Reliquiae Diluvianae

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

William Buckland (1784-1856), Dean of Westminster, was an English geologist best known for his contributions to palaeontology. He spent 1819-1822 investigating fossil remains in caves, in order to refine his concept of catastrophism. His research led him to the realisation that hyena remains in Kirkland Cave, Yorkshire, were the remains of an ancient ecosystem and were not relics of the Biblical Flood.

This volume, first published in 1823, contains a full account of Buckland's influential research in Kirkland Cave, which demonstrated for the first time the ability of scientific analysis to reconstruct events from deep time. Buckland's support for and influential revision of the concept of catastrophism is also illustrated in this volume.

Contents

1. Cave at Kirkdale; 2. Chronological inferences from it; 3. Caves at Kirby Moorside; 4. Open fissure in Duncomb Park; 5. Cave at Hutton, in the Mendip Hills; 6. Cave on Derdham Down, near Clifton; 7. Cave at Balleye, near Wirksworth; 8. Dream Cave, near Wirksworth; 9. Three sets of caves near Plymouth; 10. Cave at Crawley Rocks, near Swansea; 11. Cave at Paviland, near Swansea; 12. Caves in Germany; 13. Osseous Breccia of Gibraltar, Nice, Dalmatia, etc.; 14. Human remains in caves; 15. Evidences of an inundation afforded by phenomena on the earth's surface; 16. Postscript; Appendix; 17. Explanation of the plates; Index.

Customer Reviews