• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Wednesday August 6 2025

More prehistoric secrets unearthed at Swindon quarry

Prehistoric secrets have been unearthed at a quarry near Swindon, with a rare mammoth skull and bone fragments from a plesiosaur among the finds.

Swindon-based Hills Quarry Products has once again made part of its Cerney Wick Quarry site available for the biggest paleontological excavation in the UK.

The site has been yielding prehistoric finds for well over 20 years, with Dr Neville Hollingworth and his wife Sally leading the excavations.

In December 2021 Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard, a BBC TV documentary focussed on the site, became a surprise Christmas TV hit.

This year, the dig has found a bull mammoth tusk, a mammoth tooth (pictured), bones from mammoths, bison, rhino, and giant horse and deer dating from 210,000 to 220,000 years ago, along with Jurassic material including ammonites, bivalves are molluscs, which are approximately 165 million years old.

It is not yet clear whether the mammoths were killed by Neanderthals, or why so many were found in one place, but archaeological sites from this period are incredibly rare, as is evidence of how Neanderthals interacted with mammoths, making this discovery one that has enormous value for understanding of Neanderthal behaviour, not just in Britain but across Europe.

Project lead Sally Hollingworth said: “Hills Cerney Wick Quarry is a nationally significant paleontological site, containing a rich assemblage of vertebrate fossils from a buried river channel over 200,000 years old.

“Beneath this lies the Jurassic Kellaways Sand formation (approx. 165 million years old), which has produced exceptionally well-preserved fossils.

“We are extremely grateful to team at Hills Quarry Products who have made this dig possible – pumping away the lake to reveal the dig site beneath and allowing us access.

“All of the finds from this excavation will provide new information on our understanding of life in the Thames Valley 214,000 years ago, rewriting the books and redefining the local geology.

“With over 200 registered volunteers and some travelling from overseas, over 20 Universities being represented – this dig is the biggest paleontological excavation in the UK.”

Mike Hill, chief executive of The Hills Group said: “In the year that our company celebrates its 125th anniversary, it is amazing to think that one of our sites is providing a unique glimpse into life millions of years ago.

“We are delighted to host palaeontology and archaeology students from across country, and to give them an unrivalled opportunity in fieldwork and conservation which contributes to the UK’s geological heritage.

“It’s the site that keeps on giving and of course without the sand and gravel extraction, all the finds would have remained undiscovered.”