spring, the waters of which once surfaced in the Ebbor Gorge. It is uncertain whether that was the original rising or whether it formed when the main rising at Wookey was blocked. The current resurgence is located close to the base of the Dolomitic Conglomerate at the head of a short gorge formed by headward erosion with subsequent cavern collapse. The morphology of the passages is determined by the rock strata in which they are formed. The streamway in the outer part of the cave system that is formed within the Dolomitic Conglomerate is characterised by shallow loops linking low bedding chambers, or tall narrow passages, known as 'rifts', developed by phreatic solutional enlargement of fractured rifts. The streamway in the inner part of the system formed within the limestone is characterised by deep phreatic loops reaching depths as much as , with the water flowing down-dip along bedding planes and rising up enlarged joints. In the far reaches of the cave the passages descend to below sea level. History Witcombe suggests that the name Wookey is derived from the Celtic (Welsh) for 'cave', ogo or ogof, which gave the early names for this cave of "Ochie" or "Ochy". Hole is Anglo-Saxon for cave, which is itself of Latin/Norman derivation. Therefore, the name Wookey Hole Cave basically means cave cave cave. Eilert Ekwall gives an alternative derivation of Wookey from the Old English wocig, meaning a noose or snare for animals. By the 18th century the caves were commonly known as "Okey Hole". It was known as such when it was first described in print in 1681 by the geologist John Beaumont. Fossils of a range of animals have been found including the Pleistocene lion (Felis leo spelæ), cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) and badger (Meles meles). Wookey Hole was occupied by humans in the Iron Age, possibly around 250–300 BC, while nearby Hyena Cave was occupied by Stone Age hunters. Badger Hole and Rhinoceros Hole are two dry caves on the slopes above the Wookey ravine near the Wookey Hole resurgence and contain in situ cave sediments laid down during the Ice Age. Just outside the cave the foundations of a 1st-century hut have been identified. These had been built on during the Roman era up to the end of the 4th century. In 1544 products of Roman lead working in the area were discovered. The lead mines across