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All the United Kingdom England Cheddar The Cheddar Man and Cannibals Museum

The Cheddar Man and Cannibals Museum

Museum about life, death, and cannibalism in the Stone Age.

Cheddar, England

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Niti Parthasarathy
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Cheddar gorge and caves.   http://www.somersetdirectory.org.uk
Cheddar gorge and caves.   http://www.somersetdirectory.org.uk
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About

The Cheddar Man and Cannibals Museum explores life in prehistoric Britain with exhibits about survival skills, art, and daily activities in the Stone Age. Guides describe and demonstrate how to make axe heads and how to utilize mammoth tusks in home-building. They also explain how our ancestors ate one another.

Cannibal Cottage is more than just a gruesome horror tour. When the exhibit first opened, it was controversial, particularly for its collection of slaughtered human bones. These remains are nearly thirteen thousand years old and prove that the first humans were cannibals. The museum attempts to contextualize these findings by detailing the history of cannibalism, how and why it might have been necessary, and the evolution of Homo sapiens.

Those visitors who are uninterested in graphic cannibalism can paint their own cave wall or examine the giant cave-bear skeleton. The area where the skeletons have been found, Cheddar Gorge, was named the second greatest natural wonder in Britain, and it boasts adventure hiking and cave exploration, nature and conservation walks, and gorge walks with British goats. For a less strenuous route to spectacular views, tourists can board one of the gorge's open-top buses to the prehistoric riverbeds.

Explorers can also hike to Nature's Cathedral, a quarter mile cave formed by an Ice Age river, and glimpse breathtaking geological wonders. The stalactites and stalagmites in these caverns have been building for hundreds of thousands of years. It was in this area, Gough's cave, that the Cheddar man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton, was discovered. The Mesolithic hunter-gatherer's body was buried there nine thousand years ago. Though the original remains have been moved to London's National History Museum, a replica of the skeleton is still part of the exhibit. Examinations of his body seems to indicate that the Cheddar Man suffered a mysterious and violent death.

Related Tags

Museums Cannibals Water Geological Oddities Memento Mori Mummies Catacombs And Crypts Rites And Rituals Follies And Grottoes Subterranean Sites Geology

Know Before You Go

Mainline trains are direct from London (Paddington), Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Carlisle, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham (New Street), Cardiff, Plymouth, Exeter, Portsmouth & Southampton. Take to Bristol (Temple Meads), then change for local train to Weston-super-Mare.

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Added By

nitikp

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TravelTourist

  • TravelTourist

Published

November 10, 2010

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Sources
  • The Independent: "Family Outings: Cheddar Man and the Cannibals" (May 2005): http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/family-outings-cheddar-man-and-the-cannibals-490602.html
  • Wikipedia: Cheddar Man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddar_Man
The Cheddar Man and Cannibals Museum
Cheddar Caves
Cheddar, England, BS27
United Kingdom
51.281903, -2.765872
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Nearby Places

Vicars' Close

Somerset, England

miles away

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Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,233
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Nearby Places

Vicars' Close

Somerset, England

miles away

Wells Cathedral Clock

Somerset, England

miles away

The Helicopter Museum

Weston-super-Mare, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,233
Stories 145

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