089 Cueva de los Grajos
La Secada VN5356(9)9736(6) Alt. 380m  Length 45m Depth 20m

The large entrance (difficult to find) is in trees, 50m up the hill, 50m after passing a 2m high stump by the side of the higher track through the woods. The GPS grid reference through trees appears accurate to within 10m.

The entrance leads straight down a leafy slope and enters a large chamber, some 15m high. This has a massive calcite boss in the centre and some fossil formations. A climb down at the back of the cave leads to a tighter drop and a soak away. The southern side of the chamber has pieces of pottery and possible hearths in various, marked, places.

The site has been investigated by Spanish archaeologists, with a publication (Ruiz Cobo J and Smith P, 1995) analysing sediments. Reference Beta Analytic Inc, 1994 has the results of a radiocarbon analysis of charcoal carried out in 1994. This material was found under supposed 2-3000 year-old pottery and yet the sample was dated to 850 ±70±BP, or between ±AD 1025 and 1290 with 95% probability.

A test reported by Peter Smith in Feb 96 has an item dated to the 1st century AD.

An article in Studies in Speleology - The Prehistoric cave site "Cueva de las Grajas" in Matienzo, North Spain - has photos and line diagrams of the pottery and attempts to piece together the evidence to provide a chronology (Ruiz Jesús et al, 1999).

References: Corrin J S and Smith P, 1981; anon., 1994a (Easter logbook); material in file; anon., 1994b (logbook); Beta Analytic Inc, 1994; Ruiz Cobo J and Smith P, 1995; Ruiz Cobo J and Smith P, 1997; Ruiz Jesús et al, 1999; anon., 2000c (Summer logbook)
Entrance picture :
Underground picture(s): Photos by Juan Corrin. Click to enlarge.

Entrance slope	The right hand route down	Lower chamber	Lower chamber
Part of the large stal boss	Part of the large stal boss	Arthur Bridgeman-Quin with formations	Arthur Bridgeman-Quin with formations
The left hand route back up	Arthur Bridgeman-Quin with formations

Detailed Survey : 1:500
Line Survey :
On area survey :
Survex file :