An archaeological site that was featured in a documentary by famed British naturalist David Attenborough has been found to be a treasure trove of bones from extinct steppe mammoths.
The site is in the UK’s Cerney Wick, which is near Cirencester. In 2019, archaeologists discovered so many bones and remains that it has since been named the “mammoth graveyard.” Researchers believe the remains at the site may be up to 220,000 years old.
The steppe and wooly mammoths, related to the modern-day elephant, have long fascinated researchers and the public alike. The most extraordinary find happened in 2002, when diggers came upon a full wooly mammoth preserved in the permafrost in Russian Siberia. What made this discovery so special was that it wasn’t just bones they found, but frozen and preserved soft tissue and skin.
But there was much more to be found at the UK site than mammoth bones. Researchers also found hand axes made by Neanderthal men, long-dead bones from ancient bison, and a shark fin from long before recorded history began.
Dr. Neville Hollingworth is supervising the excavation along with his wife, Sally, and his enthusiasm is obvious. He said he was “absolutely blown away” by the findings, and that the remains tell the world much more about the kinds of animals and people who lived and worked around the site than anyone knew before.
The finds were uncovered after modern people used the site to quarry for gravel, revealing layers of earth from prehistory. The first remains discovered at the site are described as among the most significant discoveries in the UK of remains from the Paleolithic period.
The conditions at the site have changed over time, with evidence that it was once the site of a river. In between archaeological digs, it was allowed to fill in with water again and return to a state of being a lake before being re-drained for this more recent dig.
Bones and teeth—made of the same durable substance—are usually the most well-preserved animal remains. They can often be found long after the rest of the body, made of soft tissue, has decayed. What is remarkable about the mammoth teeth found at Cerney Wick is that many of them have fully preserved roots still attached. Also found have been shoulder bones, and the remains of at least two tusks, clearly from different mammoth individuals.
