ABSTRACT
The Westbury-sub-Mendip cave deposits were first exposed during quarrying in 1969. Detailed study of the faunas was carried out by Bishop, who concluded that the derived Westbury 1 fauna is of early Pleistocene age, while the Westbury 2 and 3 faunas are post-Cromerian sensu stricto but pre-date those of the Hoxnian Stage. An alternative proposal by Stuart was that the main Westbury faunas are Cromerian, representing the end of that interglacial Stage. Systematic excavations at Westbury (1976–1984) led by a team from the Natural History Museum have demonstrated the complexity of the site and faunal sequences. The probable early Pleistocene ‘Siliceous Group’ (Unit 1) and its derived fauna is succeeded by two separate stratigraphic and faunal sequences at the western and eastern ends of the site. Palaeoecological reconstructions, using a Taxonomic Habitat Index derived from the small mammal faunas, indicate that the western sequence contains three temperate phases, separated by more boreal conditions and followed by a tundra phase. This tundra phase also appears to be represented in the upper parts of the eastern sequence. Since all of these faunas, including those indicating optimum interglacial conditions, contain Arvicola cantiana, they must be post-Cromerian sensu stricto and appear to pre-date the Hoxnian Stage.
