New finds at Cerney Wick site which inspired Attenborough documentary

The dig, led by amateur palaeontologists Sally and Dr Neville Hollingworth, began at Hills Quarry Products’ Cerney Wick Quarry on Monday, July 15.

The list of discoveries over the first few days includes a Neanderthal hand axe, mammoth tooth, rib, pelvic bone and skull fragments, plus a nautilus and a shark tooth.

Over 100 student volunteers from 18 universities and experts from the wider palaeontological world will be assisting with the dig until it closes on Monday, August 5.

In 2017, Sally and Neville found Ice-Age mammoth remains and a stone hand axe made by a Neanderthal at Cerney Wick Quarry.

The gravel site constituted one of the oldest mammoth graveyards to have ever been uncovered in Britain and inspired the BBC documentary Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard.

“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,” Sally, a transport administrator for Hills Quarry Products, said of the current dig.

“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.”

The artefacts and mammoth remains found at Cerney Wick Quarry date to around 210,000 to 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.

According to Hills Quarry Products, 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 rare, as is evidence of how Neanderthals interacted with mammoths.

The dig site is not open to the public, but those interested can look out for updates on the dig on social media using the hashtag #TuskForce.