Archaeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five prehistoric mammoths at a site ‘where cave-dwellers dined 215,000 years ago’ after finding a Neanderthal axe in a Cotswolds field.
Experts located the remains of five of these animals in a quarry close to Swindon.
After two fossil-hunting enthusiasts, Sally Hollingworth and Neville Hollingworth spotted a Neanderthal handaxe on the site, they began digging at it.
DigVentures’ experts found remains of a Steppe mammoth that was the ancestor of Woolly mammoth.
Another discovery at the site was the delicate beetle wings of freshwater snails, and stone tools dating back to the Neanderthal era.
The site will feature in Attenborough And The Mammoth Graveyard on BBC1 on December 30.
The BBC1 documentary, Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard will include the site. It airs on December 30,
Experts found the bones of five animals, including two adult and two juvenile animals. Pictured: Conservation on a mammoth tusk
This illustration shows a reconstruction, using genetic information from Adycha mammoth, of steppe mammoths before the woolly mammoth.
Sir David Attenborough will join Professor Ben Garrod and archaeologists from DigVentures to learn why the mammoths were there and how they died.
The discovery of the Neanderthal tools could mean the site was a ‘massive buffet’, according to experts.
Professor Garrod of the University of East Anglia said that this was gold dust. It could be that Neanderthals were camping there, maybe they caused the deaths of these animals, chasing them into the mud and enjoying a massive buffet.’
He told The Telegraph that he believed they might have found them already and received a complimentary meal.
‘If the lab shows the cut-marks are human-made, our site will be one of the oldest scientifically excavated sites with Neanderthals butchering mammoths in Britain.’
From approximately 1.8million years ago, Steppe mammoths lived for about 200,000 years.
DigVentures representative Lisa Westcott Wilkins stated: “Finding mammothbones is an amazing feat. But, finding them that old, well-preserved, and so close to Neanderthal stones tools is extraordinary.
“Words cannot capture the excitement of looking at a mammoth’s tusk in the ground or standing in front of an area that could change our perceptions of our nearest human relatives, and of the Ice Age megafauna with which they lived.
Sally Hollingworth and Neville Hollingworth were keen fossil hunters who spotted an Neanderthal hand-axe on the spot. This prompted them to begin digging at the area.
DigVentures’ experts found remains of a Steppe mammoth that was the ancestor of Woolly mammoth.
Another discovery at the site was delicate beetle wings made from freshwater snail shells, and stone tools dating back to the Neanderthal era.
Sir David Attenborough joins Professor Ben Garrod as well DigVentures archaeologists to find out why mammoths existed and what happened to them.
According to experts, the Neanderthal tool discovery could have been interpreted as a massive buffet.
Ms Hollingworth of Swindon told BBC that she originally wanted to discover marine fossils. But, finding something more significant has been an amazing thrill.
“Even better is to see it become a major archaeological excavating.
“We could not be happier that the knowledge we have discovered will be shared with so many and be enjoyed by them all,”
It is still being researched to determine why so many mammoths are found together, and if they were hunted down or scavenged from Neanderthals.
The Steppe mammoth lived approximately 1.8million to 200,000 years ago. Pictured: Mammoth bones from Hollingsworth and DigVentures collections combined
It is still being researched to determine why there were so many mammoths in one area, as well as whether or not they were hunted by Neanderthals. Pictured: A mammoth tooth
Chief Executive of Historic England Duncan Wilson stated that this is one of Britain’s most important Ice Age discoveries of recent years.
“The findings are of immense value in understanding Britain’s human occupation, and will help us to understand past climate change.
DigVentures, a group of archaeologists that also organize archaeological digs open for the general public, is called DigVentures.