shaped and discoid, and fragments of pottery. Three coins in bronze, according to Mr. Farrer,[61] prove that the date of the accumulation is late or post-Roman, one being of Claudius Gothicus, whose reign ended A.D. 270, and two belonging to the Tetrici, A.D. 267–273, since they would remain in circulation for some time after they were struck. A bronze pin, in the possession of Mr. Jackson, from Dowker-bottom, is remarkable for the head being plated with silver.
The fragment of flattened antler from this cave, referred by Mr. Denny to the elk, most probably belongs to the crown of an old antler of the stag, and the remains of the “Canis primævus” of that author cannot be distinguished from those of a large dog. The bones of the wolf, and an enormous stag in the Museum of the Philosophical Society at Leeds, are probably much older than the Brit-Welsh stratum.
These Caves used as Places of Refuge.
The presence of these works of art, in association with the remains of the domestic animals used for food, is only to be satisfactorily accounted for in the way proposed by Mr. Dixon. Men accustomed to luxury and refinement were compelled, by the pressure of some great calamity, to flee for refuge, and to lead a half-savage life in these inclement caves, with whatever they could transport thither of their property. They were also accompanied by their families, for the number of personal ornaments and the spindle-whorls imply the presence of the female sex. We may also infer that they were cut off from the civilization to which they had been accustomed, since they were compelled to extemporize spindle-whorls out of the pieces of the vessels that they brought with them, instead of using those which had been manufactured for the purpose.
The evidence of History as to the Date.
We have already seen from the examination of the coins, that the Victoria cave was occupied during or after the first half of the fifth century, and from the works of art that it may have been, and probably was, occupied at a later time. To fix the latest possible limit to the occupation of the group of caves to which it belongs, we must appeal to contemporary history.
During the first four centuries of Roman dominion in Britain, the spread of the manners and arts of the great mistress of the world followed close upon her success in arms; and the policy of one of the greatest of her generals, Agricola, bore fruit in the adoption of her civilization by the British provincials. The population clustered round the Roman stations, and cities sprang up, such as Chester, Bath, York, and Lincoln, between which a ready communication was maintained by the roads that still remain as monuments of engineering skill, and which, in many cases, have been used uninterruptedly from that time to the present day. Agriculture was carried on to such an extent, that Britain became one of the principal corn-producing regions of the Roman Empire; and a commerce with foreign countries was carried on from the ports on the banks of the Thames and the Severn (Gildas, i.). The mineral sources were also fully explored; tin was sought in the mines of Cornwall, lead in those of Derbyshire and Somersetshire, and iron in the forest of Dean, Sussex, and Northumberland. Nor was this material prosperity unaccompanied by the signs of luxury and culture. Numerous villas were dotted throughout the province, resembling in size and plan the quadrangle of a mediæval college at Oxford or Cambridge, and even in ruins astonishing us by their magnitude and the beauty of their tessellated pavements. York was the capital of the province and the centre of government, and consequently Yorkshire must have been, if anything, more completely penetrated with the Roman arts and civilization than any other part of Britain. The relation of the Roman conquerors to the conquered Celtic inhabitants was somewhat analogous to that which now exists between the English and the subject nations in India. Latin was the language spoken by the higher classes in the cities, of the army, and probably of the courts of law; while in the country the Celtic tongue held its ground, and still survives in the language of Wales. Christianity was probably professed in this country about the time of Constantine, and became the dominant religion by the middle of the fifth century, if not before.
Underneath all the outward signs of prosperity during the Roman rule in Britain, there were causes at work which ensured the ruin of the province. The policy of centralization, and the very perfection of the machinery for government on autocratic principles, which brought about the destruction of the Roman Empire, as in our own days they have nearly ruined France, bore fruit in Britain in the helpless apathy of the provincials when the machinery was broken up. It is therefore no wonder that when the Roman garrison was finally withdrawn from this country, in the year 409, the provincials were left an easy prey to their enemies. Nor need we wonder that they set up isolated centres of government, which we may term communes, in the year 410, in which each city stood out for itself, instead of combining together for the common weal. From this time forward the inhabitants of the Roman province of Britain, severed from the Roman Empire, became a prey to the many tyrants who sprang up, and the anarchy followed so pathetically described by Gildas. It was at this time that the coinage became debased, and Roman coins afforded the patterns for the small bronze minimi of the Settle cave,[62] which are so abundant among the ruins of Roman cities in this country, such as St. Alban’s.
The invaders of Britain must now be considered. The Picts and Scots had secured a rude liberty under the protection of their mountains and morasses, rather than by their success in arms against the Roman legions, and their raids into the Roman province had been curbed by the walls and lines of forts, extending, the one from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde, the other from the Solway Firth to the Tyne. In spite of these, however, from time to time, in the fourth century, they carried desolation into Northumberland and Yorkshire, even if they did not penetrate farther into the south. And on the withdrawal of the Roman legions, at the beginning of the fifth century, their raids were organized on a much larger scale. In the pages of Gildas we have a melancholy picture of their results. In the letter written to Ætius, the Roman commander in Gaul, in 446, the Britains are described as sheep, and the Picts and Scots as wolves. “The barbarians drive us back to the sea; the sea drives us back again to perish at the hands of the barbarians,” are the words put into the mouth of the embassy.[63] One plea for aid, which they advanced, is especially interesting, because it shows incidentally that the Roman civilization did not disappear with the withdrawal of the legions—the plea that unless they were succoured the name of Rome would be dishonoured. Nerved by despair, the British in the following year take up arms, and, according to Gildas, leave their houses and lands, and taking shelter in mountains and forests, and in caves,[64] succeed in driving back their Pictish and Scottish enemies.