Gough's Cave 1 (Somerset, England): a study of the pelvis and lower limbs

Abstract

The lower limb remains of Gough's Cave 1 retain most of the pelvis, both femora, one complete tibia and portions of the other, sections of both fibulae, two tarsals and three metatarsals. They are those of a largely average European Mesolithic young adult male. Overall diaphyseal robusticity is generally similar to that of other Mesolithic specimens, even though the fibula and third metatarsal appear gracile. Musculo-ligamentous attachment areas are generally weakly marked. The proximal femora and the femoral diaphyses exhibit a clear asymmetry, especially in their neck-shaft angles and diaphyseal dimensions, which is is accompanied in the pelvis by a greater degree of left iliac lateral flare. These aspects are associated with a pelvis that combines several distinctly male characteristics with an overall pelvic aperture shape which is female.