Contributions To Science
Pengelly's most significant contribution to science was his work on caves in Devon and their human occupation. He excavated at Kents Cavern in Devon following earlier work done by Father John MacEnery. He found similar evidence (Palaeolithic flint tools and the bones of extinct animals in the same strata) as MacEnery, but had the advantage working in a time of more open geological and religious thinking, which enabled him to find support and funding for the publication of his and MacEnery's work.
Pengelly found similar evidence in other caves, and under the auspices of the Royal Society and the Geological Society, he and Sir John Evans were able to conduct a scientific investigation into British prehistory. Their work, along with that of pioneers such as Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, produced reasoned argument against the traditional Biblical chronology.
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