Overview
- Craven Potholing Club member Rowan Worsman found a fossilised jaw fragment on February 9 in the newly explored C‑Chamber.
- Initial estimates place the specimen at roughly 80,000 to 90,000 years old, pointing to wolverines in the Dales during the Ice Age.
- The fossil has been secured and will be preserved and analysed by palaeontologists to confirm its age, species and context.
- Volunteers have removed about 75 tonnes of material since 2025, with more than 200 tonnes still to clear under Natural England’s permission to remove old rubble.
- Stump Cross Caverns plans to open the C‑Chamber to visitors by 2028 and incorporate the discovery into its visitor experiences.