• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Friday July 26 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

More discoveries unearthed at Hills Quarry’s ‘mammoth graveyard’

A Hills Quarry Products site near Swindon that inspired the BBC1 documentary Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard is once again yielding paleontological wonders.

A dig led by local amateur palaeontologists Sally and Dr Neville Hollingworth began on July 15 and has already revealed a Neanderthal hand axe, a mammoth tooth, rib, pelvic bone and skull fragments, a fossilised nautilus – a large marine mollusc – and even a shark tooth.

Over 100 student volunteers from 18 Universities and experts from the wider paleontological world will be assisting with the dig until it closes on August 5.

Project lead Sally Hollingworth said: ““We are so excited to be back on the site which has previously yielded remains of at least five ice age mammoths and a number of stone tools made by Neanderthals.

“From day one of this dig we’ve already made some amazing discoveries. Who knows what we might find for the rest of the dig!”

“We’ve been overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and hard work the small army of unpaid volunteers has shown, plus the exceptional support from Hills Quarry Products, who have facilitated and supported this and the two previous digs.

“The site is not open to members of the public – but look out for updates on the dig via social media using our hashtag #TuskForce.”

The artefacts and mammoth remains found at the Hills Quarry Products’ quarry date to around 210,000 – 220,000 years ago, towards the end of a warmer interglacial period when Britain was still occupied by Neanderthals.

Towards the end of this period, early humans abandoned Britain as temperatures plummeted and the landmass was plunged back under ice.

It is not yet clear whether the mammoths were killed by Neanderthals, or why so many were found in one place.

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.

Pictured: Sally Hollingworth, Dr Stephen Zhang and Dr Neville Hollingworth at the Hills Quarry Products Mammoth dig

Latest: More prehistoric secrets unearthed at Swindon quarry