Pleasley Vale, dominated by 19th century cotton mills, has two sites that have produced animal bones.

Yew Tree Cave was explored by William Ransom in the 1860s where he found remains of lynx. Other animal bones found include wolf, pig and roe deer. However, there is uncertainty that the cave now known as Yew Tree Cave is the same of that explored by Ransom.

The other cave, Pleasley Vale Cave, was disturbed when William Hollins, the mill owner, built his house on the site in 1862. During construction work, part of the cave was quarried back and bones were collected from the infilling deposits. Bones of animals included wolf, wild horse, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer and bovid. Toothmarks on woolly rhinooceros bones were almost certainly caused by spotted hyaenas gnawing on them.