site 0880

0880: Bingo (Two and a Half Fat Ladies) (Patrick's Folly)
La Secada 30T 453031 4798245 (Datum: ETRS89. Accuracy code: G) Altitude 223m
Length 23m Depth 8m
Area position : Site entrance in context : Logbook search

Updated 5th May 2001; 2nd November 2002; 23rd December 2008; 17th October 2015; 30th November 2016; 22nd May 2017; 7th May, 23rd September 2018; 14th May, 5th June, 14th September 2019; 15th June 2020; 5th May,10th September 2022; 16th May 2023

   An easily missed entrance - it couldn't be found in the summer 2015 - that immediately slopes down and enlarges to a phreatic passage and a dig in the floor. A trench has been dug along one wall.
   Excavations in April 2018 were concentrated against the hading wall nearest the entrance where, a few metres down, the wall started to curve under. There may be a draught but, as one wall in the rift is mud and rock and it is the route for surface water, the dig was thought likely to slump in before shoring could occur.
   In the summer 2018, some shoring was installed and further progress was made under the wall.
   At Easter 2019, further digging took place and there were also visits by members of the Matienzo Karst Entomology Project - who found a possible Iberina mazarredoi spider, and the first psuedoscorpion reported in a Matienzo cave. This latter sighting might be a first for a Cantabrian in-cave find. Jess Eades also visited, looking for bats. In early June, some bones from the site were identified by palaeontologist Pedro Castaños as red deer. A bear tooth was found in the summer 2019. Spanish experts Pedro Castaños (large mammals) and Xabier Murelaga (small mammals) dug out more bones on the top level, identifying bison or auroch.
   In the summer 2019, further digging took place at the bottom and also up off the bottom, where a tight, standup "chamber" was entered through a sandy dig. Prospects at this level look poor so the plan is to continue digging below.
   Near the end(?) of the Covid hiatus, in January 2022, a quick inspection showed that the shoring and supported material had stayed more-or-less intact. Howver, at Easter 2022, wet rot with fruiting bodies were apparent and the boards were spongey and disintergrating. As a temporary measure a ladder was used to keep away from the shoring. Over two trips in April 2022, a large quantity of material was removed from the base. Although the digging site is cool and fresh, there is no sign of a breakthrough. A couple of solo digging trips in the summer found that the dig appeared to be narrowing. There are a number of spoil-filled bags to be taken up.
   Further solo work on 6th April 2023 increased the number of bags requiring removal to about 40. The shoring was described as in very poor condition / rotten. Further work is required to decide if the dig is truly closing in.
   Another inspection in April 2024 found that water was not draining away from the base and the dig was considered to be "Patrick's Folly". No more work on the site is being considered.

   The site has been excavated by Spanish archaeologists and has some prehistoric significance. A large number of butchered bones have been studied but no flints have been found. The site is classified as an occasional palaeolithic habitat (Ruiz Cobo Jesús et al, 2008).
   An earlier GPS reading is 30T 453033 4798234 (Datum: ETRS89)