The cave is 115 m (377 ft) deep and is 3.405 km (2.12 mi) long,[2] and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations.

Like human remains from other Magdalenian sites, her genome shares most drift with the individuals belonging to the ~19,000–14,000-year-old Goyet Q2 genetic cluster.

[8] Isotopic analysis on the remains showed a diet consisting of terrestrial herbivores such as red deer, aurochs and horses.

[9] The human skulls of the same date found at the cave around 1987,[10] may have been deliberately fashioned into ritual drinking cups or bowls.

The ropes could then have been used to construct fishing nets, snares and traps, bows and arrows, clothing and containers for carrying food.

This suggests that at least two different human groups, with different genetic affinities and different dietary and cultural behaviours, were present in Britain during the Late Glacial Interstadial.

[8] Centuries after the Magdalenian use of Gough's Cave, the Younger Dryas cold period made the area of the current British Isles unsuitable for human life.

[citation needed] In 1903 the remains of a human male, since named Cheddar Man, were found a short distance inside Gough's Cave.

[17][18] Further genetic analysis shows that he is part of the Western Hunter-Gatherer population, and not closely related to the much earlier Magdalenian individuals found in the same cave.

From a point relatively close to the areas of the cave open to the public, the cave-divers' descent into Sump 1a begins through a tight passage known as Dire Straits.