Wookey Hole Caves then passes through major cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet, around Priddy, but 95% is water that has percolated directly into the limestone. The southern slopes of the Mendip Hills largely follow the flanks of an anticline, a fold in the rock that is convex upwards and has its oldest beds at its core. On the Mendips the crest of the anticline is truncated by erosion, forming a plateau. The rock strata here dip 10–15 degrees to the southwest. The outer slopes are mainly of Carboniferous Limestone, with Devonian age Old Red Sandstone exposed
Wookey Hole Caves ""Ogof"" which gave the early names for this cave of ""Ochie"" ""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". 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